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 CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | January 8, 2019

January E-News:
Gene Drives Discussion TUES Jan 15, join us!
 
CAGJ HAPPENINGS
Help CAGJ find new office
1/21 March with CAGJ: MLK Day
4/9  "Salmon People" Film Screening at Town Hall 7/13 SLEE Dinner at St Demetrios
11/30: 20th WTO Anniversary at Town Hall
 
CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS
The Green New Deal
CAGJ Book Review: Winners Take All
COP 24 Climate Talks
UN Rights of Peasants
 
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Local events

 

Get Involved! Upcoming CAGJ Meetings:

Food Justice Project:
3rd Tues/month, 6:30 - 8:30; for more info email us.
 
AGRA Watch:

time varies, for more info email us


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Blogs
CAGJ's blog
AGRA Watch's Blog

Listservs
Sign up here for Food Justice Project Listserv
Sign up here for AGRA Watch Listserv
 
Please support the food producers who support CAGJ & SLEE!
Alvarez Farm, Alter Eco, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, City Fruit, Clean Greens Farm and Market, Eleven Winery, Equal Exchange, Georgetown Brewing Company, Growing Washington, Kamayan Farm, Kirsop Farm, Local Roots Farm, Loki Fish Co., Mac and Jacks, Madres Kitchen, Mair Farm-Tami, Martin Family Orchards, Metropolitan Grill, Nash’s Organic Produce, One Leaf Farm, Organically Grown Company, Pok Pok Som, River Run Farm, Rockridge Orchards and Cidery, Steel Wheel Farm, Tall Grass Bakery, That Brown Girl Cooks, Tonnemaker Hill Farm
Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone who supported our end of year fundraising. Donate today to keep CAGJ going strong in 2019.
 
TUES JAN 15, 6:30 - 8:30PM
Join CAGJ for joint Food Justice Project/AGRA Watch Discussion
What are Gene Drives? How Does this Technology Threaten Food Sovereignty?

 

What are Gene Drives?

Controversy erupted on the international stage at the recent UN Meetings on Biological Diversity, where civil society groups (including CAGJ) called for a global moratorium on any release of engineered gene drives, citing the need to apply the precautionary principle. What are gene drives, and how could they affect our food and farming systems? And what is their connection to GE mosquitoes, soon to be released in Burkina Faso as part of Target Malaria, funded by the Gates Foundation with research taking place at UW and Fred Hutchinson in Seattle? We will gather to lo try to answer these questions together with members of CAGJ’s AGRA Watch program. Participants are encouraged to read the following pieces to have some background, but all are welcome, regardless of your knowledge of this topic:

If you wish to delve deeper, please see resources on our website.

 

FJP Meetings are a great way to get involved in CAGJ, and are held the 3rd Tuesday/month. New volunteers are invited to our orientation at 6pm: Please RSVP. POTLUCK: Please bring food or drink to share, if you are able. All are welcome! Location: 412 Maynard Ave S. Seattle, at Homestead Community Land Trust office. For more info, email the Food Justice Project.

 

 

CAGJ HAPPENINGS
CAGJ is moving this month
Help CAGJ find a new office

CAGJ has found an organization to take over our lease on February 1, thus we hope to move into a new office this month, ideally big enough for CAGJ and WA Fair Trade Coalition. We require a minimum of 400 square feet, room for at least 5 desks, and a location easily accessible by public transit. Our ideal office would include a conference room, kitchenette, an additional 200 square feet for storage, easy parking, nearby restaurants and green space. Please email any leads to Heather – Thank you!

 

MON JAN 21, 12:30

March with CAGJ! 36th Annual MLK Day Celebration: Defeat Racism, Poverty, and War

Location: Garfield High-School, 400 23rd Ave, 98122. 8:30 – 10:50 Opportunity Fair & Workshops; 11-12:30 Rally. Look for CAGJ’s Banner outside Garfield at 12:30 to march to Westlake, where there will be a final rally. Learn more, sign up to volunteer, and donate at the Seattle MLK Coalition website.

