CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | MARCH 7, 2023
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CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | MARCH 7, 2023
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MARCH E-News
CAGJ STAFF PROFILE
CAGJ HAPPENINGS
TAKE ACTION
CAGJ NEWS &
ANALYSIS
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
In Gmail our emails sometimes end up in the Promotions tab. If you can’t find one of our emails, take a look there. You can drag it to your Primary inbox and that will let Gmail know that this is not a marketing email. You can also add to your Contacts. Get Involved! Upcoming CAGJ Meetings:
Monthly Organizing Meetings: 3rd Tues/month, 6:30 - 8:30; for more info email us.
AGRA Watch: time varies, for more info email us
Social Media
Blogs CAGJ's blog Listservs |
AGRA Watch Film Launch: Rich Appetites: How Big Philanthropy is Shaping the Future of Food in Africa
Register here!
Guest Speakers: Daniel Maingi, Kenya Food Rights Alliance; Kirubel Tadele, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa; Ashley Fent, producer and AGRAWatch research coordinator
Location: In-person at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave Seattle 98101. Virtual option forthcoming. Suggested donation: $5 AGRA Watch is thrilled to publicly launch our short film series, Rich Appetites, which 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. Watch the trailer. Following the screening of the films, we will be joined for a Q&A with Daniel Maingi of Kenya Food Rights Alliance, Kirubel Tadele of Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, and Ashley Fent, of CAGJ’s AGRA Watch Campaign. Their discussion will speak to the current debates over sustainable agriculture and agribusiness in Africa, in which The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation play a central role. Register now so you don't miss it: tinyurl.com/RichAppetitesTownHall! AGRA Watch co-produced the series with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and a South African animation studio, Greenhouse Cartoons. 
For the month of March, we are featuring our intern, Meagan G.! She has been working with us since October of last year while she pursues her Masters in Social Work at UW, and has been enjoying her time. Meagan shared that to her, “Food sovereignty as I know it is people’s right to determine and facilitate their own food systems. I think a lot about how if we all practiced and acknowledged food sovereignty as our way of life, the world would be a lot better, and not just for us.” Get to know Meagan more in her profile on our website. CAGJ HAPPENINGS Register here: tinyurl.com/SeedSov
Co-hosted by Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch & US Food Sovereignty Alliance
You are invited to the 2nd part of our series to strengthen solidarity with African Food Sovereignty Movements, and to build transnational strategies to defend and promote native seeds. Members of the Seed Working Group of Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) will give a report on their plans for 2023, including the goal of organizing a continental campaign for seed sovereignty. Speakers will include Frances Davies, Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity, and Famara Diédhiou, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa. The US food sovereignty movement has a role to play in countering the aggressive push for seed privatization on the continent by USAID, AGRA (formerly known as Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and the Gates Foundation. Thus, we aim to host a conversation with US activists aiming to work together transnationally with our African counterparts. The first part of the series was the Report-back (watch on YouTube) on Feb. 1 about the Nov. 2022 Africa Food Systems Conference in Cameroon from Malik Yakini and Heather Day.
Monthly Organizing Meeting: Art & Activism with Community to Community Artivism Team & Edgar Franks
Orientation for new Members at 6pm: RSVP
Register here for meeting Zoom link!
Join us on Tues, March 21 for our second Art & Activism webinar! This month we will be joined by the artivism team at Community to Community (C2C), headed by Brenda Bentley, and Edgar Franks, of farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ). The C2C art team and Edgar Franks (FUJ Political Director and photographer) have collaborated extensively to put on successful actions that honor the heritage and spirit of the immigrant and farmworker communities they represent. Through their organizing they won union recognition for the workers at Sakuma Bros. Farm in Skagit Valley, negotiated powerful contracts for FUJ, put on farmworker tribunals attended by local leaders, and fought to pass crucial legislation like the farmworker overtime bill.
The Art & Activism Speaker series is part of CAGJ’s Monthly Organizing Meetings, and will inspire participants to participate in our Spring Art-Making Workshops in support of our movement partners. See more info below-- and help us organize the workshops! (email deb@cagj.org for more info)
New members are welcome to join at 6:00 pm for a CAGJ orientation led by director Heather Day. Please RSVP for orientation by emailing us at [email protected]. Thanks!
Save the Dates: Speakers & Art-Making Workshops
The Art & Activism Speaker series is part of CAGJ’s Monthly Organizing Meetings. It provides a foundation for our Spring Art-Marking Workshops in April and May. The series centers on art as a movement-building tool, and different presenters will discuss how they’ve used art to win campaigns, cultivate community, and capture social issues. Participants are encouraged to come with questions, and to help organize the art workshops with us after the discussion!
The art-making workshops will include screen printing, block printing, and banner-making in support of our organizing partners. We'd love help organizing them - email deb@cagj.org for more info!
Tuesday Speaker Series via Zoom
Art-making Workshops
Location: Welcome Table Church (CAGJ Office)
SAVE THE DATE: SUN April 30
May Day Farmworker March in Skagit Valley
CAGJ will coordinate car-pools to join the annual Skagit Valley Farmworker March for May Day, in solidarity with our partners Community to Community and Familias Unidas por la Justicia. More details forthcoming!
TAKE ACTION No Carbon Offsets in the Farm Bill!
