2011 CAGJ Accomplishments

Organized Free, Public, Educational Gatherings & Farm Work-Parties

Food Justice Project: Organizing for Food Justice & Food Sovereignty in Seattle & everywhere!


  • Teach-Outs with Central Co-op, Cascadian Edible Landscapes, Seattle Youth Garden Works with Spring into Bed!, Clean Greens Farm (in photo: CAGJ activist Victoria Gibson on the Farm with Clean Greens Farmer Tom Willis, and Teach-Out participant Chris Dunkle)  HUG-Hilltop Urban Gardens for Food Day!
  • May 23: UW Food Justice event with Robert Gottlieb, Author of Food Justice
  • Sept 10: hosted MST-Landless Workers Movement- Leader Janaina Stronzake, who spoke at Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair and at CAGJ event, “Food Justice from Brazil to Seattle”
  • Nov 13: Occupy Seattle Food Justice Teach-in

AGRA Watch: Organizing to confront the Gates Foundation and Support Food Sovereignty in Africa!

  • April 2: Fatou Batta event: Burkino Faso leader of Groundswell International and We Are the Solution Campaign, a women led campaign to resist the “green revolution”.  Speakers included Sara Mersha, Grassroots International and Marcia IshIi-Eiteman, PANNA.
  • Nov 5-15:  AGRA Watch nominated Food Sovereignty Prize Winner, Kenyan Farmer Samuel Nderitu, Grow Biointensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya, who we accompanied and then hosted when he received the prize in Oakland (photo above left, Samuel); Farmer Exchange and visit to Marra Farm and public speaking engagements.

NW Farm Bill Action Group: Organizing to transform the Farm Bill!

  • On March 1 NWFBAG hosted Dan Imhoff, author of CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories and Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill
  • Strategy Meeting hosted by Councilmember Richard Conlin’s office; Reception attended by core NWFBAG members; Public Event at UW attended by close to 300

CAGJ’s first Delegation, to Oaxaca, Mexico

From Sept 21 through Oct 1 seven CAGJ members participated in a joint CAGJ/Witness for Peace Food Sovereignty Delegation to Oaxaca, Mexico.  On Nov 17 several delegates gave a report-back, along with one of the Mexican farming leaders they had met in Oaxaca, Eleazar Garcia.

CAGJ as a Community Resource

In 2011 CAGJ gave presentations to 15 community partners, educating and activating close to 1000 people.  Highlights included our first joint presentation with the Gates Foundation at the Hillel Hunger Banquet, multiple presentations to Gregg Shiosaki’s culinary students at Seattle Central Culinary Academcy, and an AGRA Watch presentation at the Green Festival with Organic Consumers Alliance. CAGJ also tabled at one major event every month in 2011 from the Green Festival to Farmer’s Markets to Town Hall and Seattle Tilth, and we reached over 1,500 people!

Represented CAGJ in Partners’ Speaking Engagements

  • Feb 18: Heather speak on panel at Farm Together Now – Book Release and Discussion on Seattle’s Food System at Town Hall
  • March 3: Heather Day speak with Gates Foundation representative at UW Hillel Hunger Banquet event
    • In the media: Tom Paulson Blog: Hunger Banquet and the Gates Fdn vs. food activists
  • April 14: Chris Iberle present at USAS Sodexo Truth Tour event
  • April 17: Bill Aal presents at League of Women Voters event, Sequim
  • April 20: Bill Aal presents at Gleaning Food Justice in Tacoma
  • April 21: Bill Aal and Nina Triffleman present AGRA Watch workshop, “Politics of Need” – UW Common Spaces NW
  • April 26: Phil Bereano presents at National Organic Standards Board
  • April 28: Maria Rodriguez presents at Novella Carpenter WA Hall event
  • May 21 Janae Choquette presents, Claudia Navas attend Emerging Leaders Conference
  • May 21: Bill Aal presents at Green Festival on AGRA Watch with Organic Consumers Alliance
  • Oct 20: Chris Iberle presents on food justice on panel at Food Justice & Our Local Food System, Antioch
  • Nov 1: Laura Titzer presents on food justice in Seattle Culinary Academy Classroom
  • Dec 7: Phil Bereano How the 1% uses the ideology of technology to maintain power, Occupy Seattle/UW

CAGJ Outreach & Education through Tabling

  • Jan 11: Helena Nordberg-Hodge at Town Hall (Heather & Travis host speaker)
  • Feb 18: Farm Together Now at Town Hall
  • March 3: Hunger Banquet Tabling
  • April 41: Witness for Peace War on Drugs Town Hall event
  • May 21-22: Green Festival Tabling
  • May 29 and June 5: SLEE Tabling at Broadway Farmers Market
  • June 1: Yes! Magazine 15th Anniversary event at Town Hall
  • Aug 22: Food and Water Watch Film Screening, Tabling
  • Sept 10: Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair Tabling
  • Oct 24: Central Co-op Food Day Tabling
  • Nov 19: Highlight OFOR in Local Giving Fair, Greenwood Senior Center

CAGJ Taking Action for Justice in the Global Economy

CAGJ organized fun, creative and effective actions throughout the year!

