CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | May 5, 2021
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CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | May 5, 2021
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MAY E-News
CAGJ HAPPENINGS
TAKE ACTION
Support Nurturing Roots!
CAGJ NEWS &
ANALYSIS
COVID Vaccine Mobilizations
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
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
Social Media
Blogs CAGJ's blog Listservs |
Help CAGJ Earn 10k Membership Month Matching Grant!
Today is GiveBIG
Donate via GiveBIG or give directly to CAGJ if you prefer! Any amount is so appreciated, and all donations will help us get closer to our Membership Month goal of raising $20k and increasing our membership by 10%. As a grassroots, member-led organization, CAGJ relies on the support of donations from the community to make our organizing possible. If you are unable to donate, there are lots of other ways to get involved! Feel free to share our fundraising page with your circle, and join CAGJ’s community today by filling out the online Membership form - Thank You! CAGJ HAPPENINGS Monthly Food Justice Project Meeting
Orientation for new Members at 6pm: RSVP
Join us for our monthly community gathering to discuss more details on Rise Up! Summer School — the dreaming and the scheming continues as we inch closer to summer! 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. Get involved: Summer School Interest Form
Our Summer School Organizing Collective is hard at work making our free political education and leadership development program come alive again for this Summer, starting in mid-June and running through August! Summer School will feature our partnerships with Food Justice Project Solidarity Campaign partners and Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa. Registration will begin soon - if you want to learn more, fill out our Interest Form, and we will be in touch with the details!
Fundraiser for 3rd Edition: “Recipes for a New Normal”
We are only $300 from our 2K goal for CAGJ's new Zine! We need your support to pay the contributing artists and to print the Zine, which brings together the voices, wisdom, and dreams of food-loving creatives to share reflections in all mediums on food sovereignty and movement building during these unprecedented times. Contributors shared lessons in world-building learned throughout 2020, with a special focus on (re)connection through food during a time of disconnection.
Donate today, and receive early access to the digital Zine! We also take donations via Venmo @cagj-seattle (please note “zine” in the description). Join CAGJ's Steering Committee
Looking for a way to support one of your favorite organizations in a crucial way, with a few hours of volunteer work per month? Look no further! The Treasurer is the chief financial officer of the organization, accountable to the Steering Committee. We ask for a minimum one-year commitment. The purpose of this volunteer position is to safeguard CAGJ funds and assure that they are spent in a financially responsible manner, consistent with the policies and budgets of the Steering Committee. Read the full job description, and contact Heather if you are interested!
CAGJ's 15th Annual Virtual SLEE Gala &
20th Anniversary Party with Raj Patel as Keynote
It's that time again! We're thrilled to announce our 15th annual virtual SLEE Gala and 20th Anniversary Party. Save the date: SAT October 9th, 2021, 6 - 7:30 PM PST, for what we expect to be a virtual event, although that might change as we get closer! We are excited to hear from Raj Patel about the context of CAGJ’s 20 years of organizing, from trade justice to food sovereignty to philanthrocapitalism, in his keynote, “Is this What Democracy Looks Like? A Tale of Two Seattles.” Want to sponsor SLEE? Email [email protected]. There are plenty of other ways to get involved with SLEE: keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to be a Table Captain, Community Partner, or cherished volunteer.
TAKE ACTION Sign the Petition for Global Vaccine Access
Urge Biden to Reverse Trump's Deadly Obstruction of Global COVID-19 Vaccines Add your name to increase timely global access to COVID vaccines and treatments. Please see more details below in the News & Analysis section. Sign the petition here!
Red Black & Green Barn Ranch is an underutilized parcel of land in Auburn — owned by Seattle Parks. Basketball star Elgin Baylor originally owned the 40-acres of land and transferred it to the City of Seattle to, among other things, host camps for inner-city children. But the parcel has been sitting vacant for multiple years. Nurturing Roots Farm is leading a collaborative effort to transform the ranch into a Black-led farm, healing space, and foundation for youth empowerment. Organizing and working tirelessly with community partners for over a year, this incredible cause has gained thousands upon thousands of community allies in support. Help support activating 40 acres of vacant farm land to Nurturing Roots farm for Black agriculture.
Sign the petition: Tell the Mayor and City Council to transfer the Red Barn Ranch Property to Nurturing Roots Farm now! CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS Blog Post: Report-back on Covid Vaccine Trade Justice Mobilizations
In recent weeks, CAGJ/AGRA Watch has been mobilizing our membership in support of global vaccine access. We developed an infographic, testified at Seattle City Council and to Members of Congress, and organized a rally at the Gates Foundation (check out photos). Read our full blog post to learn more! Leadership from our Partners FUJ & C2C
Due to advocacy by Familias Unidas por la Justicia and many others, Washington will soon become the first state in the nation to bring the 40-hour work week and overtime pay to all agricultural employees, some of the nation’s lowest-paid workers. The historic bill is currently awaiting Washington Governor Inslee's signature. As reported in The Stand, “Dairy workers, unlike other agricultural workers, would immediately be due overtime pay after 40 hours of work in a week, in keeping with the state Supreme Court’s decision in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Brothers Dairy, Inc. In that case, the court ruled that dairy workers are due overtime pay ‘because they worked long hours in conditions dangerous to life and deleterious to their health.’ Workers who are parties in that suit could be due back pay and damages, with interest, from DeRuyter Brothers Dairy, pending further action by the trial court.”
