Community Alliance for Global Justice News

[eridani]

Community Alliance for Global Justice
Newsletter, September 2006

Upcoming Events

Saturday, October 14 – ¡Adelante!: A Celebration of Latin American Social Movements

3-10pm at University Friends Meetinghouse, 4001 9th Ave NE, Seattle, 98105. (Nearest bus routes 66, 70, 71, 72, 73.) This daylong event will feature discussion of specific social movements throughout the hemisphere, as well as the broad issues that unite them in their struggle for positive change. English to Spanish and Spanish to English translation will be available. Panels will include a session about Women's leadership in Latin American social movements, Indigenous Americans' and the struggle for self-determination, and the changing face of Democracy.

For more information contact the Seattle CISPES office at 206-325-5494.

Wednesday, October. 4- Granito de Arena, a Film by Jill Friedberg
Central Cinema, 21st and Union, Seattle
Wed. Oct. 4, 2006 from 6-8 pm

Presented by Puget Sound Rethinking Schools and UW Educators for Social Justice

Film at 6:00, followed by discussion & Oaxaca update

For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico. Granito de Arena is the story of that resistance featuring ¬the stories of hundreds of thousands of public school teachers whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle for social and economic justice in Mexico's public schools.

This documentary by Jill Freidberg (This Is What Democracy Looks Like) explores the teachers' movement through interviews as well as footage of strikes, protests, and, most memorable, the occupation of a public teacher's college by government forces. This film is an inspiring glimpse into the power of collective action!

Contact Information for this Event: Sarah Heller McFarlane, shmcfar {at} earthlink.net

Black Gold, A Film by Speak-It Films, Opening in Theaters October 6th

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

This film will be playing at the Landmark Metro October 6th. Check your local listings for times!

CAGJ Movies in the Park a Real Hit

CAGJ is pleased to announce that the Movie in the Park Event, featuring Banana Split was a big success. Over 80 people attended, raising more than a $1,000 for CAGJ. We would like to thank again all of the people who attended and those who donated the delicious desserts! Particular thanks go to Mark Dworkin and Mellisa Young for previewing their upcoming film, and Rick Turner for his technical support!

Take Action- Here Comes the Peru FTA!

Experienced Congress-watchers are predicting that the Republican leadership will try to slip the Peru FTA through Congress the first week of the lame duck session, which begins November 13. Since Congress will adjourn this week, this means we are less than 1 legislative week away from the vote.

Please call your representatives in the next few days and tell them there is STILL no good reason to support the NAFTA model when applied to Peru or other developing countries!

Call Congress: http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2535

Write to Congress: http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5112

Talking points:

1) No enforceable labor standards: The Peru FTA does not include enforceable international labor standards, even though the State Department has reported rampant use of child labor in Peru. The Bush Administration – not Peru ! – said “no” to including enforceable standards, signaling that they aren't really interested in a "level playing field” for human rights. Congress, however, should insist on one.

2) No protection for unique and important ecological resources: Peru contains part of the upper Amazon Basin, one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet. Yet the Peru FTA contains no provisions to insure the country's unique and important ecological resources are not damaged by careless logging, mining, and oil development. This is not sustainable.

3) Unfair to small farmers and indigenous people: Just as NAFTA drove 1.5 million Campesinos off their land, the Peru FTA will devastate small Peruvian farmers and their local communities. Trade agreements should support sustainable development and not put family farmers – either here or abroad - at risk.

4) Continues the flawed NAFTA model: The Peru FTA continues the same flawed NAFTA model. NAFTA caused unnecessary hardship to US *and* Mexican workers, and it's the wrong model for creating a sustainable, fair global economy. We need a “timeout!”

For more info, go to: www.citizenstrade.org/peru.php


Korean-US FTA: They came, they saw, and we kicked butt

The week of Sept 6-9, 2006 found government negotiators from South Korea and the US in Seattle working on a Free Trade Agreement called the “KorUS FTA”. They were met by hundreds of Americans and Koreans who came together to stand for fair trade during these negotiations, including about 60 trade unionists, farmers, and community members from Korea.

The week was a great success, with active and thoughtful protests, teach-ins, and other events occurring each day of the negotiations. The largest event was a high-energy labor rally led by the AFL-CIO and KCTU (Korean trade union), which was attended by around 1,000 people.

By the end of the week, it was clear we had helped to slow momentum on the KorUS FTA, with the Bush Administration negotiators reporting “disappointment” in their progress (disappointment for them is good news for us!). In addition, we had some tremendous opportunities to get our fair trade message out to the public and through the media, including radio and TV interviews, national press articles, etc. This means our voices were heard both here in the US, but perhaps more importantly in Korea, where it can help embolden Koreans to continue to resist this misguided “free trade” deal.

For a great OP-ED on the KorUS by Dave Freiboth of KCLC and his Korean counterpart, see: “Another Bad Backroom Deal” http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=korea07&date=20060907

CAGJ Board Members Needed

CAGJ needs a few good people with a passion for fair trade and global economic justice to join the Board. Board members set the vision and goals of the organization and work to assure that the resources and leadership needed to accomplish them are available. You will be able to use your skills to help mobilize our community and public officials. You should be able to spend 8-10 hours a month as a board member. If you are interested, or want to learn more, please contact Anna Brandt.at abrandt {at} ywcaworks.org or call [phone].

[eridani]

1. June and July 2007 events

May 2007 CAGJ Update:

We need your help! - McDermott Town Hall Meeting, 5/30

Tickets Available: “Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere!” Dinner & Fair


We need your help! - McDermott Town Hall Meeting, 5/30 @ 7pm

Rep. Jim McDermott is holding a town hall meeting on Wed, May 30 in Seattle - can you come and tell him we want fair trade not “Free trade”?

When: Wed May 30, 7-9pm
Where: University Heights Center - Room 209
5031 University Way NE (50th and University Way), Seattle

With the new Congress, we thought we were going to get fair trade policy this spring. But last week, the House Democratic Leadership cut a behind-closed-doors “deal” with the Bush Administration. This deal represents a cave-in by the Democrats to corporate interests. (How do we know? All the big-business interests have announced they support the deal.)



Unbelievably, McDermott says he too is happy with this secret deal!



See his flimsy arguments and some good responses at: www.Huffingtonpost.com/rep-jim-mcdermott/real-progress-on-trade_b_48809.html



And for more details on the secret deal, check out the Public Citizen website: http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/ and David Sirota: http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota/.



Meanwhile please join us at the Town Hall meeting to demand answers to these questions:



1) Why isn’t Congress setting up a fair, public and inclusive process to fix our country's trade policy? We can’t afford any more of the same NAFTA- CAFTA- SHafta!



2) Why is Congress cutting secret deals with the Bush Administration and big business? This is NOT the path to getting us to the right trade policy!



3) Will McDermott declare his opposition to Fast Track? Fast Track is up for renewal this summer - and Fast Track is what brought us NAFTA, the WTO and other "free trade" disasters. We can’t have a Fast Track to a failed trade policy!







Tickets to CAGJ's Dinner are now officially ON SALE online!



http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/16127

*Paper tickets also available, call 206.405.4600
*Please forward widely!



Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere! Dinner & Fair

July 21, 2007 at the Polish Home: 1714 18th Ave, Seattle
Buy tickets to the Dinner today! The Fair is open to the public.

Community Alliance for Global Justice invites you to help build alternatives to the corporate agribusiness model, which are healthier for our environment, our communities and ourselves. Nourish both mind and body while enjoying a delicious dinner made entirely from foods produced by Pacific Northwest farmers, ranchers and fisher folk using sustainable and just practices. To support small producers in other countries, the meal will incorporate Fair Trade foods, including rice, bananas, chocolate, coffee, and tea.

The dinner will be prepared by local chefs and Seattle Culinary Academy students. WA state wines and beer will also be served.

Program:

o Dinner 7 – 9pm

o Keynote speaker: Rosalinda Guillen, founder of Bellingham-based Community to Community Development and food justice activist

o Discussions at each table with local farmers!

o Dessert auction!

o How you can get involved in globalizing the local food revolution!

