The season is so hard upon us that I don’t have time to share everything in this update I’d like too. So I’m going to have to abridge what I’d like to say here. But I just can’t fail to note that the assault on the earth and its ecosystems by the use of synthetic fertilizers along with herbicides and pesticides—a theme that often comes up in these updates—seems to be reaching a period of scientific unmasking that is unprecedented.

We sometimes talk about “scientific breakthroughs.” Those happen from time-to-time, but the reality with science is that it advances at a very slow pace. Unlike technology, which is driven by a profit motive, science is driven by a desire to understand. Understanding comes through the adjudication of arguments, supported by reason and demonstration. This is a slow process.

It seems fair to say that intuition suggests that putting poisons on plants could have a detrimental impact on the plants and on everything that eats those plants, or that even comes in contact with those plants. It also seems intuitive to suspect that synthetic fertilizers, that provide nutrients to plants in a form that deviates from the kind of nutrition those plants have evolved to receive, may also have some kind of long-term, deleterious impacts. And although probably less intuitive, it at least seems plausible that emissions of poisons and new kinds of agricultural nutrition could impact our environment in ways that we had not anticipated.

But to move from intuition or even common sense to scientific verification is an enormous step. In our country we spent thirty years advancing from the sense that smoking isn’t good for people to conclusive scientific evidence that it causes cancer. Forty years ago I first heard a knowledgeable scientist say we were making a mistake promoting hatchery salmon at the expense of wild salmon; it is only recently that it has become freely admitted that some salmon hatcheries which have operated for decades have done more harm than good.

Over the past several weeks there have been a number of scientific findings that provide substantiation of our sense that the chemicals and synthetics that fuel the food supply of our nation (and now much of the world) are killing us. One of these is from a study conducted through UC Berkeley that has found a way to “fingerprint” sources of nitrous oxide in our atmosphere.

The presence of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has risen by about 20 percent since the Industrial Revolution—a great deal of that percentage having occurred in the last 50 years. Nitrous oxide is about 300 times more “potent” a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

And to what does the “fingerprint” of nitrous oxide in our atmosphere belong? It is the synthetic nitrogen that is the mainstay of the agricultural practices of 98% of the US farm output. We’ve known for a long time that nitrous oxide runoff poisons drinking water, and creates dead zones in the ocean. We now know that nitrous oxide gas emitted by synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, and hence is a significant component of climate change.

Is it not amazing to discover that one of the “externalized costs” of the inexpensive food that we Americans seem to believe to be our birthright is the dramatic alteration of our climate? It’s a bit inconvenient for us, and for the rest of the world (that does not benefit from our inexpensive food), that those costs, previously externalized, nevertheless need to be paid. And that we will be the ones paying for them.

I’m reminded of an adage from early Christian tradition: “Don’t be deceived, whatever you sow you will also reap.”
Just last week another scientific finding was released that concerns the “mysterious” inability of oysters to reproduce. The research took place in our own state, and the conclusion is that the cause of the long-known and well-documented phenomenon of the death of an enormous percentage of baby oysters in Washington and Oregon is acidification of the ocean due to increased carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

It had been predicted that climate change would lead to acidification of the oceans. But here, as with many other predicted impacts of climate change, the change has come in decades rather than centuries as was first thought.
Are the baby oysters of our state the “minor’s canaries” of our planet? Can we or our ecosystems survive the rapid acidification of our oceans? Are the long-term risks worth the short-term benefits? Will we come to our senses and refuse to compromise the future of our planet for sake of less expensive food?

Recognizing the current political realities, it seems unlikely that any governing body will demonstrate the leadership (or gain the consensus) to take the actions necessary to reverse our present collision course with catastrophe; and this even though the hand-writing is not only on the wall, but in our scientific journals. It is needful for us to try to influence the political wind (if it can be influenced). But we must also be aware of the many opportunities we have to vote with our dollars. It’s hard to walk by a product that seems like a great “deal.” But if it carries an externalized cost that could contribute to the end of life on earth as we know it, we need to learn to say “NO!”

Community Alliance for Global Justice receives many requests from organizations, student groups, academics, individuals and businesses who are interested in food justice issues, and want to learn more. We also see a huge need not only to increase food literacy, but to teach the step-by-step skills for organizing food justice campaigns.  In response, CAGJ’s Food Justice Project is developing a Community Education program, and we would be honored if you would participate in shaping it.

CAGJ’s objective is to develop a popular education series to inform and activate a varied public about food justice and food sovereignty. To help us develop this workshop series, we are seeking input from our allies and our community.  We hope to create a series that motivates and inspires the public through the inclusion of all your voices.