 

TUES APRIL 9, 7-9PM

Save the Date! 'Salmon People' Film Screening at Town Hall!

Join us for a screening of CAGJ's film Salmon People, co-produced with Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project and New Canoe Media, followed by a panel discussion about NW native opposition to GE salmon. Speakers include two of the leaders featured in the film, Valerie Segrest and Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation, and George Kimbrell, Legal Director at Center for Food Safety. To help publicize, or organize the event, please contact the Food Justice Project!

 

SAT JULY 13, 2019

Save the Date: 13th Annual SLEE Dinner

Put it on your calendar now, CAGJ's 13th annual SLEE Dinner will be held July 13! We are excited to be going back to the beautiful venue where we used to host it, St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in the Montlake neighborhood. Contact us if you would like to get event-planning, grassroots fundraising, auction procurement and/or volunteer coordination experience, either as a volunteer, or intern.

 

SAT NOV 30, 2019

Save the Date! 20th Anniversary of WTO Protests

We are excited that Town Hall Seattle has agreed to co-produce a day-long event on SAT Nov 30, the 20th anniversary of the people’s victory and shut-down of the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle! Contact us to get involved in planning the event, where we aim to learn from our history and build today’s movements for global justice.

 


CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS

The Green New Deal: Fulcrum for the Farm and Food Justice Movement?
In The Green New Deal: Fulcrum for the farm and food justice movement?, Food First makes the case that in order to radically reshape economic inequality, promote equity, and avert climate devastationfood and farm justice must be central features of the Green New Deal. The industrial food system emits the bulk of our greenhouse gasses while also being the nation's largest employer of low-wage jobs. Without addressing the structural solutions to our food system's injustices, the Green New Deal will fall short of its goals.  But this moment provides an opportunity for food, farm, climate and other movements to build political power in order to forge a Green New Deal rooted in community-based, democratic management.  "If farm and food justice demands are articulated in the Green New Deal, it could help us transform our food system…Compliant politicians and the unbridled accumulation of wealth got us into this mess. It's up to social movements to get us out."

Also check out the statement by Climate Justice Alliance on what must be included in a Green New Deal and Why Sustainable Agriculture Should Support a Green New Deal, by Elizabeth Henderson, who is active with Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.

CAGJ Book Review by CAGJ Member John Fawcett—Long
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World
If you are looking for a high-level assessment of current, elite philanthropy I highly recommend Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World released in 2018. The book presents a lucid and powerful critique of the market-focused and anti-democratic ideology of much of current philanthropy. Giridharadas is a former foreign correspondent and columnist for the New York Times and current journalism teacher at New York University. His argument looks at how rich and powerful philanthropists focus on helping the victims of our current economic and political system while failing to challenge this system, which also helped propel these philanthropists into the financial stratosphere. The press, he points out, portray these philanthropists as good, generous guys (mostly men) merely trying to help. Yet underneath the veneer of being “good guys”, their philanthropy is shifting decision making from the democratic public sector to the private sector. Giridharadas argues that the patterns of promoting “thought leaders” and funding programs and approaches which do not challenge the current economic status quo does not address fundamental issues such as income inequality and poverty while diminishing helpful institutions such as labor unions, governmental services, and public education. Read the rest of the book review.
 
Cop 24 Climate Talks: Progress or Failure?
In December delegates from the world’s nations gathered in Katowice, Poland to lay out the rules that will implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, policies that will affect the lives of billions of people. For a summary of the results of the summit, we turn to Andrew Kang-Bartlett, our partner with the US Food Sovereignty Alliance and Presbyterian Hunger Program, who writes: “The nations of the world agreed on many of the tricky parts of the Paris Agreement ‘rulebook’, including how governments will measure, report on and verify their emissions-cutting efforts. This provides standards and makes it harder for countries to wriggle out of their commitments. What wasn’t hammered out was how countries will step up their targets on cutting emissions. The latest climate report pointed to the urgency of keeping the planet to only 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) of warming compared to the pre-industrial baseline. The COP24 negotiations agreed on an action plan that predicts 3C warming, if the pledges are implemented. Scientists say a 3C increase would be disastrous, resulting in droughts, floods, sea level rises and the decline of agricultural productivity. In this respect, COP24 was an enormous failure. The poorest and most vulnerable countries came out feeling that too little is expected of industrialized countries. On top of that, developing countries agreed to standardized reporting, which is odious when insufficiently funded. One positive outcome was that the richest countries must be more transparent about financial support for those most affected by global warming.” Read more reports and see photos from the Climate March! Read and endorse the People’s Demands for Climate Justice.
 