Come to the Fair before the dinner: 4 – 6:30 pm. Open to the public!

Want to learn more about how to support alternatives to corporate-led globalization in Seattle and everywhere? Fair Trade, global justice and immigrant rights groups, and food and farming-related non-profit organizations will share information about food justice issues, the Fair Trade movement, local sustainability and gardening resources, and how to work for better trade, immigration and farm policy. Locally and fairly made food and other goods will also be available from small farmers, local businesses, and Fair Trade organizations!

Your support of this event helps CAGJ build our Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere! Campaign. CAGJ works locally for justice in the global economy. Our campaign aims to educate and mobilize people to support the right of everyone, everywhere, to healthy local economies premised on respect for the environment and all workers in the food chain, including small farmers, farm workers, immigrants and grocery store workers: this is food justice.

CAGJ is excited to partner with Seattle BALLE and the Seattle Culinary Academy, the first cooking academy in the US to teach future chefs about sustainability issues through their partnerships with farms in the Skagit Valley, and their new greenhouse adjacent to Seattle Central.

Free child-care available. Free parking at Mt. Zion Baptist Church (19th & Madison).

Questions, or want to help organize? Contact Heather Day at hrd99 {at} igc.org or call CAGJ at 206.405.4600 to leave a message.

[eridani]

2. June 2007 Newsletter

Community Alliance for Global Justice

*CAGJ Organizing Update: SLEE Dinner & Fair

GET INVOLVED! email hrd99 {at} igc.org or come to our...

Next Organizing Meeting: Tomorrow , Tuesday June 12, at Heather Day's house

*********************

CAGJ Organizing Update: “SLEE Dinner & Fair”

CAGJ has been moving full steam ahead with our organizing for the July 21 Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere Fair & Dinner. We have been getting very positive responses from local food-related and worker rights groups and farms. Full Circle Farms is our first farm to co-sponsor - see below for more about their great work!

Can you help out?

*TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE EVENT & BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

Rates: $35 Support a Farmer/$25/$10 Youth, Senior, Student rate/$5 kids

Please support at $35 if you can - this rate is good for dinner for yourself, and one farmer. Local Farmers will be our honored guests, and will join discussions at each table during the dinner!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/16127


*Soliciting Dessert donations for the dessert auction - have a favorite place you can recommend - do you bake???
*Can you put up posters at your work, grocery store, around your neighborhood?
*Help us solicit food donations?


Next Organizing Meeting: Tuesday June 12, at Heather Day's house
6pm Potluck 6:30 Meeting starts
403 29th Ave East, cross street is Harrison, in Madison Valley.

Food Justice Update

We are very happy that Full Circle Farms is supporting our event! You can read more about the farmers who run FCF, Andrew Stout & Wendy Monroe in this US News article which also quotes CAGJ activist Sage Van Wing! "The rapidly growing passion for locally grown produce from farmers like Stout and his wife, Wendy Munroe, is one sign of just how nervous Americans have become about the state of food on their plate." http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/070520/28food.htm

Andrew Stout was also a featured speaker at a recent news conference hosted by Seattle's Mayor on the climate implications of the industrial food system and economic benefits of buying locally. You can hear the Mayor and Stout, who makes a rousing pitch for the Food Policy Council, at this link: www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=1060730


Trade Justice Update & Take Action!

In May, Reps Rangel and Pelosi cut a deal with the Bushies that supposedly means concerns with labor and environment have been dealt with for 2 of the 4 pending trade deals (Panama and Peru, not Colombia and Korea), paving the way for their approval. Only problem is that the deal is still secret, and no progressive organizations have come out in favor it, while business interests have. So why has McDermott indicated his support for this deal Several CAGJ activists attended McD's recent Town Hall in Seattle, and Heather Day asked him about his position on the Rangel/Pelosi deal and Fast Track. His response did little to clarify what, if anything, he knew about the deal, but he seemed satisfied that, if the Free Trade Agreements are indeed re-opened and changed, that the commitments made would mean that workers and the environment would be respected. We have our doubts! The whole NAFTA model is anti-worker and anti-democracy and anti-food safety! We want trade justice!



Call your Rep! Take a moment to call or email your representatives to ask them to Reveal the Deal. Good questions include: "What exactly is in the Rangel Deal on trade policy?" "Why are we giving Bush any more power right now?" "Why are we moving any trade agreements forward without first building a national consensus on trade policy?" and the kicker: "Will you commit to opposing Fast Track?"


Read More:

Dems Sell Out on Trade: Nation article
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070604/editors


Dems Cut Trade Deal with Bush; Poised to Throw American Workers Under Bus

By Lori Wallach and Todd Tucker
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/52132/


SLAP Victory on UW campus

In our last newsletter we asked CAGJ members to attend a SLAP action at the UW. Here is a report written by student activist Rod Palmquist about their successful organizing! "The UW has now officially signed-on to the Designated Suppliers Program! ...51 days ago was when SLAP first started escalating our campaign in the BJ&B Funeral protest, 43 days ago was the DSP Mock-Wedding in Red Square, and 36 days ago was when we delivered letters and met with Emmert dressed in garbage-bags. Lastly, 22 days ago was when we held a kick ass rally with over 150 people and the first banner-drop on campus that I can remember... Additionally, I think it is especially important to recognize our achievements considering the nature of our campaign. Specifically, we have waged a successful attack on a deeply entrenched corporate power structure, and on an indifferent campus bureaucracy that is notorious for its unresponsiveness. Literally -- without the very existence of SLAP as an organization and the hard work of everyone involved in this campaign, President Emmert would not have issued any sort of statement addressing the UW's use of sweatshop labor in the production of Husky apparel. Now, due to OUR pressure, the UW's statement supporting the DSP has added a ton of strength to the national anti-sweatshop movement, and it puts campus activists who will follow us in an awesome position to get the University to actually implement the program in the future. And yeah, the most significant point to remember is the amount of support that our campaign is going to give to thousands of workers around the world."



Youtube links to action at President Emmert's office:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH0bSfpNHiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihKkjcA4SQw



*The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) is a joint initiative of Jobs with Justice and the United States Student Association that engages student organizations in economic justice campaigns.

[eridani]

3. July and August events

1. Fair & Dinner a huge success!

Thank you to everyone who made the Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere Fair and Dinner an amazing success on July 21! Despite having to move indoors due to poor weather, the Fair was very well attended. The “Red Emma’s Dance” Band played their bluegrass tunes while Washington wines and beers and appetizers were served, and multiple organizations shared information with the public. Over 300 people came for the dinner, and unfortunately we had to turn some people away because we didn’t have any more room! Rosalinda Guillen’s inspiring key-note clearly laid out a vision of food justice and the role of farmworkers in a sustainable food system. The delicious dinner was made entirely from produce donated by local farmers, as well as fish from Loki and Wilson Fish, ribs from Agua Verde Café and Fair Trade rice cakes from Seattle Culinary Academy. Diners enjoyed discussions during the meal, which was prepared by volunteer chefs, led by Travis English, and served family style. CAGJ encouraged everyone to become members, or to renew, and to take action for a new Farm Bill and against Fast-Track and new NAFTAs. We also proposed the possibility of a study group in the near future, as well as visits to farms and wineries. The event closed with an awesome dessert auction, through which we raised over $2200! Overall the event grossed over $10,000, far surpassing our expectations.

The dinner was also successful in the sense that there was a tremendous sense of community and just an overall great vibe. One member wrote,

“Congrats on a fabulous job with the CAGJ dinner! Everyone I met and spoke with had an amazing time and really felt as if they were at the "birth" of an historic campaign!”

Most importantly, CAGJ members have been re-energized, and a core group of dedicated volunteers is eager to figure out the next step of CAGJ’s organizing for food and trade justice. We thank all the courageous volunteers who did an amazing job organizing over the past six months, as well as the incredible people who worked so hard the day of the event to make everything run so smoothly. We also want to acknowledge our co-organizer for their significant contributions of time and energy, Seattle BALLE, and the generous donations of food from the farms, restaurants and other donors listed below - please thank them the next time you see them at the farmers market, or when you eat in their restaurants or bakeries!