This year Congress is gearing up to pass the Farm Bill and dirty energy interests are teaming up with Big Ag to push through policies that will support carbon trading and offset schemes and as well as dirty energy such as factory farm gas, ethanol, fossil fuel-based fertilizers and even capture scams that will prop up massive pipeline infrastructure. Take Action: Please Support Principles for No Offsets in the Farm Bill! Click here to add your name and organization. Several organizations worked collaboratively to create these principles, including CAGJ partners National Family Farm Coalition and Family Farm Defenders, along with Food & Water Watch, Indigenous Environmental Network, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. We aim to build opposition to these scams in the Farm Bill that will undermine indigenous rights, harm our climate, promote dirty energy, hurt communities, and prop up big agricultural interest. Please sign on to support these principles. If you would like to get more involved, you can let us know when you complete the form. Together we can create a more sustainable food and energy system that puts people, farmers, and our climate above dirty energy and big ag. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions about these principles. For more information about farm bill priorities, take a look at National Family Farm Coalition's 2023 Farm Bill Platform. Sign the UFCW 3000 Petition: Add your name!
Stop the Kroger Albertsons Merger and Cash Grab
On November 3, 26 organizations, including UFCW 3000, wrote a formal letter to the Federal Trade Commission raising serious concerns regarding the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons. That letter concluded, “The bottom line is that this proposed merger is bad for workers, bad for consumers, bad for communities, bad for the economy—indeed, bad for everyone not associated with Cerberus Capital Management or owning shares in these two companies. We urge you to take immediate action to stop the special dividend payment and block this merger altogether.” Learn more:
Take Action
CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS Feb 14, by Timothy Wise, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
U.S. efforts to bully Mexico over its announced restrictions on imports of genetically-modified (GM) corn intensified last week, as a U.S. Trade Representative official gave the Mexican government less than a week “to explain the science behind Mexico’s planned bans on genetically modified corn and glyphosate herbicide,” according to Reuters. Read the full article. February 22, 2023 - Lisa Held, Civil Eats
United Farmworkers (UFW) and Farmworker Justice fought hard for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and were devastated when it didn’t pass, while many other farmworker groups were vehemently opposed to the legislation and relieved by its defeat. This article from Civil Eats takes a look inside the complicated failure of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Read more.
February 21, 2023 - The Oakland Institute
This report from the Oakland Institute exposes the financial interests and the dynamics at play leading to further concentration of land and finance in Ukraine. The report also sounds the alarm that Ukraine’s crippling debt is being used as a leverage by the financial institutions to drive post-war reconstruction towards further privatization and liberalization reforms in several sectors, including agriculture. Read more. THURS March 9, 6:30pm PST
Fim: The Lost Salmon
Join Meaningful Movies Port Townsend and Native Connections Action Group in our celebration of Billy Frank Jr. Day with our screening of The Lost Salmon. In The Lost Salmon, filmmaker Shane Anderson set out on a two-year journey across Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho to document some of the last wild “springers,” the historical and ongoing causes of their declining numbers, and their profound relationship to the people and places of the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, Anderson tells the story of a recent scientific breakthrough that provides crucial new insights into salmon genetics and offers an important path forward to help save the king of salmon before they are lost forever. More info and Zoom registration here.
THURS March 16, 6pm PDT
Films: SAVING NATIVE PLANTS TO SAVE OURSELVES
Join Mt Baker and West Seattle Meaningful Movies for a conversation about the movies INSECT APOCALYPSE and WHY LAWNS MUST DIE. Watch these two short videos on your own, in advance of our event, and then join us on Zoom for a community conversation about the films. We will be joined by climate activist and native plant hero, Andrea O’Ferrall, Chris Fuentes and Bibi Powell. They will share tips on how to get rid of your grass, and suggestions for native, waterwise plant options. Afterwards, join local Northwest plant enthusiasts for a discussion about what we can do to support a healthy environment in our neighborhoods and backyards. More info here.
SAT March 18, 9am - 3pm PST
March Edible Plant Sale
Is it really time to garden already? Short answer: yes! March is a great month in the Pacific Northwest to begin planting an edible garden to enjoy all year round. We’re excited to bring back Tilth Alliance’s March Edible Plant Sale, where you can stock up on spring plant starts and enjoy the festive event atmosphere. The March Edible Plant Sale is on Saturday, March 18, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands (5513 S Cloverdale St, Seattle 98118). Our garden educators have carefully chosen varieties that grow well in our Maritime Northwest climate, so come choose from a wide selection of organically, sustainably and locally grown edible plant starts. Spring is an ideal time to plant because nature takes care of the watering for you and temperatures are warm enough to start tending to our gardens. You will find: Easy-to-grow plants for beginners such as lettuce, greens and peas. Favorites such as collards, kale, Swiss chard and strawberries. 7 varieties of onions, ideally suited to plant in spring to maximize leafy growth before bulb formation begins during our long summer days. Heirloom plants that will excite more experienced gardeners including Red Express cabbage, Ole Timey Blues collards, Walla Walla onions and Marshall red romaine lettuce. Irresistible highlights for foodies include edible flowers, bulbing fennel, purple scallions, Romanesco cauliflower and dozens of culinary herbs. March Edible Plant Sale - Tilth Alliance
WED March 22, 5pm PDT
Social Justice Salon: Equitable Eating
How can we build a more just and resilient local food system? Between bare grocery store shelves and skyrocketing food costs, the last few years have made it abundantly clear just how much we rely on a fragile global system that treats food as a commodity instead of a basic human right. But what if we had a local food system capable of resisting the forces of global trade while sustaining both food producers and those who now struggle to get the healthy, culturally appropriate food they deserve? Solid Ground welcomes audiences to a community conversation with a panel of urban farmers, food justice advocates, Solid Ground program staff, and other leaders. Our panel will be followed by a Q&A session about what’s already being done to create a more resilient food system here in King County, and how you can support the innovative programs in place across our region. More info and registration here.
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