We invite: CAGJ members and volunteers; CAGJ’s ally organizations and businesses (or designated representatives); and any individual interested in moving food justice organizing forward.

If you are able to attend, we request that you participate in the entire workshop, which will be based on the World Café model, and last 4 hours. We will provide snacks and beverages.  At the end of the workshop we will request willing participants to join a work group to finalize the educational series based on the information collected from this workshop.

Topics of discussion will include themes such as:

• What is the “food system”?
• Current state of the food system & defining the problem
• Sexism, Classism & Racism and our food system
• Farm Bill
• Food Justice & Food sovereignty: What would an equitable food system include?
• Political change vs. Consumer choice
• Solutions/Taking Action: Models/projects vs. movements/action

Please feel free to call CAGJ as well, if you have any questions!  206-405-4600

CAGJ remains committed to working in solidarity with small-scale farmers and La Via Campesina. This year, one of our commitments to food sovereignty and justice has been to publish the second edition of “Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice”. You can help CAGJ to reach thousands more through this book!

We invite you to join us for our upcoming Food Justice Urban Hike-a-thon on Saturday, April 28. Besides the political and educational component, it will be an opportunity to get exercise on a (hopefully) sunny spring day while socializing with fellow food activists, share a delicious lunch with a view, explore the greener side of Seattle, and help raise funds for “Our Food, Our Right” (Foreword by Raj Patel!). You can sign up to hike, or simply donate $10, $25, $100 or more – click here.

Denounce Land-Grabbing!

One of the greatest challenges faced by peasants is the implementation of policies and development models based on land expansion and land expropriation, commonly known as land grabbing. Land grabbing is a global phenomenon led by local, national and transnational elites and investors, with the participation of governments and local authorities, in order to control the world’s most precious resources.

 Land grabbing has resulted in the concentration of land and natural resource ownership in the hands of wealthy (ie. large-scale investors, government officials, plantation owners, logging, agribusiness and energy companies, tourism and real estate developers, etc). This has led to the eviction and displacement of the local populations – usually farmers – the violation of human rights, increased poverty, social fracture and environmental pollution around the world (but primarily in the global south). 

 Land grabbing is justified by many governments and policy think tanks through claims that agribusiness will modernize backward agricultural practices and guarantee food security for all. However widespread those claims may be, they have been shown to be entirely false in the real world. The key players behind land grabbing prioritize profit over people’s well-being: they produce agrofuels if this is more profitable than food production, and they export their food production if this is more lucrative than selling it at home. In this race to profit, the corporate sector is increasing its control over food production systems, monopolizing resources, and dominating decision-making processes.

Business lobbies have strong political influence that often overrides democratic institutions; in addition, they act with the complicity of local and national elites (traders, politicians and community leaders) who fail to protect their own people and environment from predation.

 Therefore La Via Campesina and CAGJ calls on all of its members and allies, fisher-folk movements, agricultural workers organizations, students and environmental groups, women organizations and social justice movements to take action:

To stop land grabbing and reclaim grabbed land – the land should be in the hands of tillers.

To implement genuine agrarian reform in order to bring about social justice in rural areas.

To end the control over billions of people’s lives exercised by a few investors and transnational companies.

To oppose the principles of “responsible agricultural investment” (RAI) proposed by the World Bank as it can never be “responsible” for investors and corporations to grab farmers’ land.

To strengthen the agriculture production model based on family farming and food.

We urge you to learn about and support the valuable work of La Via Campesina, and to learn more about the issues and struggles of local food justice projects, union grocers, locally sourced restaurants, local food processors, urban farms & other important sites of the Pacific Northwest food system!

Globalize the Struggle! Globalize Hope!

Following the lead of African farmers and peasants around the world, we are fighting for Food Sovereignty, here and everywhere.

Food sovereignty encompasses seven principles —

1. Healthy, nutritious, culturally appropriate food is a basic human right

2.  True Agrarian reform guaranteeing the nondiscriminatory access of all people to land, credit, training, technology and markets

3.  Fair Trade in Agriculture: Societies must recognize food first as a necessity for life rather than an item of wealth through trade

4. Ending corporate domination over all aspects of our food and agriculture

5. Social Justice and Peace: food and agriculture must not be used as a weapon for exploitation and oppression of people. This includes ending all forms of violence against women.

6.  Support of Sustainable Agriculture and Protecting Natural Resources, including conservation of biodiversity, healthy soils and reduced use of agro-chemicals.