Our next Organizing Meeting will be Tuesday September 11, 6 – 8pm, at the CAGJ office: 606 Maynard Ave South, room 252.


2. Take Action for Immigrant Rights: “Comfortless Food” Vigil

Every second Saturday of the month, the Aguila del Norte Immigrant Justice project and Community to Community organize a vigil to support families visiting their loved ones at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) Detention Center in Tacoma. The next vigil will be next Saturday, August 11, 11 – 4pm, with a theme of “Comfortless Food,” calling attention to the fact that people in the privately owned I.C.E. facility are not being given enough food to eat. CAGJ is organizing a contingent to join the next vigil, Saturday August 11 at NW Detention Center, at 1623 E. J Street in Tacoma, 11 - 4:00 pm. Please call CAGJ if you want to go – we will arrange car-pooling: 206.405.4600


Read Tacoma Weekly article about July vigil, “Activists hold vigil on Tideflats for human rights”: 2007http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/902


Directions: From south of Tacoma: take exit #134 to Portland Avenue, turn left on Portland Avenue. Continue on Portland Avenue for about a mile, and bear left onto St. Paul Ave. Turn left onto East J Street and proceed to the detention center. From the North of Tacoma: Take exit #135 to Portland Avenue, turn right. The rest of the directions are the same as above.


3. Joe Swazja running for City Council Position No. 1

Long time CAGJ member and fair trade activist, Joe Swazja, is running for Seattle City Council Position No. 1. While CAGJ cannot endorse Joe’s candidacy, we wanted to inform our members that a kindred spirit is in this important race! Joe has worked with the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) since 1993. As an educator in Seattle’s public schools, he initiated a sister schools project with a school in East Timor and developed the Fair Trade Coffee Project to help his students learn about the issues surrounding globalization. Joe’s history of activism took off when he lived in Colombia as a student researching World Bank policies, where he witnessed the often dire consequences of US foreign and international economic policy. Joe was a founder of the Seattle International Human Rights Coalition, and he once received the United Nations Association of Seattle’s Human Rights Award.

4. Buy CAGJ’s beautiful new tshirt with Nikki McClure’s art!

CAGJ’s new “food justice” tshirt, designed by CAGJ activist Sage Van Wing, features the gorgeous Nikki McClure image of a woman harvesting corn that we have used for our other SLEE publicity; McClure generously donated her artwork to CAGJ for this project. It says “Food” in English, and then in about 20 other languages; CAGJ is spelled out on the bottom in a way that it reads “Food Justice”. If you would like a tshirt, email Heather Day: hrd99 {at} igc.org. They are $18, printed by well-paid workers in environmentally friendly ways, on organic cotton. We have men’s classic tshirts and women’s cut tshirts.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080607E.shtml


5. CAGJ THANKS THE FOLLOWING FARMERS, BAKERS, CHEESE-MAKERS, WINE-MAKERS, FISHER FOLK, FAIR TRADE GROUPS, FOOD COOPS AND RESTAURANTS WHO HELPED TO MAKE THE DINNER & FAIR SUCH A SUCCESS!

Entrée (Tamarind Ribs) and Dessert:
Agua Verde Café & Paddle Club

Produce:
Blueberry Hill Berries, Yakima
Desert Grown
Farmer Merle Smith, Selah
Full Circle Farms, Carnation
Holmquist Hazelnuts, Lynden
Homestead Organic Produce, Quince
Kirsop Farm, Tumwater
Mother Flight Farm, Mt. Vernon
Oxbow Farm, Carnation
Pilchuck Gardens, Snohomish
Rama Farm, Bridgeport
Tonemaker Family Orchard, Bellevue
Willie Greens Organic Farm, Monroe


Fish:
LOKI Fish Co.
Wilson Fish

Bread:

Microbakery, Lake Forest Park
Tall Grass Bakery, Seattle
La Panzanella, Lynwood
Essential Baking Co., Seattle

Cheese:

Appel Farm, Ferndale
Samish Bay, Bow

Wine:

Bainbridge Island Winery
Hoodsport Winery, Hoodsport
Lopez Island Winery
Vashon Winery

Fair Trade:
Alter Eco: Thai Fair Trade Rice
Equal Exchange: Fair Trade Sugar and Coffee
Choice Teas

Desserts:
Essential Baking Co.
Flying Apron Sustainable Bakery
Leah’s Bakery and Catering

Le Fournil
Montlake Mousse
Theo Chocolates
Voila Bistro

Whatever we needed:
PCC
Madison Market

[eridani]

4. September/October events

1. CAGJ Members Ashley Fent and Allan Paulson in the News: Picking fruit for Food-banks, and Connecting Trade & Immigrant Rights

This summer CAGJ was informed by our local fair trade allies about a march being planned here against the extension of NAFTA called the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (learn more about " Deep NAFTA" here: http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/). While the groups organizing the march share our concerns about the impacts of free trade on low wage workers, their primary reason for mobilizing is to stop migration by any means possible, including the use of vigilantes (they are closely allied with the Minutemen), and they misleadingly call themselves "Washingtonians for Immigration Reform" (see their web-site: http://www.wfir.org/index.html). To confront this dangerous undermining of our fair trade message, we decided on a strategy to inform the public of the important connections between free trade and migration through an Op-ed; to document the anti-immigrant march by being present and ready to inform the media of our opposition without calling undue attention to the march (some folks disagreed with this strategy and mobilized a confrontational presence); and to pursue increased education within the labor movement, to address the concerns of low-wage workers. If you have not already, please read the excellent Op-ed, and the article about the march, including this statement by CAGJ member, and President of the WA Fair Trade Coalition, Allan Paulson, "There are real problems with free trade, but let's not blame immigrants."

Op-ed, "Fair trade movement under threat": http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/328341_immig21.html

Article about march: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=march19m&date=20070819

On a more positive note, Ashley Fent volunteered for the Community Fruit Tree Harvest this summer, picking fruit for local food banks. She was featured in this article in the Seattle PI: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/328216_fruit19.html

2. Report on “Comfortless Food” Vigil

Several CAGJ members joined the monthly vigil at the Northwest Detention Center coordinated by Community to Community on August 11; Reid Mukai wrote this report: We arrived at the Northwest Detention Center at around noon. The facility is located in a rather depressing decrepit industrial neighborhood and resembles a high security prison, as it has no windows, is shaped like a box, and is surrounded by barbed wire fence as well as regular foot and vehicle patrols. Not long after we arrived two women from another organization joined us. One of them had a husband in detention and under the threat of deportation just because of a relatively minor offense with no due process and despite having no prior criminal record. From the brief communications she had with her husband it seems the food they are given are of poor quality, there is not much for them to do inside, and they are given only a minimal amount of time to walk around within the barbwire fence outdoors, not unlike a prison. As a few others joined our group we noticed that the guards at the detention facility were much like those of modern prisons as well in the sense that prisons are becoming increasingly privatized and run by contractors. A few of them began making their presence known, watching us from the parking lot and within the yard. Unlike traditional state police or prison guard uniforms they wore the full paramilitary outfits commonly seen on contracted mercenaries like Blackwater. By the time the vigil had built up to about a dozen or so people there were more than a dozen heavily armed guards to "defend" the detention center. Nine of them guarded the parking lot entrance complete with bullet proof vests, automatic weapons, armored helmets, 4 foot batons and riot shields, while several "protected" the interior of the area fenced in with barbwire while a lookout peered at us from the rooftop. Since they were not-so-subtly attempting to intimidate us and were probably expecting us to run for our lives, some of us deflated the growing tension in the air by breaking out our secret weapon: delicious picnic food including piroshkies, manapuas (aka humbows) and coconut pastries, which we shared with the peaceful but defiant participants of the vigil.