FUJ and C2C are also opposing the Farmworker Modernization Act. “According to Edgar Franks, Political Director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, this is an expansion of the H2A Act, a false illusion of a pathway to citizenship and a means to break migrant worker unions, lower wages, and make it easier to fire, deport, and blacklist migrant workers.” Listen to the podcast with Edgar Franks.
Prerequisites for engaging with UN Food Systems Summit
The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), scheduled to take place in September 2021 in New York, is being boycotted by most social movement organizations. Initially Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) declined an invitation to participate. However AFSA recently announced that we would be prepared to engage with the Summit, dependant upon the UNFSS agreeing to several conditions including: A transition to agroecology should be central to any outcomes of the UNFSS, based on the 13 principles of agroecology outlined in the High Level Panel of Experts for Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) report on agroecology and how these can effectively be implemented globally in support of the Sustainable Development Goal; The formal FSS process should establish an additional track to focus on the transformation of corporate food systems to food sovereignty, as also demanded by the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSM) of the Committee on World Food Security. Read AFSA's statement.
For more details on the Summit, read the article co-authored by AGRA Watch member Matt Canfield: UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Dismantling Democracy and Resetting Corporate Control of Food Systems. Two Frontline Grocery Workers Elected to Board of PCC
In a remarkable rebuke of PCC’s corporate trajectory, members of the nation’s largest food co-op just elected two frontline grocery workers to the board of trustees. Thank you to everyone who voted and rallied to earn this victory! With record turnout, PCC members voted for Donna Rasmussen and Laurae McIntye to join the 9-person board which is dominated by corporate executives from other industries. PCC announced the results today in a taciturn email to members that did not include the final vote count numbers. “PCC’s board is focused on opening new stores and big remodels, which we support. But our co-op can expand without losing its core mission and overstressing our existing stores and staff,” said Laurae McIntyre, who works at the Fremont PCC. “With our voices on the board, the decisions that steer the future of our co-op can be informed by our one-on-one conversations with our customers, and working with the beautiful food from our farmers and providers.” Earlier this year PCC’s CEO Suzy Monford publicly opposed hazard pay for 1,800 of her own frontline workers, and urged a veto of Seattle’s law in a letter to Mayor Durkan.
FRI May 7 - FRI May 14
Tilth Alliance's May Edible Plant Sale
Plants offered at the Edible Plant Sale are the best varieties to grow successfully in our Pacific Northwest climate. You’ll find an amazing selection of tantalizing fruits and veggies to choose from, as well as culinary herbs, edible flowers, pollinator plants, and even gardening supplies that will help maximize your harvest all year round. More info.
SUN May 16, 2:00 PM PDT
Six Political Myths Used to Deflect and Discredit Demands for Social Justice
In a livestream presentation with Nesrine Malik and novelist Ece Temelkuran, Malik shares from her book We Need New Stories: The Myths That Subvert Freedom, looking at how what she believes to be the lie that American values are under assault creates a solid obfuscation from the real problems. By interweaving reporting with a frank and no-holds-barred analysis of American history and politics, Malik offers a compelling account of how calls to preserve “free speech” are used against the vulnerable; how a fixation with “wokeness,” “political correctness,” and “cancel culture” is in fact an organized and well-funded campaign by elites; and how the fear of racial minorities and their “identity politics” obscures the biggest threat of all–white terrorism. More info.
MAY 19, 6:00 PM PDT
New Rules for Fossil Fuels: Comment Writing Workshop!
The Department of Ecology is developing a new rule on evaluating fossil fuel projects. Climate, health and justice are connected in this process and it's up to us to communicate why that matters. The draft of this rule is coming out in late spring, followed by a public comment period. This is our moment to share why we care deeply and what Ecology must do to ensure better protections. Join 350 Seattle to learn how to participate in the comment period. They'll cover what makes a good comment, share suggested talking points and prepare for the big hearing! More info.
SAT MAY 22, 10:30AM – 12:30PM PDT
Asian American Women Rising: NOT The Model Minority
Hosted by the Wing Luke Museum, local experts of AAPI history and hate crimes will speak to the recent increased nationwide violence against Asian Americans and how to be an ally here in Seattle. More info.
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GiveBIG is HERE! The annual event started yesterday and ends tonight at midnight (May 5th). THANKS to UFCW Local 21 and generous members, all donations up to 10k are matched so NOW IS THE TIME to donate to CAGJ and help support our grassroots work toward a more just global food system. 