AGRA Watch is a grassroots, Seattle-based group challenging the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s questionable agricultural programs in Africa, including its Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The Gates Foundation and AGRA claim to be “pro-poor” and “pro-environment,” but their approach is closely aligned with transnational corporations, such as Monsanto, and foreign policy actors like USAID. They take advantage of food and global climate crises to promote high-tech, market-based, industrial agriculture and generate profits for corporations even while degrading the environment and disempowering farmers. Their programs are a form of philanthrocapitalism based on biopiracy.
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SAT March 25: Rich Appetites Film & Discussion at Town Hall
AGRA Watch is thrilled to present our short film series, Rich Appetites, at Town Hall Seattle on Saturday March 25, 7-9pm PDT.
Registration appreciated but not required.
Rich Appetites is a short film series that explores how billionaire philanthropists are pushing US-style industrial agriculture around the globe—including in Africa. This model of agriculture is the single largest cause of biodiversity loss worldwide, fails to solve hunger, and hurts small-scale farmers and the planet. The five films—The Foundation, Seeds, Money, Science, and Agroecology in Action—cover different aspects of the struggle over the future of African and global agriculture, and highlight grassroots movements in support of agroecology and food sovereignty
Following the screening of the films, we will be joined for a Q&A with Kirubel Tadele, of Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Derrick McDonald, of Black Star Farmers, and Ashley Fent, of CAGJ’s AGRA Watch Campaign. Their discussion will speak to the current debates over agribusiness and philanthrocapitalism, and how to build alternatives that embody care for the community and land.
Ashley Fent is the producer of Rich Appetites. She has 10+ years’ experience as a social-environmental researcher, writer, and multimedia content producer. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from UCLA.
Kirubel Tadele is the communications officer for the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a partner in the production of Rich Appetites. He has over ten years of experience in environmental advocacy and communication in both Ethiopian and international NGOs
Derrick McDonald is a design strategist and land steward at Black Star Farmers, a community farm that operates on a mutual aid model and fights for food sovereignty in the city.
Rich Appetites is co-produced by AGRA Watch, a campaign of the Community Alliance for Global Justice, and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa. The films feature animation by Greenhouse Cartoons, a South African production company.
$5 suggested donation at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds). Masks are required indoors, and will be provided.
