MON OCT 12, time & place TBD

Artful Actions to Stop GE Salmon on Indigenous People's Day To find out more details: Sign up here

2020 is a battleground for the ocean. AquaBounty, a generally unknown brand in the U.S., plans to release Genetically Engineered (GE) Salmon into the U.S market this month. In addition, Cargill, the largest private company in the U.S., is pushing for a federal bill (the AQUAA Act) which would expand offshore aquaculture into federal waters, confine hundreds of thousands of farmed fish, and forever change our last public commons - the ocean.

CAGJ joins Uprooted & Rising on Monday October 12, Indigenous People's Day, to protest the impending release of GE salmon in solidarity with Northwest tribes through artful collective action. To get involved in the OCT 12 actions or learn more, please fill out this form: bit.ly/unrocean

TUES OCT 20, 6:30 - 8:30 PM PT

Food Justice ZINE Project Meeting!

Please register to receive the ZOOM link

Come get involved as we begin working on our new food justice Zine! We will be continuing to brainstorm and game plan for a creative zine in the works, focused on all that 2020 has revealed and taught us about injustice, resilience, and capacity for change. We are inspired by the first two editions of CAGJ's publication, Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice (which you may purchase online, or we can mail you a free copy! Email Heather to request: [email protected]). No worries if you haven't been to past meetings - we are just getting started and need your help! If you haven't already, fill out the interest form. Email [email protected] with any questions.

TUES OCT 27, 6:30 - 8:30 PM PT

Monthly Food Justice Project Meeting

Please register to receive the ZOOM link

FJP Meetings are a great way to get involved in CAGJ. Because of our annual SLEE event on OCT 17, we will meet on the 4th Tuesday instead of the 3rd. This month, we will be learning more about our Stop GE Salmon Campaign! GE salmon is scheduled to come to markets this month so we will be doing a virtual action in solidarity with Northwest Tribes and Uprooted&Rising. If you missed our webinar with updates from the campaign, check out the recording HERE or our website.

As always, new volunteers are invited to our orientation via ZOOM at 6pm: Please email us to let us know you're attending the orientation. All are welcome! For more info, email the Food Justice Project.

AGRA Watch to Cornell Alliance for Science:

#WeWillNotBeCoopted!

On October 1st, the Cornell Alliance for Science hosted a webinar on Agroecology featuring Nassib Mugwanya, the subject of the case study we recently published, Messengers of Gates’ Agenda. Given the Alliance’s established record of attacking agroecology and acting as a mouthpiece for the biotech industry, we were concerned that the presentation would be another opportunity for CAS to distort and misrepresent agroecology. AGRA Watch wrote this blog - Experts in agroecology withdraw from Cornell Alliance for Science Agroecology Webinar, cite bias of CAS- to give critical context for the event, and to announce our Twitterstorm!

Twitterstorm

Many others joined CAGJ live on Twitter under the hashtag #WeWillNotBeCoopted to bring attention to the Alliance's communications strategy which seeks to associate agricultural biotechnology with "science" and agroecology with "ideology," painting the latter as a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa counters this fundamentally erroneous claim: "agroecology provides local solutions to local problems" (AFSA). Agroecology is not static - it builds on traditional knowledge, it listens to and learns from the intelligence of nature, and its power lies in the hands of the people. Join AGRA Watch to speak out against this growing and well-funded PR campaign in solidarity with landworkers across the globe!

TAKE ACTION

VOTE!

Check your Registration, WA Deadline OCT 26

Have you registered to vote? Have you checked your registration status? Make a plan: Early voting | Mail in voting. "Here’s what we’re NOT gonna do: give up. We don’t give up when people need us most. That’s not who we are. Our democracy is at a faint heartbeat; it was broken even before Trump. But so long as we can save lives, I believe we have an obligation to do so as we build a new world.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Take Action to #BlockCorporateSalmon

Watch CAGJ Webinar: Standing with NW Triibes for Food Sovereignty Featuring President Fawn Sharp, Quinault Indian Nation & Valerie Segrest, Muckleshoot, Native American Agriculture Fun

On September 23, we had the privilege of hearing from Valerie Segrest and Fawn Sharp, two indigenous women who are leading efforts to block genetically engineered (GE) salmon in the Northwest, and globally. Yasmin Ahmed, an organizer with Uprooted and Rising (UNR), situated the struggle against GE salmon within the broader context of problems with industrial aquaculture, corporate control, and the power of universities. CAGJ’s Rise Up! Summer School and UNR organizers co-presented our campaigns to stop GE salmon, and to uplift all of the incredible work being done around the country by Tribes to build indigenous Food Sovereignty.