7. Democratic control:  peasants, small farmers and all of us must have truly democratic control over our own society’s food and agriculture

Boiled down, Food sovereignty is about radically democratizing food systems at all levels, and it starts here.

As you can see in your flyer, in 2009 our research revealed numerous ties between Gates and Monsanto in Kenya, and we know this is true in other countries as well.  It was significant to show this in Kenya, because that is the headquarters of AGRA in Africa.

In 2010 we helped to expose the Gates Foundation’s purchase of 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated worth of $23.1 million. We were heartened by the media and activist attention to our campaign in response.

Last year we leafleted at the opening of the new Gates Foundation headquarters, educating hundreds of people about our concerns.

This year we’re planning an international conference to take place in one year, with African and US partners – in the US these include Food First, Pesticide Action Network, Grassroots International and National Family Farm Coalition.

Monsanto’s attempt to spread GMOs and to control the hybrid seed market throughout Africa is actively resisted on the continent.

I want to emphasize that we are not only concerned about Monsanto and Gates pushing GMO’s. They are pushing a whole set of inputs that carry with them intellectual property rights that are held by corporations and not farmers. And some of this amounts to stealing genetic resources that farmers have controlled for millennia.

I will give you 2 examples of African resistance, but there are thousands:

South Africa is the one country amongst Africa’s 54 countries where GMOs have been grown for several years. This is because Monsanto and various western “development” programs including USAID, used South Africa as the entering wedge to the continent—it was the biggest economy, most closely tied in to global capitalism, etc. The African Centre for Biodiversity found, and I quote, “that Monsanto controls 50% of the maize seed market…In the rapidly growing market for genetically modified maize seed, the biotech giant’s grip on the market is absolute…Monsanto’s dominance has resulted in GM maize seed prices rising by over 45% in the last 5 years, while the price farmers receive for maize has stagnated.”  When Monsanto attempted to buy out more competitors to completely control the seed market, several groups including the African Centre for Biodiversity brought a legal challenge.  They brought Monsanto to court before their Competitions Tribunal – and the case is still going thru the courts today. Those institutions and corporations involved with pushing GMOs into South Africa are now partners of the Gates Foundation and they’re working to spread GMOs thought Africa.

My 2nd example is GBIACK and Common Ground in Kenya, who I visited 2 years ago.  They are two of many examples of Farmers who are using agroecological farming methods, meaning they rely on the resources available to them on their land, and become independent of the inputs such as hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers that put them into debt and poison their soil. With very few resources available to them, GBIACK and Common Ground train tens of thousands of other farmers in these methods. I want you to hear the words of Farmer Samuel Nderitu, who co-founded GBIACK.

Samuel says, “African farmers are seeking food sovereignty and not imposed unhealthy foods. Indigenous knowledge that has been embraced by farmers in Africa for decades has been farmer friendly, environmentally sound and humane, as opposed to modernized agriculture…African food is healthy and nutritious. We don’t need GMOs!”

At the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002, a Zimbabwean farmer criticized U.S. dumping of genetically engineered food aid in Africa. He said: “What is being presented as an act of charity is in fact nothing more than an act of marketing.”

Problems with US influence over agriculture in Africa are not new.  What is relatively new, however, is the influence of the Gates Foundation, the richest foundation in the world run by one of the richest men in the world.

We demand that Bill and Melinda Gates, and everyone at their Foundation, listen to African farmers, the vast majority of whom are women, because if they don’t it will mean an unmitigated disaster that will drive millions off land, destroy soils, and consolidate power in monopolies.  Gates’ supposed solution will in fact make Africa worse, not better.

We are grassroots, volunteer-driven and we need your support.

Please sign up today so we can be in touch about future events and volunteer opportunities, internships. Contact us at agrawatch@seattleglobaljustice.org!

10am – 3pm Hike from CAGJ’s office in the ID (606 Maynard Ave S) to Madison Valley

3pm – 5pm Celebration at MLK Community Center (come by even if you didn’t hike! 3201 E Republican St,  Seattle)

Fundraiser for 2nd Edition of “Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice”

Register for the hike today!

Download event flyer

Hit the trail at CAGJ’s office in the International District and end in the Madison Valley, discover your foodshed by foot, and raise funds for the second edition of CAGJ’s Our Food, Our Right publication, which combines hands-on tools for change with community recipes and political awareness to engage YOU in joining in the struggle for food justice! See the Table of Contents here.

