CAGJ HAPPENINGS

Notice our new look?
CAGJ's e-news and website got an update this month! Check our easier-to-read website at www.seattleglobaljustice.org for updates on news, events and opportunities to get involved!

TUES May 19, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Food Justice Project hosts TPP Workshop & Roundtable
Location: Central Co-op's Rochdale Room - 1900 E Madison St, Seattle. On May 19^th CAGJ's Food Justice Project is hosting a workshop and roundtable discussion on the links between trade policy and food sovereignty. We will give a short workshop highlighting the threat that the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership represents for our movements advocating for just food systems.  Following the presentation, we will have a round-table discussion, including several key players in our local food justice movement: Cascade Harvest Coalition, Central Co-op, Community to Community, Domestic Fair Trade Association, Got Green?, Real Food Challenge, Washington Fair Trade Coalition, and the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network. Our goal is to create a forum to start sharing ideas and strategy for mobilizing Washington’s food and farm community to resist the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other proposed trade pacts. We'd love for you to be a part of this event, and please spread the word to your networks! Share the Facebook event, and if you plan to attend please RSVP. NEW TO CAGJ? Come to our new member orientation 6 – 6:30pm, same location - please RSVP.

Saturday, August 1st: CAGJ's SLEE Dinner
Calling for Table Captains & Sponsors!
CAGJ’s annual food justice dinner will take place on August 1^st this year, and we are now seeking Sponsors, who donate much needed seed money in exchange for great benefits, and Table Captains, who fill a table for 10 guests! Contact Danielle to find out the details. Thanks to our 15 Spring quarter interns who are the engine behind SLEE – you rock!

Sign-on letter sent to Driscoll's in support of Sakuma Farm Workers
Community Alliance for Global Justice, Community to Community Development and the Domestic Fair Trade Association co-wrote an organizational sign-on letter in support of farm workers at Sakuma Bros. Farms. The letter was sent to the CEO of Driscoll’s on May 1^st, International Worker’s Day, with over 50 organizational signatures from across the food and farming system asking that Driscoll’s confirm that they will not source from Sakuma Brother’s Berry Farm until the labor dispute is ended through a fair contract with the farmworkers through their union, Las Familias Unidas por La Justicia. Driscoll’s is definitely feeling the public pressure on this important issue. Having already received a petition from Fair World Project with nearly 10,000 consumer signatures, and the boycott growing daily, this letter comes at a key moment in the struggle. See here for a copy of the letter with the final signatures. We look forward to sharing an update once a response is received. 

CAGJ represented at GMO-Free Europe Conference!
Phil Bereano is in Berlin this week representing AGRA Watch at the GMO-Free Europe Conference.  He will give a workshop about the Africa-US Food Sovereignty Strategy Summit AGRA Watch hosted this past October, and the activities of the partnership that developed therefrom, and on the issues surrounding contamination of food and crop imports by GMOs (which he worked on during meetings of the Codex Alementarius).  He will also meet with colleagues from Europe, Africa, and other regions to strategize around maintaining African food sovereignty from threats such as that posed by the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.

TAKE ACTION

Stop Fast Track: Week of Action May 1-9
The House of Representatives face a vote on Fast Track after recess! Fast Track would allow the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership to leapfrog customary legislative protocol and be put to a rapid "up or down" vote without a public hearing or amendments, and with limited floor debate. THIS is the time to make your voice heard! Washington Fair Trade Coalition is planning actions all this week (May 1-9) including phone banks and visits to Representatives offices. Visit this website to see the details for all the upcoming actions and mark your calendars to join the "Don't Walk Away from Workers" shoe deliveries Wednesday and Friday! Share the Facebook event. Continue to call your Representatives toll free at 1-888-804-8311 and tell them NO FAST TRACK. For more information, contact Washington Fair Trade Coalition at gillian@washingtonfairtrade.org or 206.227.3079.

Sign Petition: Stop Gates-funded Human Trials for GMO Banana
As a result of the Africa- US Food Sovereignty Summit held in October, CAGJ has launched a campaign against the genetically engineered banana in solidarity with our African partners. The Gates Foundation has sunk $15 million into a “super banana” supposedly to improve levels of Vitamin A. But this techno-fix will simply flood the Ugandan market with GMOs and destroy the many heritage varietals of bananas that are central to Ugandan culture. Right now, there are human testing trials of genetically engineered bananas going on at Iowa State University. Sign the petition today to the Dean of Iowa State University to show opposition to Gates' misguided attempts at pushing the GMO Banana. Read the full text of the petition here.