While causing a seemingly high alert response from heavily armed militants might have given those of us at the vigil an elevated sense of heroism and valor, I feel more could have been done, for example we needed more large signs to communicate our message to visitors and guards. The public needs to know what these detention centers are really like. How they are prisons not for criminals but for average hard working people seeking a better life. There also could have been better coordination between activist groups and outreach to the general public. However, we did learn a lot from this vigil from talking to the other activists who had much information about the detention center as well as the recent wave of immigration raids by federal agents (which unfortunately is ignored by most corporate news media). Perhaps if there's twice as many of us at the next vigil (and a BBQ grill) they'll be forced to mobilize a motorcade of armored tanks to defend themselves in a similarly disproportionate manner.

3. Food/Farm Bill Update - Take Action!

Right now the 2007 Farm bill is a little more than one-third of the way through the second half of the legislative process. The first half consisted of information gathering and hearings to decide on what will and what won't be included in the bill. This part of the process was completed in early spring. The second half of the process consists of the actual drafting of bill in which it must go through House consideration, Senate consideration and meetings to resolve differences between the two versions of the bill. The House passed it's version of the bill on July 27th, completing the first third of the final drafting process. The Senate is expected to vote on it's version in late September or early October. Reaction from most food and evironmental activists to the House draft of the 2007 Farm Bill have been skeptical. While it would add $1.6 billion for environmental and pest detection programs as well as programs to support farmer's markets and provide more fresh produce in school lunch programs, it would leave intact billions more in subsidies for corn, wheat, rice and soybeans producers, the crops grown by the nation's biggest food processing companies. It also contained a subsidy for tobacco. The problem associated with subsidies for these crops include creating incentives to increase the use of pesticides and fertilizers, encouraging large-scale farms and monocultures of single grain crops over millions of acres in the Midwest, raising land prices (which benefit landowners over farmers), and making it difficult for newer and smaller farms to stay in business.

According to MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, the new farm bill includes $26 billion for foreign aid, but the entire amount will reward the few agribusiness giants that grow, package, and ship federal food aid. MADRE supports a proposal by the Bush Administration to transfer about $300 million in subsidies that will enable food to be purchased by local farmers in the country or region in need. The UN World Food Program found that it was able to obtain 75 percent more corn to feed hungry families in Africa between 2001 and 2005 by buying corn from local farmers in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia instead of from US factory farms. Link to the MADRE action alert: http://www.madre.org/articles/int/foodalert6aug07.html

The Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group has also issued a recent action alert urging Senate Agriculture Comittee members to support the Comprehensive Stewardship Incentives Program(CSIP), which is part of Chairman Tom Harkin's (D-IA) Farm Bill proposal. This would support farmers who improve and maintain sustainable farming systems that create less pollution, produce healthy soil and wildlife habitats, increase biodiversity, and reduce energy consumption. Link to the CSIP action alert: http://www.msawg.org/ActionCenter/CSIP_Action_Alert_8_31_07.doc

4. Trade Update: Pending FTAs – will the NAFTA model be extended or rejected?

Congress has just returned from its summer recess, which means that the fate of the four pending Free Trace Agreements (FTAs) - Peru, Panama, Colombia, and South Korea - may soon be decided. While timing and order of negotiations for these FTAs is uncertain, it is likely that at least the Peru agreement will come up as early as next week. The Peru and Panama FTAs appear to have the most support in Congress, in part due to the changes included relating to the protection of labor rights, the environment, and access to medicines (the so-called “Rangel deal”). However, the Washington Fair Trade Coalition is urging Washington members of Congress to vote against all four FTAs, because all are still based on the flawed NAFTA model and improvements have not gone far enough.

Please take a moment to call your member of Congress and tell them that now’s the time to fight for real fair trade policy, not a slightly altered version of a failed model!

To contact your Congress members: www.house.gov/writerep/

For more information about why we oppose these FTAs, see WA Fair Trade Coalition's website: http://www.washingtonfairtrade.org/

5. UW and Seattle U students take action to support Guatemalan maquila workers

On Monday August 20, over twenty students from the University of Washington and Seattle University, along with other community members, protested the on-going union busting that is occuring at Cimatextiles and Choishin, two unionized garment factories in Guatemala that until recently, supplied apparel for Talbots, Liz Claiborne and Macy's. The protest started with students picketing outside of Talbots, holding signs and chanting. Life-sized silhouettes representing the fired workers were then lined up outside the store, with quotes from the women trade unionists attached for shoppers and passers-by to read. Students were also gathering signatures for a petition demanding that Talbots resource orders from Cimatextiles and Choishin, and act immediately to ensure that the union workers are rehired. "We want Talbots, Liz Claiborne, and Macy's to stand up for the human rights of workers in one of the few unionized garment factories in Guatemala and the world, and not source their apparel from cheaper sweatshops," said Travis Thomas, a senior majoring in Economics at the UW.

Students from the University of Washington who are currently on the ground in Guatemala, were informed by the workers that Choishin, a factory which had previously experienced decreased orders but had remained open, was closed down by management the previous day. As of now, both factories have been ostensibly closed and union workers have been illegally laid off without receiving full severance, with management citing concerns of decreased orders. However, at the same time that this has been happening, the management of the factories are actually carrying on production covertly, with a new non-unionized workforce. Although brands in the United States were contacted about this crisis almost five months ago, and well before the deadlines to place their fall orders, they have done nothing to ensure that the factories stay open and the union workers keep their jobs. "I find it appalling that a company like Talbots, which has built its reputation on selling women's apparel, is doing nothing to support vulnerable women workers in Guatemala, who are facing union-busting and are being blacklisted as we speak," said Rod Palmquist, a senior at UW.


More information available at: http://maquilaemergency.blogspot.com.


{b]Saturday, September 15, 2007, 4:00 p.m.
A Washington Delegation for the 2007 United States Social Forum (USSF)
Presents…. Our REPORT BACK "STORY TELLING SESSIONS"

Overview of the USSF 2007 in Atlanta, GA, Sharing booths, slideshows, performances, Dialogues about movement building, interactive discussions, Presentations, food, and more!!

Location: Rainier Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 835 Yesler Way Seattle 98104 (near Broadway)

For more information, call 206-856-0324


Two Benefits for Heather Day's research of public water for "Other Worlds", a project documenting successful alternatives to neoliberalism

Thursday Sept 27: Screening of "Thirst" documentary at Agua Verde Cafe: 7pm, $10 donation (pay at the door)

Sunday Sept 30: Guided Moon-light Paddle of Seattle's waterways from Agua Verde: 7-9pm, $40 minimum donation

Reservation required for kayaking: contact Travis English at 545.8570, extension 23 (see more info about tours: http://www.aguaverde.com/kayak.htm)

Location: Both events take place at Agua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club, 1303 NE Boat Street, in the U-district

CAGJ's part-time Director, Heather Day, is currently researching successfully run public water utilities around the world for the Other Worlds project (please see more info below). The purpose of her research is to demonstrate that privatization of water is not necessary or desirable. These events are fundraisers to help pay for travel to Asia this Fall to document the public water utility in Penang, Malaysia. The funds will also be used to support the writing of a chapter for the book, tentatively titled Tomorrow, Hacienda Victoria: Globalization, Gender, and Just Economies.

ABOUT 'THIRST': The world is poised on the brink of epochal changes in how water is stored, used, and valued. Will these changes provide clean water to the billions of people who need it? Or save the child who dies every eight seconds from contaminated water? Examining water conflicts on three continents, "Thirst" shows that popular opposition to the privatization of water sparks remarkable coalitions that cross partisan lines. When it comes to water, many people demand local control and fear the arrival of multinational corporations with large lobbying budgets and little local loyalty...In many ways, the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, India's Rajasthan state, and Stockton, California, occupy very different rungs of the global economic ladder. But in one respect at least, these communities are strikingly similar. They each found themselves threatened with losing public control of their water resources to multinational corporations. And they each fought long odds in resisting the juggernaut of globalization, which is driving the worldwide privatization of public resources, utilities, and services..."Thirst" shows that the individual struggles of these communities raise the same profound questions: Is water a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace?