Stops to include local food justice projects, union grocers, locally sourced restaurants, local food processors, and urban farms – Featured partners on the hike so far include the Danny Woo Community Garden, GroundUP Organics, and Green Plate Special! & stay tuned for more to come!  There will be lots of surprises and discoveries, and even ways to make your voice heard for food justice along the way.   Bring your knapsack, walking stick, and hiking shoes!

It’s easy to register as an Individual solo hiker or to Start a Team of hikers on our Crowdrise page.

All hikers (solo individuals and hikers on a team) pledge to raise $50 to support Our Food, Our Right’s publication by asking their friends, family, co-workers, and community to donate just $5, or $10, or $15, or more to support great work.

Teams make an even bigger impact by getting together a whole group of hikers for a day of fun, each of whom will raise $50.  Bonus points for witty team names!  Crowdrise makes it easy to meet your pledge goal – it provides you with an individual fundraising page to send out to supporters, tracks donations, and some tools (CAGJ will also provide you with a fundraising toolkit as well).

Questions? Call CAGJ at 206.405.4600, or email us -  fjp@seattleglobaljustice.org.  We’ll also need a few volunteers the day of and in the lead up to the event, so do get in touch if you’d like to help out!

This event is part of CAGJ’s Community Supported Publishing campaign, as we need your help to raise $5,000 to design and print our book with the quality necessary to distribute to libraries, book-sellers & food justice organizers throughout the land.  We’re also seeking organizational sponsors, with benefits ranging from your logo printed in each book, to books donated in your name to your favorite organization. Click here to learn more about Sponsor Benefits. Thank you for your support!

HOW TO APPLY: Please send an email to CAGJ’s Director, Heather Day (hred2011@gmail.com) briefly summarizing why you are interested, and describing any relevant experience; attach resume.  Please be advised that this internship is unpaid.

Timeline for Completion: We are seeking an intern who will begin research in late March or early April. We wish to receive a preliminary report by mid-June, at which point we can determine whether more time is required.

Objective:
Research strategies employed by food policy councils like Detroit, Oakland and Philadelphia’s to engage a variety of potential food policy council stakeholders in listening sessions or other outreach.  What strategies are employed to make space and increase participation by under-represented communities?

Outcome:
A short write-up summarizing research for the Equity subcommittee and Regional Food Policy Council to digest.  Ideally there will also be time for the intern to give a presentation of this summary to the Equity subcommittee.

Research questions:
-What methodologies have been employed to engage a variety of potential food policy council stakeholders, particularly those who are traditionally excluded from policy making because they don’t have access for a variety of reasons.  Did these FPCs intentionally explore how to engage these constituents? If so,
*what specific strategies were used?
*what steps did they take?
*how did they define their goals?
*what have been the outcomes thus far?

-We know of one strategy, ie “Listening sessions”:
*where did these take place, eg in community centers, city offices, NGO offices, other?
*how were they organized -for ex  in collaboration with community groups OR by city employees, OR with flyers announcing them in the community OR radio PSAs (etc)?
*what questions were asked?
*how was the agenda developed?
*who facilitated?
*were they successful?

-Strategies to make space for and increase participation by under-represented communities:
- Examples:
*pay people to take the time from their job to attend day-time meetings
*make meetings more comfortable by encouraging a round of evaluations at the end of each meeting

Friday March 16 is an international day to bring attention to Monsanto’s countless bad deeds. There are over 1800 actions planned all over the world.    In Seattle we’ll bring attention to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s ties to Monsanto, and their attempt to spread genetically engineered crops all over Africa.

Join us Friday March 16!  Bring Signs!
11 AM – 12 Noon: Assembly and teach in at Fisher Pavilion, just South of the Fountain, at Seattle Science Center
12 Noon – 1 PM: We will walk across the street to protest at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (across the street from the EMP)
Please register here, so we know to expect you!
Please invite your friends – Facebook event here.

Confirmed Speakers:
Heather Day – Community Alliance for Global Justice
Les Berensen – GMO Free Washington
Dan Trocolli – Seattle Educators Association and Social Equality Educators
Kristen Beifus – Washington Fair Trade Coalition
William Aal – Washington Biotechnology Action Council

Questions? Please contact William Aal – 206.719.9665 or visit: http://TinyURL.com/March16OccupyGates

Co-sponsored by CAGJ’s AGRA Watch program, the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, Washington Biotechnology Action Council and GMO-Free Washington