  • April 16: Celebrated La Via Campesina International Day of Peasant Struggle with street theater and outreach at Ballard Farmers Market
  • April 22: Trade Justice Action with WA Fair Trade Coalition at Rep Smith event
  • May 1: CAGJ Contingent in May Day Immigrants’ Rights March
  • June 4: AGRA Watch protests Gates Foundation’s Headquarters opening
  • June 11: Took photo at SLEE dinner reading “We Support Paid Sick Days for Food Workers” and helped to pass the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance!
  • June 29: Trade Justice Banner hang over I-5 and downtown Seattle Rally & Street Theater targeting Jim McDermott with WA Fair Trade Coalition
  • Oct 1: Delivered banner to Rep McDermott reading: “Rep McDermott: Free Trade Kills Farmers!  Vote No on US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement!”, with signatures collected on all summer at multiple events
  • Oct 15: Occupy Seattle Food Justice Action
  • Nov 21: Confronted WA Representatives who voted in favor of 3 new trade agreements at WA Council for International Trade, with WA Fair Trade Coalition

Created our own Media, and Making News!

  • Created Independent Analysis – Articles by CAGJ Co-Chair Reid Mukai: Roots of Recent Uprisings, Raw Milk Gets Raw Deal From Feds, GMOs Coming to Parks and Lawns Near You, Lessons From Oaxaca to Occupy Movement: A Delegate Reports Back, Notes on a Global Occupation – read them on our website!
  • Continued to create the debate about the Gates Foundation’s role in Africa through numerous articles and talks in national and international media, and at African Studies Conferences.
  • Humanosphere Blogger Tom Paulson covered CAGJ’s presentation alongside the Gates Foundation in “Hunger Banquet and the Gates Fdn vs. food activists”, and our action at the Gates Foundation Headquarter’s opening, “Post-party news at the new Gates Foundation campus — Bono drops by to say hi and activists drop in to protest”.
  • Yes! Magazine Online covered the story of African leader Fatou Batta and our other allies in “Women Farmers Feed the World”.  GreenAcres Radio also covered this story in “We Are the Solution: Women’s Farm Organizations Thrive in Africa”.
  • Phil Bereano was interviewed by Dr. Philip Mercola, posted April 2 “Scientists Vigorously Objected to this Food, Are You Eating it?”

Building Local, Regional, National and International Alliances

In 2011 CAGJ participated in 8 coalitions/alliances including the Puget Sound Regional Food Policy Council, WA Fair Trade Coalition, WA Farmworker Coalition, Making Change at Walmart Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition, Community Food Security Coalition, US Food Sovereignty Alliance and Occupy Seattle.  In addition, the AGRA Watch campaign built relationships with African groups throughout the continent.  This work takes time and energy but the pay off is creating a wide base of support so that when we talk, politicians listen!

Participated in Conferences

CAGJ participated in and presented at 8 conferences in 2011, including Organicology, Emerging Leaders, two Community Food Security Conferences, and US Food Sovereignty Alliance, sharing and learning from activists all over the world.  One highlight was in November where CAGJ gave 3 presentations at the African Scholars Conference challenging the Gates Foundation’s investments in industrial agricultural practices in Africa.

CAGJ Organizational Development

We made great strides in 2011 building a strong, resilient organization with capacity to effect transformative change. We focused on Anti-Oppression thru focus groups, community meetings and workshops, began transition to an online database, engaged in Communications training, and raised enough funds to pay our Director full-time through fun events like our Food Justice Trivia Night, Café Justicia Dinner, Fair Trade for the Holidays and our 5th annual SLEE dinner, with keynote by Detroit food justice leader Aba Ifeoma.  We won several grants for the Food Justice Project Community Education trainings, Our Food, Our Right publication and the NW Farm Bill Action Network.

 

Posted in Agra Watch Blog Posts, Food Justice Blog Posts, News, Projects, Trade Justice Blog Posts.

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