US universities in Africa ‘land grab’

by John Vidal and Claire Provost, Guardian.co.uk(, June 8, 2011) US universities are reportedly using endowment funds to make deals that may force thousands from their land in Africa. Harvard and other major American universities are working through British hedge funds and European financial speculators to buy or lease vast areas of African farmland in […]

Genetic Diversity and Food Security

Food Ark (by Charles Siebert, National Geographic, July, 2011) This is worth a read — “A crisis is looming: To feed our growing population, we’ll need to double food production. Yet crop yields aren’t increasing fast enough, and climate change and new diseases threaten the limited varieties we’ve come to depend on for food. Luckily […]

Raw Milk Gets Raw Deal From Feds

By Reid Mukai, CAGJ Co-Chair After a two year undercover surveillance operation and an armed pre-dawn raid by U.S. Marshals one year ago, the feds finally got their man and shut down his operations. Their target was not an alleged terrorist mastermind nor drug warlord but Amish dairy farmer Dan Allgyer. His crime? Distributing harmless […]

CAGJ attends CFSC’s “Food Policy From Neighborhood to Nation” Conference in Portland, OR

By Chris Iberle, Food Justice Project Co-Chair On May 19-21st, 2011 I had the honor of attending the Community Food Security Coalition’s first policy-focused conference, bringing together food policymakers, food policy council participants, activists from varying sectors of the food movement, farmers, food workers, and experts on food policy for three days of learning and […]

MON 5/23 Food Justice: A Social Movement Takes Root

Join us for a dialogue with “Food Justice” co-author Robert Gottlieb Monday, May 23 · 7:00pm – 8:30pm – FREE Location: Architecture Hall at UW, on the corner of Grant Lane and Stevens Way, East of the intersection of 15th Ave. NE and NE 40th St. …What is food justice? How would we define it? […]

Sunday May 1 is May Day: March with CAGJ!

March for Immigrant Rights! We’re All Workers!  Washington-Arizona-Wisconsin: The Same Struggle! 12:30 – Meet at corner of 20th & Jackson! March leaves from St. Mary’s Church at 1pm. Call Heather at 206-724-2243 if you can’t find contingent. 1:00: March with the CAGJ banner to Memorial Stadium (401 5th Ave. Seattle, WA 98109). Help make this […]

Bill Gates & the Future of GMO Agriculture

The move by Monsanto and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to forcibly introduce GMO agriculture into Africa in the name of food security has profound implications for malnutrition and hunger, the future of Africa, and ecological resilience everywhere. I have been curious about the mindset, the thinking behind this radical endorsement of an inherently […]

April 2 Event: “We Are the Solution!” African Women Speak Out on Grassroots Solutions to Hunger and Poverty

FREE EVENT, 6:30 – 8:30 PM: AGRA Watch presents Fatou Batta, Groundswell International Co-coordinator for West Africa and member of the Strategic Steering Committee of the We Are the Solution! Campaign Location: University Friends Meeting, 4001 9th Ave NE, Seattle 98105, link to map here Please join us for an exciting evening with Fatou Batta […]

Advocating for African Farmers

Interview with AGRA Watch Co-chair Janae Choquette! Paul K. Haeder / Down to Earth NW Correspondent For Janae Choquette, it’s a no-brainer to support small-scale agriculture because solutions are local-based and then set into motion through local experts. She’s co-chair of AGRA Watch, a program organized by Seattle’s Community Alliance for Global Justice, which is […]

Roots of Recent Uprisings, by Reid Mukai, CAGJ Co-Chair

Mainstream coverage of the Egyptian uprising depicts protests dominated by youth– organizing using Facebook and Twitter—that caused the fall of Mubarak. Sometimes the tragic case of Mohamed Bouazizi is referenced. He was the 26-year-old Tunisian whose self-immolation in protest of constant police harassment and humiliation led to the uprisings in Tunisia that soon spread to […]