ABOUT OTHER WORLDS: htttp://www.otherworldsarepossible.org

Other Worlds is a collaborative of writers, artists, and organizers, based in the U.S., South Africa, and Mexico. Other Worlds has three key objectives: 1)To incite hope by informing the U.S. and Latin American public that another world is not only possible, but that it is in the making. To inform the public with concrete information about alternative systems, especially through a gender lens; 2) To galvanize people to become involved in making economic change around them and help them know how. To share concrete models and lessons for work at home, and to help organize the newly interested by empowering them with those already engaged, and with strategies and tools; 3) To generate international support and resources for the alternative movements and programs.

Other Worlds is documenting and will publicize through multiple media (a book, short films, a traveling photo exhibit, radio spots, magazine articles, popular education materials in Spanish, organizing materials) fourteen case studies of parallel economies. Each study highlights one movement or region, and is primarily narrated by women within it. The studies focus on how economic integration is impacting the region; how poverty impacts the weakest, especially women and their children; how the alternatives were constructed and how they function; what challenges they face; and what lessons can be drawn for others working for a more just world. In the hopes of reaching beyond a small set of converts, the final work will be popular and accessible.

[eridani]

5. October 2007 newsletter

CAGJ October 2007 Newsletter


Take Action:

-TAKE ACTION for a better Farm Bill! CALL Senator Cantwell TODAY (Wed or Thursday oct 3&4)
-Tell Congress to Oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement!
-Eat Local - & Fair Trade - for Thanksgiving campaign!


Reports & Good News:

-Costa Rica’s historic referendum on CAFTA Oct 7
-Tully's Announces 100% Fair Trade Certified Espresso!
-Naomi Klein, renowned global justice activist and journalist, spoke in Seattle Sept 27


Upcoming Events

-Oct 3&4 (TONIGHT & TOMORROW), 7 and 9:30pm, Central Cinema: Seattle premiere of new documentary by Jill Friedberg, "A Little Bit of So Much Truth"/ "Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad"

-Oct 13, 1- 4pm, Melt I.C.E. - Peaceful Protest and Vigil for Human Rights

-Nov 3, Re-imagine Global Community: a benefit concert for the International Partnerships for Creative Change and Community (iPC3) Fellowship program



CAGJ Update

Announcing CAGJ's new Steering Committee and Organizing Committees for next 6 months!

CAGJ is excited to announce the formation of a new, interim structure headed by a Steering Committee, which will lead CAGJ's organizing in this transitional phase of our work over the next 6 months. We want to thank the following individuals who have played key roles in CAGJ these past few months, and who have agreed to re-invigorate CAGJ's Advisory Board: Bill Aal, Phil Bereano, Shelly Gillespie, Derek Hoshiko and Nancy Kool.

CAGJ members are invited to join one of three organizing committees which will carry out our important work this Fall:

Strategic Development Committee: provide leadership of CAGJ's strategic planning process;

Outreach Committee: catalyze the momentum from the Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere Dinner and Fair, and reach out to CAGJ members through events this Fall;

Organizational Development Committee: support staff in executing her fundraising plan, and strategize ways of ensuring CAGJ's continued healthy development.

Please contact CAGJ Director, Heather Day, if you are interested in joining CAGJ's leadership or committees! hrd99 {at} igc.org, 206.405.4600


Get involved in CAGJ!

Volunteers needed for a mailing to CAGJ members, probably next Thursday, Oct 11. Please contact Heather Day to confirm date and time: hrd99 {at} igc.org or 206.405.4600.


Meet the farmer! Join CAGJ's van to the Skagit Valley Farm Tour this Sunday Oct 7, 12 - 4 PM!

if you would like to join CAGJ activists on this tour of several Skagit Valley farms, please email Ashley Fent: fenta {at} u.washington.edu or call 253-686-6081. Cost: suggested minimum contribution of $5 per person for gas.

Participate in CAGJ's Book Action Study group! First meeting: Wed. Oct 24, 6-8:30 PM.

For the first book, we've chosen Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Todd Merrifield, Steven Gorelick. Don't worry, it's a good but short read and you'll have plenty of time to digest it before the meeting. Bring yourself, the book and your questions and ideas about it, and some delicious, inspired food. It's a potluck! If you are interested and for details of the meeting place, please contact Kristin Engelbrecht Bleem: bookactiongroup {at} gmail.com or call 206-949-3932.

Please make a donation! CAGJ has a goal of raising $300 more per month by signing up new monthly sustainers this Fall. We need your support now to continue the momentum of the past few months and start us out strong in 2008! It is easy to become a monthly sustainer online! Go to http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/ and click on "Join CAGJ today!" at the bottom of the home page. Please be sure to enter your name as it appears on credit card.



TAKE ACTION
TAKE ACTION for a better Farm Bill! CALL Senator Cantwell TODAY (Wed or Thursday oct 3&4)

Thanks to Don Stuart of American Farmland Trust for this action alert!

If you've been waiting to act on the Farm Bill . . . NOW IS THE TIME! It looks like Senator Cantwell could have critical leverage in the Senate Farm Bill debate. First of all, the Senate Finance Committee (of which she is a member) will have a serious say in the Bill this year, much more than is usually the case. Finance is where the additional money can be secured to cover the additional needs not now being met in the current Farm Bill. Moreover, the membership in Finance looks potentially more favorable to an improved Farm Bill than in any other relevant Committee in the Senate process - Finance looks like the best shot at making something good happen.

At the moment, the Farm Bill looks to be headed toward more of the same. This would be tragic! It would greatly frustrate much of the American public that is anticipating reform in a subsidy system they see as a nonsensical waste of federal taxes. It would hugely disappoint the vast majority of American agriculture that has hoped, finally, to see some help from the Federal Government - help with specialty crops, conservation, nutrition, renewable energy, and all the currently unmet needs of most American farmers. It would sadly risk a Pacific Northwest economy that depends heavily on exports by encouraging other countries to sue the U.S. in the World Trade Organization and then retaliate legally against U.S. exports. This is already happening!

At the moment it is looking more and more like if the Farm Bill is to change, that change probably has to happen in Finance. And the Finance Committee is planning to do its markup tomorrow - on October 4 . So now is the time! It would be hugely valuable if everyone who cares about agriculture in Washington would make a call or write a quick-e-mail asking Senator Cantwell to please look out for the interests of Washington farmers and Washington citizens - all of them - in the approaching Senate Finance Committee markup of the Farm Bill! All that is needed is a brief message that emphasizes the importance of programs that help the rest of agriculture -- programs like conservation, specialty crops, economic development, nutrition, local food connections, etc.

DC office: [phone], Seattle office: [phone]. You can also send an e-mail via her website at: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/ .

For an interesting perspective on who receives farm subsidies: http://www.mulchblog.com/2007/09/city_slickers_and_farm_subsidi.php


Tell Congress to Oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement!

The Bush administration has begun moving the Peru Free Trade Agreement through Congress. A final vote in the House of Representatives is expected in the first half of October, with the Senate to follow. Use this link to contact your elected Reps to urge them to oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1034/t/537/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=13543

Labor, environmental, and access to medicines amendments to the Peru FTA under an agreement between House Democrats and the Bush administration represent significant improvements to these important provisions. However, major problems of the NAFTA/CAFTA model replicated in the Peru FTA were not addressed: The Peru FTA contains a NAFTA/CAFTA-style foreign investor chapter that promotes off-shoring and subjects our domestic public interest policies to challenge directly by foreign investors in foreign tribunals; procurement rules subject many common federal and state procurement policies to challenge in trade tribunals; agriculture trade rules undermine U.S. producers' ability to earn a fair price for their crops at home and in the global market place, favoring multinational grain trading and food processing companies while farmers on both ends will be hurt; While the amended text of the Peru FTA removes the most egregious, CAFTA-based, provisions limiting the access to affordable medicines, it still includes NAFTA-style provisions that undermine the right to affordable medicines for poorer countries; The Peru FTA, like NAFTA and CAFTA, still contains language requiring the United States to accept imported food that does not meet our safety standards.

