Embracing LOVE in the Food System: Reimagining our Food System through the Lens of Food Sovereignty

New 8 week course in April & May: Register today!

Today’s food systems often treat food and its production process as if they are lifeless commodities and resources to be consumed. "Embracing LOVE in the Food System" is an eight-week intensive to explore how we could engage in each stage of the food system with a little more love. Any individuals (16+) interested in having loving relationships with land, animals, fish, plants, farm workers, food workers, and fisher folk, as well as Mother Earth, are invited to join. At the end, participants will be ready to take more actions towards building food sovereignty in their own communities, and contributing to a thriving local and global food economy!

Carefully curated reading and video materials are introduced weekly for self-paced learning, starting on April 1. Skill-building workshops are offered on Saturdays in Seattle, and on Sundays in Olympia, throughout April and May, 2024. Co-hosted by CAGJ and Everyone’s Food Sovereignty Alliance.

The course is an opportunity to gain and expand your:

knowledge on the connection between global and local food systems
concrete skills to ground food sovereignty in your own daily practices
network in the local community for shared interest
sense of oneness with Mother Earth

Registration is required! Click here.

TAKE ACTION

C2C: Support the Farmworkers Legislative Priorities | Bill 2226 | Protect Overtime Law

Community to Community (C2C) is supporting Bill 226 in Washington’s legislature to help improve the H-2A farm worker wage survey, and also allow the institution collecting the data, the Employment Security Department (ESD), to gather more data on the actual number and location of workers in the State. Contact your reps and tell them to support WA Bill 2226!

Did you know the average life span of a farmworker is 50 years old? The average US life span is 79 years! We want that to be true for our farmworkers.

Join us in supporting these pillars of our community:

Health: Ensure the health and wellbeing of farmworkers is protected and nurtured.
Self-determination: Secure capital, land and training to support farmworker economic development.
Representation: Guarantee farmworkers have the ability to shape government decisions- nothing about us without us.

Learn more from January Farmworker Tribunal: Watch Highlights from the Farmworkers Tribunal; Listen to the Farmworker Tribunal Report back.

NO TO BOEING AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE SUPPLIER SUMMIT

March 12 Mass Mobilization, Downtown Seattle

The Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit is being convened by Boeing to meet the demands of the United States proportionate to its rapidly and perpetually escalating violence all over the globe. Boeing, the third largest weapons transnational company, is desperate to benefit from the United State’s aggression, particularly as it continues to send billions of dollars worth of weaponry and jets to Israel to attack Gaza.

Join Resist US-Led War Seattle to protest WA state’s largest war profiteer, Boeing, on March 12 at Freeway Park at the WA Convention Center. Follow @resist.seattle on Instagram for updates or get involved by filling out this form: http://tinyurl.com/No2DSSSupport

CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS

FTC Rejects Kroger - Albertsons Proposed Megamerger!

February 26, 2024 - UFCW 3000

UFCW local unions representing more than 100,000 grocery store employees working at Albertsons and Kroger-owned stores in over a dozen states and the District of Columbia applaud the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decision to reject the proposed megamerger.

UFCW local unions have loudly and soundly opposed the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons since day one because the megamerger would have resulted in lost jobs, closed stores, food deserts, and higher prices with reduced food choices – all of this would have been destructive for workers, consumers, and entire communities. Read full press release and learn more in article co-authored by CAGJ’s Heather Day in Real Change.

The Davos-isation of the Climate COP

February 15, 2024 - GRAIN

UN climate talks are increasingly being used to cut carbon deals, not emissions. The latest Grain report critically examines the proceedings of COP28, held in Dubai in December 2023, highlighting a shift in focus from addressing climate change to facilitating corporate deals. Dubbed the “Davos-isation of COP,” the event saw a record attendance of 2,756 lobbyists from the fossil fuel and meat industries, overshadowing the presence of social movements and activists. In this article, GRAIN looks at how this corporate capture played out in the area of food and agriculture, the source of one-third of global emissions. Read more.

Battle for Biodiversity: AfCFTA’s Intellectual Property Protocol Unveiled

February 2024 - Liza Greene, Food Tank

The African Union is in the process of finalizing a draft protocol on intellectual property rights under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), sparking concerns among civil society organizations about the potential impacts on seed systems and the rights of smallholder farmers. While the AfCFTA, enacted in May 2019, seeks to dismantle global trade barriers and enhance intra-African trade as part of the AU Agenda 2063, the inclusion of plant varieties, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge within the intellectual property rights protocol has raised alarm. Critics argue that such regulations could undermine the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers across the continent, who are pivotal to Africa’s food security and economy. Read more.

Farmers’ Protests in Europe and the Deadend of Neoliberalism

February 25, 2024 - By Farmers Morgan Odya nd Vincent Delobe, Al Jazeera
European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC)

On February 26, the World Trade Organization (WTO) held its 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi. While few would make the connection between the proceedings at that summit and the plight of impoverished farmers across the world, there is indeed a direct and clear link between the two. Scrapping environmental protections will not solve the agricultural crisis in Europe. Read more.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

TUES MARCH 19 - 7AM PDT/10AM EDT / 3PM CET / 730PM IST

Reimagining Cotton: Stories from Benin, Brazil and India. A Press Forum for Journalists and Storytellers, Hosted by A Growing Culture

Hear directly from farmers who are going against the norm of conventional cotton farming, and working to regain their autonomy, culture and dignity. These communities show us what potential pathways for cotton can look like. Speakers will include: cotton farmers and local leaders from community-centered cotton projects in India, Brazil and Benin. For all inquiries, contact Josh To ([email protected]) and HyoJin Park ([email protected]) for story research material, expert interviews and more personalized support. SIGN-UP FOR ALL EVENTS HERE

Save the Date for the 2024 Tilth Conference!

November 14-16, Vancouver, WA

T50 – Rooted in History, Cultivating the Future. This year’s Tilth Conference, co-hosted by Tilth Alliance, Oregon Tilth and WSU and OSU Small Farms Programs, will celebrate 50 years of Tilth history, bringing together hundreds of farmers, organizations, food system activists, researchers and educators to learn, work and play in Vancouver, Washington on November 14, 15 and 16.

T50 will feature a half-day research symposium (to be organized collaboratively by the small farm teams at OSU and WSU), more than 25 lectures, workshops and panel discussions, a tradeshow featuring vendors that serve our PNW farmers, engaging keynote speakers, a policy roundtable, and a Taste of PNW Organic networking event that will help create connections between organic producers and buyers. More information, and requests for educational session proposals coming soon!

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