Foreword Raj Patel

Introduction CAGJ’s Food Justice Project

A Note on the Origin and Organization of the 2^nd Edition

Introduction to Community Alliance for Global Justice

CAGJ Mission

Food Justice Project

AGRA Watch

Trade Justice

Northwest Farm Bill Action Group

Food Sovereignty

7 Principles of Food Sovereignty La Via Campesina

What is Food Sovereignty? CAGJ

Recipes: Beverages

Spruce, Fir or Hemlock Tip Tea Elise Krohn

Berry Tea Elise Krohn

Rose Hip Raspberry Soda Elise Krohn & Valerie Segrest

Reindeer Pale Ale Karla Makholm and Dennis van de Goor

Local Stories of Change

The Color of Food (Excerpt) Applied Research Center

Digging Deeper for Food Justice: Engaging Latino Immigrants in Social Movements for Sustainable Food Teresa Mares

Traditional Foods of Puget Sound (Excerpt) Elise Krohn

Domestic Fair Trade Association Makes Strides to Revive Social Justice in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture. Erin Thompson

The Château Ste. Michelle Boycott Campaign: The First Labor Contract for the UFW in Washington State since 1972 Maria Cuevas

Farm Bill Overview Northwest Farm Bill Action Group

Just Garden Project Stephanie Seliga

Yardsharing/We Patch Organization Peter Rothbart

Sustainable Food System Practices Education Vicki Briggs

The Washington Young Farmers Coalition Cultivates Community Addie Candib

Recipes

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Salad Columbia City Farmers Market

Raw Kale Salad Aba Ifeoma

Lasagna with Spinach Teri C. Gibson

Backyard Foraging: Free Food at your Feed Brady Ryan

Kale Chips Victoria Gibson

Salmon Wrapped in Skunk Cabbage Elise Krohn

Kelp Pickles Elise Krohn

Nettle Pesto Elise Krohn

Farmer Profiles

Sue McGann, Marra Farm, Seattle WA

Sean Conroe, Alleycat Acres, Seattle WA

Jason Salvo and Siri Erickson-Brown, Local Roots Farm, Duvall WA

Erick and Wendy Haakenson, Jubilee Biodynamic Farm, Carnation WA

Chandler Briggs, Island Meadow Farm, Vashon WA

Lottie Cross, Clean Greens Farm, Duvall WA

Global Stories of Change

Food and Trade Justice Kristen Beifus and Claudia Navas

Mutirão in the Favelas: Confronting the Global Food Crisis one Community at a Time Rob Sawers

Feminine Fortitude in the World Food System: Women’s Contributions to Food Sovereignty Erica Bacon

Resistance is Fertile: Grassroots Alternatives to a Green Revolution for AfricaJanae Choquette

Recipes:

Ambulo Abdi Isaak

Tsimmes Deborah Hyman

Mung Beans Kay Yu Yuan Chai

Resources

DIY Food Growing Lisa Taylor

DIY Food Preservation Laura Brady

Resources for Taking Action CAGJ’s Food Justice Project

Recipes: Desserts

Guyanese Black Cake Sue Faria

Wild Berry Crisp Elise Krohn

Celina’s Beet Cake Celina Yarkin

Alison’s Carrot Cake Alison Dagger

Poems (dispersed throughout)

Breaking Bread Merna Ann Hecht

Kitchen Confidential Merna Ann Hecht

A Poem to Loved Ones About Preserving Fruit Merna Ann Hecht

The Harvest Joanna Wright

The Farm Job Gretchen Sneegas

Untitled Matthew Cronheim

Published February 27, 2012 in the Seattle Times – click HERE to read online.

Details:

Where: Marisa’s House (4725 5th Ave NE, 98105)

When: March 28, 2012 at 6:30-8:30pm

Bring something edible to share!

Book Description:

Only a farmer could delve so deeply into the origins of food, and only a writer of Wendell Berry’s caliber could convey it with such conviction and eloquence. Long before Whole Foods organic produce was available at your local supermarket, Berry was farming with the purity of food in mind. For the last five decades, Berry has embodied mindful eating through his land practices and his writing. In recognition of that influence, Michael Pollan here offers an introduction to this wonderful collection.

Drawn from over thirty years of work, this collection joins bestsellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Pollan, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, as essential reading for anyone who cares about what they eat. The essays address such concerns as: How does organic measure up against locally grown? What are the differences between small and large farms, and how does that affect what you put on your dinner table? What can you do to support sustainable agriculture?

A progenitor of the Slow Food movement, Wendell Berry reminds us all to take the time to understand the basics of what we ingest. “Eating is an agriculture act,” he writes. Indeed, we are all players in the food economy. (256 pages)

Available from the library and local bookstores!