New International Legal Instrument Approved by UN
UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas

On December 17, the United Nations adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Now that the declaration is an international legal instrument, La Via Campesina and its allies will mobilize to support regional and national implementation processes (CAGJ is affiliated with LVC via our membership in National Family Farm Coalition). The final vote represents the culmination of a historic process for rural communities. With 121 votes in favor, 8 votes against (including the US) and 54 abstentions, the forum representing 193 Member States ushered in a new promising chapter in the struggle for the rights of peasants and other rural communities throughout the world. The 17-year-long process, initiated by the international peasant movement La Via Campesina, supported by numerous social movements and allied organizations, has been a great source of inspiration and has strengthened the peasant communities in all regions of the globe. Read the full report from La Via Campesina.

 


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

 

SAT, JAN 12, 12 – 4:30pm
Artful pARTay
A happy winter to you all!! Artful Activism welcomes all skill levels in any art form, and have lots going on to jump into, from occasional participation to leadership opportunities. Join online here or come to art builds whenever you can! They are fun, no-skills-needed, community gatherings with food and good connections. There will be food, music and of course ART. Stay tuned for more information! For more info.
 
WED, JAN 16, 6:30 - 8:30pm
Interested in using your skills and connections to serve the Co-op? At our Meet & Greet you will have the opportunity to learn more about serving on the Board of Trustees or Nominating Committee and meet current members. In turn the Nominating Committee will be able to learn more about you and the strengths and vision you could bring to the Co-op! For more info
SATURDAY, JAN 19
9AM Rally at Cal Anderson Park, 10AM March to Seattle Center, 12-14PM Activism 101 Workshops at Seattle Center: We kick off a weekend of building power through community, protest, and activism with a rally. Hear from the region’s most powerful progressive womxn leaders as they speak about the greatest threats and most inspiring triumphs our communities have experienced in the past year. After the rally, we will march to Seattle Center, where we continue our day of service and learning. At Seattle Center, attend one of several "Activism 101" workshops designed to energize, illuminate, and activate our marchers for the work to come in 2019 and beyond.

SUNDAY, JAN 20, we build power through connection at the second annual Womxn Act on Seattle: a full day of food and supply drives, workshops, lectures, trainings, small groups, panel discussions and community-building events at Hubs and independent locations all around the region. Last year, we organized nearly 100 events, registered 100s of people to vote, and collected ONE TON of food for Food Lifeline. Let's make this year even better.
 
MON Jan 21, 9am-3pm
Honor MLK's vision of a Beloved Community with Hilltop Urban Gardens in Tacoma
Building on MLK's vision of nonviolent actions for radical change, we'll focus our day's work connecting with neighbors by doing a variety of activities - building new accessible raised bed gardens, starting seeds for HUG and local farmers, transplanting strawberries, spreading wood chips, and more! This year we will also be showing clips from the new documentary Ash Street. This is a multi-generational event and very family friendly. There will be indoor activities in case of stormy weather. Please register at the link below! Accessibility, other questions, or more information, email HUG, or call 253-642-7336. REGISTER to volunteer.
 
Ongoing through FEB 23rd
Sanctuary: Design for Belonging
The Center for Architecture and Design is holding an exhibit on resistance to anti-immigration laws. Aiming to raise awareness of the 60 million people who have been pushed out of their homes. It is an interactive exhibit with multi-media signs and structures presenting solutions to the global refugee crisis. For more info.
 
 

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Community Alliance for Global Justice
1322 S Bayview St, Ste 300
Seattle, WA 98144