Support local farms - Sign up for a CSA!
It’s that time of year again! Sign up now for a local CSA program. Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) provide a great opportunity for you to support your local farmers while in turn receiving weekly boxes of freshly picked produce and other farm products grown with care. How it works: Choose your box size, pay a weekly or one-time fee (depending on the organization), and start eating delicious, organic, locally grown produce! Several CAGJ partners have CSA programs including Clean Greens, Local Roots Farm, Jubilee Farm as well as Seattle Tilth’s multi-producer CSA.  Find a great overview of local CSAs here!

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

MONTH OF MAY, Ongoing throughout the month
MayWorks 2015
The labor movement has been a driving force in the production of arts and culture, both in the United States and throughout the world, employing art and music to celebrate and affirm the many facets of the work we do. Every year, the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO celebrates the culture of workers with MayWorks. Various events will take place throughout the month of May. Some highlighted events include: Spoken Word Workshop, Mural Design Workshop, Art Walk, Job Fair? Exhibit Reception, and NW Folklife Festival Labor Show. A printable PDF program of MayWorks events can be found here: MayWorks 2015 Events Calendar. More info can be found at: MayWorks 2015

WED MAY 6, 6:00pm
Fair Trade Movie Night: Connected by Coffee
Central Co-op's Rochdale Room - 1900 E Madison Street. In January of 2013, two North American coffee roasters set out with a small film crew on a 1000-mile journey across Central America. On the way, they met with soldiers who had become growers, women who now own their own farms, and countless communities using coffee as a tool to create social change. This film will give a voice to the farmers and show the world that everyone who drinks coffee is connected in a very real way to those who grow it. This a FREE film and you must RSVP to hold your spot. You can RSVP HERE. More info can be found at: CENTRAL CO-OP

FRI MAY 8, 7:00pm
Meaningful Movies in Wallingford Presents: “INHABIT”
5019 Keystone Place N.,Seattle. INHABIT is a feature length documentary introducing permaculture: a design method that offers an ecological lens for solving issues related to agriculture, economics, governance, and on. The film presents a vast array of projects, concepts, and people, and it translates the diversity of permaculture into something that can be understood by an equally diverse audience. After the film there will be a Q&A and community conversation with Jessi Bloom & Dave Boehnlein, authors of the book "Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth". Admission is by donation. More info can be found at: MEANINGFUL MOVIES

FRI MAY 8, 7:30pm
The Ethical and Environmental Impacts of Eating Animals - Gene Baur and Kathryn Gillespie
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave at Seneca. Vegetarian and vegan lifestyles are on the rise, and Farm Sanctuary’s co-founder Gene Baur says eating ethically is imperative to protect animals from factory farm cruelties. He’ll talk with UW professor Kathryn Gillespie for a discussion of animal rights, the value of respecting nature, stewardship and more. They’ll share the lessons they’ve learned in their fields–how eating meat impacts animals; why being a conscious consumer leads to a happier, healthier lifestyle; and steps everyone can take to start on the path toward eating responsibly. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased here: BUY TICKETS. Doors open at 6:30pm. More info can be found at: TOWN HALL SEATTLE

FRI MAY 15, 7:00pm
UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences presents: The UW Climate Change Video Awards - with Annie Leonard and Guests
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave at Seneca. What does climate change mean to you? The UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences challenged Washington high school and undergraduate students to answer this prompt for the UW Climate Change Video Contest. Watch the top 10 student-directed shorts and see who snags the $5,000 grand prize in each category. A panel of climate scientists, filmmakers, and artists will judge the videos and discuss the work presented. Admission is FREE and you can REGISTER HERE. Doors open at 6:30pm. More info can be found at: TOWN HALL SEATTLE

SAT MAY 16, 10:00am - 4:30pm
ShellNo Kayak Flotilla
Location: Seacrest Marina Park, 1660 Harbor Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98126. We will converge on the Seattle waterfront by land and sea, transforming Terminal 5 and Harbor Island into a festival of resistance that will nonviolently block Shell’s preparations for Arctic drilling. While we confront Shell, we stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples and people of color who endure the brunt of extraction and climate chaos. We will unite in creative action, including a mass water-based blockade, and an event focused on working to honor our connections with this beautiful and complex planet. Kayak rentals will be available for folks who don't have boats (sliding scale). More info can be found on FACEBOOK and at SHELLNO.

MON MAY 18, TIME TBD
ShellNo Day of Mass Nonviolent Direct Action
Port of Seattle. A day of mass nonviolent direct action + rally to stop Arctic drilling and take a stand against companies like Shell who profit from climate chaos. More info can be found on FACEBOOK and at SHELLNO.