NO NEW NAFTAs!!! Contact your reps TODAY!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1034/t/537/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=13543



Eat Local - & Fair Trade - for Thanksgiving campaign!

A growing coalition of Seattle-area partners is getting ready to launch a new campaign encouraging area residents to include local foods on their Thanksgiving tables this year. CAGJ knows our supporters will include Fair Trade products in your conception of eating locally! The Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign will shine a public spotlight on the connections that buying local has to the environment, use of fossil fuels and energy, supporting our local community, and helping to keep our local farmers farming. “Eating local” is a hot topic in the news but there is much room for improvement in translating this to broader impact on consumer buying habits and policy change to encourage access for all of our residents. Thanksgiving, with its rich cultural meaning and food traditions, offers an opportunity to engage the public when they are thinking about food in a meaningful context and when they are already making thoughtful food purchases.



You can sign the online pledge to incorporate at least one local food into your Thanksgiving dinner. We will recruit elected officials and other public figures as well as individuals and families to “take the pledge.” King County Executive Ron Sims has already committed. Conceived by the Acting Food Policy Council, King County, the Cascade Harvest Coalition and Good Food Strategies, we are gathering support from a growing list of partners including: Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods - Climate Protection Fund, Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, Farming and the Environment, Sustainable Ballard, BALLE Seattle, QFC, Safeway, PCC, Jubilee Farm, Full Circle Farm, and the Pike Market Senior Center. And now, CAGJ!!



Take the pledge, find recipes, and learn more about the issues! http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/eatlocal/index.htm



REPORTS:

Costa Rica’s historic referendum Oct 7 by WA Fair Trade Coalition staff, Stephanie Celt, and CISPES staff, Cameron Herrington

This Sunday, October 7th, the citizens of Costa Rica will take part in an historic vote in the first national referendum in the country’s history on CAFTA, (Central American Free Trade Agreement). The legislatures in the other five signatory states in the region (the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua) have all ratified the agreement – Costa Rica is the only one that has not done so. While CAFTA has been highly controversial in all signatory countries, the debate in Costa Rica has been the most remarkable. While polls indicate that the country is roughly divided on the issue, intense scandals – most recently revealed in leaked memos involving government officials supporting the use of “scare tactics” in support of CAFTA – have brought international attention to the controversy. Most of the Costa Rican government supports CAFTA, while other key bodies – including unions, universities, and priests – are opposed. Recently, 100,000 citizens took to the streets in protest – a huge turnout in a country of only 4 million people. Regardless of what happens in this upcoming vote, the importance of the referendum is clear. Costa Rica is the only country to bring the trade agreement to its people, which in itself is a victory for democracy and the power of the anti-corporate movement!

Emily Gaggia, a member of Seattle CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador - is currently in Costa Rica as a representative of the U.S.-based Stop CAFTA Coalition and has been taking part in press conferences, protests, marches and other activities in opposition to CAFTA. As an international election observer, Emily will also be present on the day of the referendum. Emily will participate in a report-back event in Seattle upon her return. Details to be announced!



Tully's Announces 100% Fair Trade Certified Espresso! UW activists played key role by CISPES staff, Cameron Herrington

Tully's Coffee recently announced that all of the espresso it sells, company-wide, is now 100% Fair Trade Certified! Tully's operates over 100 retail locations and sells coffee in numerous grocery stores and at other outlets. According to Tully's website, "this change represents the first and largest commitment to Fair Trade Certified and Organic Espresso by a multi-unit coffee house retailer" in the United States. Tully's initially developed its Fair Trade Certified espresso blend as the result of collaboration with a strong student Fair Trade movement at the University of Washington in the spring of 2006. The UW's Fair Trade Coffee Coalition organized for months on the Seattle campus, ultimately gathering thousands of signatures on a petition to Tully's and gaining the endorsement of dozens of campus organizations. At the conclusion of a January 2006 meeting with student representatives, Tully's committed to developing its first-ever Fair Trade Certified espresso for use on the UW campus. Without the tenacious organizing of the UW Fair Trade Coffee Coalition and the collaborative attitude taken by students, administrators and Tully's back in Spring 2006, Tully's recent announcement would not have happened. Now, EVERY espresso bean roasted, ground and served by Tully's will guarantee that farmers in the developing world receive a fair price for their crops. Please join us in congratulating the UW Fair Trade Coffee Coalition for its inspiring organizing, and Tully's for making such a strong committment to ethical business practices and justice in the global economy. To find the nearest Tully's location, visit www.tullys.com.



p.s. Tully's also announced that is has switched to 100% compostable cups; again the first U.S. coffee chain to take this step.



Global justice activist and journalist, Naomi Klein speaks in Seattle, Sept 27. by CAGJ member, Reid Mukai

See the short film based on the book: http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/short-film

On September 27 author Naomi Klein spoke at Seattle Town Hall to discuss her latest book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism". She began her speech warming up the crowd with her praise for Elliot Bay Books as well as the global justice activists who took part in the protests against the WTO meeting in 1999. She put the mass protests in Seattle into historical context, outlining how it was one of the first times that the true face of the WTO was exposed to the masses, and how it ties in with the central thesis of her new book. Klein described how she began formulating the idea of "the shock doctrine" after she moved to Argentina shortly after 9/11. While filming her documentary, The Take, about factory workers surviving the effects of globalization, the Iraq War broke out. Her Argentinian friends made comparisons between the war and oppressive U.S. foreign policy throughout South America. She also noticed how companies like Bechtel were involved in both privatization of services in South America as well as so-called reconstruction in Iraq. In 2004 she visited Iraq and witnessed the various means by which multinational corporations in cooperation with our government were using the war as an opportunity to loot the country. She saw a similar pattern when she was in New Orleans in 2005 shortly after Katrina hit.



However, during her research on the history of this draconian economic tactic Klein discovered it was advocated long ago by influential neo-liberal economist Milton Friedman who once said "only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change". Friedman had lots of experience with crisis as an adviser to the Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet after his violent U.S. backed coup in the mid 70's. What he recommended was much like what conservatives continue to push for today - tax cuts, free trade,privatized services, cuts to social spending and deregulation. More recently Friedman has been calling for a dismantling of the public school system and establishment of a voucher system for private schools in New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina.



In Klein's words, the shock doctrine amounts to "economic shock therapy through shock and awe". Like the effect of shock on an individual, the shock doctrine can produce in a society feelings of fear, disorientation and blind faith in authority figures. However, like individual victims of shock and trauma, a society can not only heal but become stronger and wiser by integrating the experience, communicating, and retaining one's historical narrative and sense of self.



Upcoming Events
Premiere of new documentary by Jill Friedberg, "A Little Bit of So Much Truth"/ "Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad"

Wed and Thurs, October 3rd and 4th. 7 PM and 9:30 PM

Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, at 21st and Union in the Central District

$5, Q & A with filmmaker. Note: 9:30 pm screenings are 21 and over only. Media co-sponsorship provided by KBCS 91.3 FM

When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, they didn't take their story to the media, they TOOK the media. From the award-winning producer of "Granito de Arena," and "This is What Democracy Looks Like," comes this breath-taking, intimate account of the 2006 uprising, in Oaxaca, Mexico. Some compared the non-violent, popular uprising that exploded in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in the summer of 2006 to the Paris Commune, while others called it the first Latin American revolution of the 21st century. But it was the people's use of the media that truly made history in Oaxaca. A Little Bit of So Much Truth captures the unprecedented phenomenon that emerged when tens of thousands of schoolteachers, housewives, farmers, health workers, and students took over 14 radio stations and one TV station, using them to organize, mobilize, and ultimately defend their grassroots struggle for social, cultural, and economic justice. After spending two years in Oaxaca, producing Granito de Arena, Seattle filmmaker Jill Freidberg returned to Oaxaca in 2006, and joined forces with Oaxacan media collective Mal de Ojo TV, to tell the story of the people who put their lives on the line to give a voice to their struggle. Narrated with audio and video recordings from the occupied media outlets, the film delivers a breath-taking, intimate account of a year that changed Mexico forever, and raises important questions about the role of the media in the 21st century. More information at www.corrugate.org



Melt I.C.E. - Peaceful Protest and Vigil for Human Rights

Saturday October 13, 1:00pm to 4:00pm

Northwest Detention Center, 1623 East J Street, Tacoma, WA

An ongoing vigil to show solidarity and support for families that are visiting their loved ones at this modern day concentration camp. We are joined by activist leaders from Hate Free Zone, Washington Citizen Action, Bill of Rights Defense Committee , Radical Women of Seattle, Church Council of Greater Seattle and numerous student groups. www.notinmycounty.org for more information.