Take Action to Oppose GE Salmon

Join the UNR #BlockCorporateSalmon actions around the country on OCT 12 (fill out this short form to receive details bit.ly/unrocean) & follow them on Instagram
Sign Friends of the Earth petition to demand food service companies and restaurants buy sustainable seafood and say no to GMO salmon
Share CAGJ’s ‘Salmon People’ Film: cagj.org/salmonpeople
Tell your Congress-people: Co-sponsor the Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act
Don’t buy GE Salmon (when/if it comes to market, although it may not even be labeled!)

Sign Petition: Support Climate Alliance #ResilientFuture Platform

Join CAGJ, Familias Unidas por la Justicia, UFCW21, and many others in demanding bold action from WA state lawmakers towards a climate-resilient future by signing on to the Climate Alliance's #ResilientFuture platform. Our broad coalition is calling for state leaders to invest in long-term resilience of at-risk workers, low-income communities, communities of color, and tribal communities through People-Focused Solutions; Equitable, Participatory Decision-Making Process; Progressive revenue sources that drive down pollution; Climate-Resilient Investments; and Clean & Just Approaches. Sign the petition today and please share widely!

Open Letter to Kroger: Lift the Ban on Black Lives Matter

The Kroger company, which owns local supermarket chains QFC and Fred Meyer, has banned workers from wearing Black Lives Matter buttons or masks, including buttons provided to workers by UFCW 21. Kroger needs to hear from you that it is hypocritical to say that Black Lives Matter and then ban BLM in their stores. They need to immediately allow Black Lives Matter to be worn by workers, and to meet with Black and Brown workers and community to learn about the struggles of working and shopping in their stores. Learn more.

TAKE ACTION! Sign the open letter for individuals and organizations

CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS

Rosalinda Guillen 2020 James Beard Leadership Award Winner

Rosalinda Guillen, Founder and Executive Director, Community to Community Development (C2C) has been awarded the 2020 James Beard Leadership Award. Watch this beautiful video about Rosalinda other women Farmworkers leading C2C’s organizing. The oldest of eight, Guillen was born in Texas and spent her first decade in Coahuila, Mexico. Her family emigrated to LaConner, Washington in 1960 and she began working as a farmworker in the fields in Skagit County at the age of 10. Guillen has worked within the labor movement with Caesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers of America and has represented farmworkers in ongoing dialogues of immigration issues, labor rights, trade agreements, and strengthening the food sovereignty movement. As executive director of C2C, Rosalinda is dedicated to building a broader base of support for rural communities and sustainable agriculture policies that ensure equity and healthy communities for farmworkers. Learn more.

Africa at the Crossroads: Time to Abandon Failing Green Revolution By Million Belay and Timothy A. Wise

As COVID-19 threatens farming communities across Africa already struggling with climate change, the continent is at a crossroads. Will its people and their governments continue trying to replicate industrial farming models promoted by developed countries? Or will they move boldly into the uncertain future, embracing ecological agriculture? It is time to choose. Africa is projected to overtake South Asia by 2030 as the region with the greatest number of hungry people. An alarming 250 million people in Africa now suffer from “undernourishment,” the U.N. term for chronic hunger. If policies do not change, experts project that number to soar to 433 million in 2030. The evidence is now convincing that the Green Revolution model of agriculture, with its commercial seeds and synthetic fertilizers, has failed to bring progress for Africa’s farmers. Since 2006, under the banner of the billion-dollar Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA), that strategy has had an unprecedented opportunity to generate improved productivity, incomes, and food security for small-scale farmers. African governments have spent billions of dollars subsidizing and promoting the adoption of these imported technologies. According to a recent report, “False Promises.” evidence from AGRA’s 13 countries indicates that it is taking Africa in the wrong direction. Productivity has improved marginally, and only for a few chosen crops such as maize. Others have withered in a drought of neglect from donor agencies and government leaders. In AGRA’s 13 focus countries, the production of millet, a hearty, nutritious and climate-resilient grain, fell 24% while yields declined 21%. This leaves poor farmers with less crop diversity in their fields and less nutritious food on their children’s plates. Read the rest of the article.

Rogue Capitalisms and the Financialization of Territories and Nature

FIAN International, together with the Transnational Institute and Focus on the Global South, just published ‘Rogue Capitalism and the Financialization of Territories and Nature’ where we explore how global finance has transformed land and nature into financial assets, driving violence and environmental destruction. This report looks into the architecture of global finance and its tactics to extract wealth from natural resources, but also into how social movements and communities worldwide are mobilizing against this trend. Some highlights include: Finance capitalism has put a price tag on land and natural resources: The estimated value of the global real estate market is $217 trillion, making land and housing a key target for financial actors; Banks, funds, asset management companies and ultra-rich individuals use trillions of dollars gambling with land and other natural resources to make a profit. They operate through a small number of tax havens and offshore financial centers to avoid regulation and taxation; As more than 20 examples contained in the report show, the extraction of wealth from natural resources happens through a broad range of mechanisms, ranging from the expansion of agricultural monocultures to intensive aquaculture, infrastructure projects, real estate development, mining and carbon markets. The common feature is the dispossession of local people and environmental destruction; Big finance is a key driver of climate change: the current rush for land is fueling deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time as market-based mitigation schemes provide new investment opportunities, as illustrated by countries like Brazil and Indonesia; Big data and digital technologies play a key role in opening up new markets and investment opportunities for the global elites and finance firms like BlackRock. Find the publication here.