Re-imagine global community: a benefit concert for the International Partnerships for Creative Change and Community Fellowship program. Saturday November 3, Doors open at 7 pm. Capital Hill Arts Center Showroom

Concert hosted by iLEAP: the center for critical service to benefit the iPC3 program, which brings attention to 10 grassroots leaders from community-based organizations in Asia and Africa, all active participants in social change at the local level. This remarkable group of women and men, representing 8 countries, have committed their lives to working directly with socio-economically marginalized groups in some of the most geographically remote areas in Asia and Africa. The Fellows will come to Seattle for a 10-week intensive program in community building, professional growth, and practical action around positive social change. Seattle based International recording artist & nominee for the 2006 Earshot Vocalist of the Year, Rochelle House, with a band of world class Seattle jazz musicians, including Drummer D’vonne Lewis and Bassist Evan Flory-Barnes, will prepare a musical collaboration in support of a re-imagined global community. DJ Sweet Seduction joins the benefit to mix in the sounds of pop and hop and to excite the mood and start the groove. Raffle items, food and drinks will be available. 100% of ticket sales go toward bringing iPC3 Fellows to Seattle for the program! CAGJ co-sponsoring. Visit www.ileap.org for more information or to buy tickets online.

[eridani]

6. Fair Trade Halloween, plus holiday gifts

Community Alliance for Global Justice
Fair Trade for the Holidays!

This Fall CAGJ offers three fun ways to support Fair Trade for every holiday:
*Halloween Fair Trade Candy Available for Reverse Trick-or-treating!
*Benefit Tour Sunday Nov 17 of Theo, Seattle's Fair Trade Chocolate Factory, in time to get desserts for Thanksgiving!
*Buy Fair Trade Gifts for the Holidays! Order form below!


Fair Trade Halloween:

Global Exchange is coordinating a national effort to make Halloween about more than just collecting candy without regard for the standards in which it was made, or the trade rules that help to transport it. Instead of just collecting candy, families around the country will be GIVING BACK candy and information about Fair Trade to the homes where they are trick-or-treating!

The Washington Fair Trade Coalition is taking part in this effort, by coordinating Washington state families who want to take part in this effort. We hope to spread the word about Fair Trade principles, as well as about the problems with US trade policy and our ideas about what a truly fair trade agenda would look like. We're sure many corporations would find our proposals scary!

We have one or two packs of chocolate still available for any last-minute interest in taking part. Contact Stephanie to order candy: <stephanie {at} washingtonfairtrade.org>

And there is still plenty of time to download flyers and distribute them in your neighborhood this Halloween. Visit www.reversetrickortreating.org for more information!

Fair Trade Thanksgiving:

Seattle's own 100% Fairly traded Theo Chocolates is hosting a benefit tour for CAGJ! We scheduled this right before Thanksgiving to make it easy for you to bring Fair Trade Chocolates to your Thanksgiving celebration! After the tour, you will be able to buy Theo's amazing chocolate bars (see below for descriptions) as well as their delectable confections, truly works of art integrating NW ingredients!

Date: Saturday November 17
Time: 4:30-6pm
Location: Theo Chocolates in Fremont, 3400 Phinney Ave. N.
Cost: $5 - 20 sliding scale requested donation, 100% of proceeds benefit CAGJ!
Please RSVP: contact Sara Sheridan: saras7 {at} u.washington.edu or leave a message at CAGJ: 206.405.4600


Buy Fair Trade Gifts for the Holidays!

For the third year in a row, CAGJ is offering Fair Trade hot cocoa and coffee from Equal Exchange, Theo's chocolate bars and Choice Organic Tea to give as holiday gifts this season. We will also provide a gift basket from 10,000 Villages for those who want one. This is a wonderful way to help family farmers in the Global South expand their markets and receive a fair price, begin a conversation with friends and family about Fair Trade, and support the work of CAGJ in educating and advocating for fair trade policies.

You should receive an order form and return envelope in the quarterly newsletter mailed last week. A second option is to print the text version of the order form below, and mail it to CAGJ, with payment, by Nov 26 to: 606 Maynard Ave S, Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104. Thank you!


DATE CORRECTIONS:

The order form you will receive in the mail lists several dates incorrectly. Correct dates are:

Deadline for ordering Fair Trade gifts from CAGJ: Monday Nov. 26 (this was listed correctly!)

Pick up dates & times (3 options):

*Friday Dec. 14, 12 - 5pm at the CAGJ office
*Friday Dec. 14, at the CAGJ Holiday Party, 6 - 10pm: 6002 Fremont Ave N
*Saturday Dec. 15, 12 - 4pm at the CAGJ office



If you have any questions, please call CAGJ: 206.405.4600

Order Form
Equal Exchange (Coffee/Hot Cocoa)

Organic Hot Cocoa. Our delicious fairly traded organic hot cocoa has a rich chocolatey flavor that children and adults will love. Easy to make with hot water -- the milk is in the mix! This product helps farmers in 3 countries -- the organic cocoa is from small-scale farmers in the Dominican Republic, the organic sugar is fairly traded from farmer cooperatives in Paraguay, and the organic milk powder is from U.S. dairy cooperatives.

Organic Love Buzz, Drip Grind. Sweet, sultry and smooth with an unexpected bite and a lasting finish. Fairly traded from small farmer cooperatives in Latin America.

Organic Mind, Body & Soul Blend, Drip Grind. A euphoric blend. Lively, smooth and spicy with a chocolate finish.

Colombian Decaf, Drip Grind. Full-bodied and well-balanced with a rich, smooth flavor.

Hazelnut Crème Decalf, drip grind. Aromatic, nutty and light with a rich hazelnut flavor.



Theo Chocolate (Chocolate Bars)

Theo offers two Gift Packs this season, in beautiful packages!

Theo Origin Bar Collection features 5 3-ounce premium dark chocolate varieties: 91% Venezuela, 84% Ghana, 75% Ghana/Panama/Ecuador blend, 75% Ivory Coast & a 65% Madagascar bar.

3400 Phinney "Fantasy Flavor Flight" includes one each of 6 2ounce Organice and Fair Trade Certified bars: Coconut Curry, Chai, Vanilla Milk Chocolate & Bread and Chocolate, Coffee and Nib brittle Dark Chocolate

Individual Origin bars:

Venezuela Dark Chocolate bars 91%. It features the delicate flavors of a blend of cacao from Barinas, Merida and Tachiras, the remote western regions of Venezuela, and offers 91% cacao content without any of the bitterness typically associated with such a high percentage dark chocolate.

Theo Blended-Cocoa Ghana-Panama-Ecuador Dark Chocolate Bar 75%. This Fair Trade Certified™ blend of cacao highlights the unique flavors from Ghana, the remote rainforest of Bocas del Toro, Panama, and true Ecuadorian Arriba cacao.

Individual 3400 Phinney bars:

Vanilla Milk Chocolate A harmonious blend of finely ground Madagascar vanilla bean and milk chocolate.

Chai Milk Chocolate Milk chocolate with a warming blend of chai spices and black tea.

Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate Milk chocolate with toasted coconut and savory curry spices.

Bread and Chocolate Dark Chocolate An innovative twist on a traditional pairing, featuring dark chocolate with buttery, toasted artisan breadcrumbs and the perfect amount of salt.

Nib Brittle Dark Chocolate Dark chocolate with organic roasted cocoa nibs in sweet and crunchy brittle.