CAGJ Anti-Racism Resources

Uplift BIPOC Food Sovereignty Leadership

CAGJ has created a new web-page for Anti-Racism Resources. In the age of COVID-19 and the global uprising for Black lives, resource lists abound; we hope ours will be useful to our members and the broader community for raising consciousness to take action. The resource list includes: Anti-Racism & Black History Articles/Resources; BIPOC Farms & Food Sovereignty Organizations; Anti-Racism & Black Liberation Organizations. Our focus in compiling these resources is to highlight how racism shapes our food system, and to uplift the leadership of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) who are organized and building food sovereignty in resistance to racial capitalism. CAGJ has previously shared information about Black-owned farms with whom we have had the privilege to collaborate, with the intention of encouraging our members to redistributing resources their way. Here we expand that list: SUPPORT THESE FARMS & ORGANIZATIONS - Thank you! Check it out and please share widely.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

THU Oct 8, 5:00-6:00pm

Policy on a Plate: The Green New Deal and Food

In an essay published by Jacobin, Raj Patel and Jim Goodman wrote, “The food system is breaking the planet. Nearly a quarter of anthropogenic greenhouse gases are driven by how we eat, and it’s impossible to tackle climate change without transforming agriculture. So the Green New Deal is wise to call for “a more sustainable food system that ensures universal access to healthy food”…Under a Green New Deal that helped Americans eat better, more cash might flow back to the land. And if the federal government were paying more for better food, and understood that well-managed soil can sequester carbon, sustainable farming might be a way to end America’s rural poverty.” So why is it that members of the American Farm Bureau, the National Farmers Union, and the majority of the United States Senate have criticized or opposed the proposal? In a panel led by veteran journalist Samuel Fromartz, join author Raj Patel, farm activist Jim Goodman, and agricultural scholar Garrett Graddy-Lovelace for a conversation about why the policy proposed in the Green New Deal is essential for the future of food. Tickets are free but registration is required. online zoom link will be emailed day of the event. More info.

THU Oct 8, 9:00am

The Social Movements Lab

The Social Movements Lab hosted by Michael Hardt & Sandro Mezzadra kicks off LIVE with Idris Robinson on The George Floyd Rebellions & the Struggle for Black Lives. Learn more.

FRI Oct 16, 6:00pm

Just Speak: An Evening of Abolitionist Storytelling

Save the date for Just Speak: A Night of Abolitionist Teaching & Storytelling, presented by Surge Reproductive Justice. This event is F R E E & for all ages. Just Speak is a quarterly art & reproductive justice storytelling series, created by BIPOC for BIPOC. Learn more.

SAT Oct 17, 10:00am-4:00pm

Rainier Beach Harvest Festival

We’re celebrating the farm’s bountiful production season and sharing fall traditions from many cultures of our Rainier Beach community. Stop by the farm to pick up your activity kit, and then join us for the virtual event on Facebook Live, where we’ll showcase live activity demonstrations, performances and a tour of the farm. Learn more.

SAT Oct 17, 6:00 - 7:00pm

CAGJ's 14th Annual SLEE Virtual Gala!

Music, CAGJ story-telling, Keynote Chef Tarik Abdullah, Wild Salmon, Silent Auction & more! Tickets & more info.

FRI Oct 30, 7:30pm

Ask Marion: The Politics of Food and Nutrition

Join Town Hall Seattle in discussion with food politics writer Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University. Her research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, with an emphasis on the role of food industry influence. She joins us with selections from her book Let’s Ask Marion: What You Need to Know about the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health. Learn more.

MON-TUES Nov 9-10, in Lynnwood, WA

The Tilth Conference

This year's Tilth Conference will be held virtually November 9-10. The deadline to register is Sunday, Nov. 1. All of our keynote speeches, sessions, networking activities and trade show booths will be held online through a platform called Hopin. Over the course of two afternoons, farmers, food system professionals, researchers and educators have the opportunity to learn from one another and share best practices, catch up with old friends, and make new connections.Covering a range of scales, experience levels, and interests, knowledgeable presenters speak on topics such as crop and livestock production, pest and weed management, marketing, certifications, land access, and opportunities and challenges in sustainable and organic agriculture. Browse the conference schedule. A virtual industry trade show will take place throughout the event, along with keynote speeches and social events providing attendees with numerous networking opportunities.