Coffee Dark Chocolate Dark chocolate and a robust locally-roasted organic, Fair-Trade-Certified™ coffee combine to create a full-bodied flavor.


Choice Organic Teas
English Breakfast Skillfully combined smooth, high-grown Ceylon teas with robust, malty selections from Assam and East Africa.

Earl Grey Organic teas from India and Ceylon, enhanced with essential oil of bergamot.

Yerba Mate This stimulating herb is one of nature's richest sources of antioxidants. Our untoasted, organic green leaf has a distinctive woody flavor and invigorating body.

Chai Spice Black Tea This distinctive organic chai favors the rich Assam black teas of the Brahmaputra Valley, and highly-prized cardamom.

Jasmine Green A Chinese classic. Freshly picked jasmine blossoms are mixed with organic green tea, and removed after leaving their ethereal floral scent behind.

Peppermint Herb Tea This organic crop comes from fertile volcanic hillsides in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. This region produces an exquisitely aromatic cup with a slightly spicy flavor.

Lemon Lavender Mint Our sophisticated organic blend features accents of sun-blessed lavender, layers of mellow lemon and crisp mints in a fresh yet soft-tasting herbal tea.



ORDER FORM

Equal Exchange:

Organic Hot Cocoa, 12oz ___qty X $6.50 = $___
Organic Love Buzz, 12oz ___qty X $8.50 = $___
Organic Mind, Body & Soul Blend, 12oz ___qty X $8.50 = $___
Colombian Decaf, 12oz ___qty X $9.00 = $___
Hazelnut Crème Decalf, 12oz ___qty X $10.25 = $___

Theo Chocolates

Gift Packs:
Theo Origin Bar Collection Gift Pack (5 3oz bars), ___qty X $30.00 = $ ___
3400 Phinney Gift Pack (6 2oz. bars), ___qty X $20.00 = $ ___


Individual Bars:
Venezuela Dark Chocolate bars 91%, 3oz ___qty X $6.00 = $ ___
Theo Blended Dark Chocolate Bar 75%, 3oz ___qty X $6.00 = $ ___
Vanilla Milk Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___
Chai Milk Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___
Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___
Bread and Chocolate Dark Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___
Nib Brittle Dark Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___
Coffee Dark Chocolate, 2oz ___qty X $3.25 = $ ___



Choice Organic Teas-each box contains 16 bags except Chai: 20 bags

English Breakfast ____boxes X $3.50 = $____
Earl Grey____boxes X $3.50= $____
Yerba Mate____boxes X $4 = $____
Chai Spice Black ____boxes X $5 = $____
Jasmine Green____boxes X $4 = $____
Peppermint Herb ____boxes X $3.50 = $____
Lemon Lavender Mint____boxes X $4 = $____



Also available (& not included on mailed order form)…

Finely woven and fairly traded basket from Bangladesh (10,000 Villages) ____ X $10 = $ ____


TOTAL: $______


TO ORDER, please complete ALL of the information below.

CONTACT INFO:

Name

Address

City

State

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Phone number

Email


Two payment options: Cash or Check, payable to "CAGJ"
MAIL your completed order form and checks to: 606 Maynard Ave. S #252, Seattle, WA 98104

PICK UP/DELIVERY OPTIONS (Choose One)

Deliveries will be made in cases where no other arrangements can be made!


< > I will pick up my order at the CAGJ office (606 Maynard Ave. S #252, Seattle's International District) Friday, Dec. 14, between 12-5 p.m., or Saturday Dec. 15, 12 – 4pm.

< > I will pick up my order at the CAGJ Holiday Party, Fri. Dec. 14, between 6-10 pm at 6002 Fremont Ave N

< > I CANNOT PICK UP MY ORDER. Please contact me to make arrangements!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ORDER! ~ CAGJ

[eridani]

7. December 2006 Newsletter

CAGJ Calendar of Events

Dec 5: CAGJ Book Study Action Group (and Potluck!): The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. 6:30-8:00 PM. Contact Kristin for more info at 206-949-3932.

Dec 14: Come to the CAGJ Holiday Party: 6 – 10 PM; 6002 Fremont Ave N., Seattle. Come relax and see old friends, meet the new Steering Committee members, and buy Fair Trade gifts for the Holidays!

Thanks to everyone who made the Tour of Theo Chocolate such a great success...stay tuned for more tours in 2008.


Support CAGJ with an end of the year contribution!

A few different ways...

- Help us reach our Fall Monthly Sustainer Goal: $300 more per month! Sign up yourself to give once, or monthly (automatically deducted from your credit card), on CAGJ's secure link - look for the "donate now" button on the home page of CAGJ's web-site (seattleglobaljustice.org)
- Remember that CAGJ Tshirts make great holiday gifts-- and they're so darling!
- City of Seattle employees can now give via the Combined Charities Program!



Reports

Washington Democrats Disappoint on US-Peru Trade Agreement, 8 November 2007

Call WA's Senators to say NO MORE NAFTA'S!

Patty Murray: 202.224.2621, Maria Cantwell: 202.224.3441

Washington State's Democratic contingent in the U.S. House went against the majority of members in their party, and unanimously supported another in a long string of flawed trade deals this morning, as the House passed the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by a 285-132 vote. Though the agreement was highly contentious, political party pressures appeared to trump the need to create fair and effective trade policy, resulting in a huge disappointment for many Washington residents. Washington's Democrats' support for the US-Peru FTA came in the face of strong opposition to the agreement from labor, environmental and social justice communities throughout the state. These organizations reacted quickly to this morning's news that their Congressional Representatives had retreated from their previous stand for fair trade, as exemplified by their nearly unanimous opposition to the CAFTA agreement in 2005. "We are extremely disappointed in the Democratic Representatives in Washington State," says Stephanie Celt, State Coordinator of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, which represents 29 member organizations that did not support the agreement. "Our Democratic Representatives have shown us that they are not concerned about creating a fair trade agenda for this country. Instead, they rushed into a flawed agreement that many of their constituents opposed, because of pressure from Democratic leadership and multinational corporations, citing the vague promises that all problems in US trade policy have been fixed. They haven't."


Environmental groups are critical of Washington Democrats as well. "It is obvious that we cannot build a sustainable and prosperous trading system if we ignore critical global issues such as global warming and toxic chemicals. But the Peru FTA does just that," says Marina Skumanich, president of Seattle Audubon. "It is deeply disappointing that our environmental champions from Washington State such as Jay Inslee and Jim McDermott - rather than standing firm for the environment - chose instead to rubber stamp yet another NAFTA expansion deal." Organized labor was also unconvinced by this FTA, with no major union endorsing the deal: the inclusion of revamped language regarding the protection of labor rights was not enough to gain the support of unions in either the US or Peru. The Senate is expected to vote on the US-Peru FTA soon. It is yet to be seen whether Washington State Senators will also support this flawed and potentially harmful agreement.


For an in-depth look at trade politics today, read Why on Earth are Hillary and Obama Supporting Pro-corporate Trade Deals? http://www.alternet.org/workplace/67680/

For more information on what you can do here in the Northwest, please contact Stephanie Celt at the Washington Fair Trade Coalition. 206-227-3079, stephanie {at} washingtonfairtrade.org

South Koreans Clash Over US Trade Deal, 11 November 2007

Seoul, South Korea (AP, edited)— Tens of thousands of South Korean farmers and workers clashed with riot police Sunday at a massive rally against a free trade agreement with the United States. Fighting with riot police, the protesters occupied a 16-lane road and chanted slogans against the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Police said they arrested some 100 protesters and that more than 10 riot police were hurt. Organizers said some 50 demonstrators were hurt — mostly suffering head injuries. Organizers said about 50,000 people participated in the demonstration. Trade chiefs from the two countries signed the accord in June, concluding months of tough negotiations to lower or eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers on a wide range of industries and services. The proposed agreement must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before it goes into effect. The South Korean government submitted the proposal to parliament in September for approval. The deal is the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement more than a decade ago, and the largest ever for South Korea. Both sides said the accord will boost growth, but certain constituencies, such as farmers in South Korea and labor groups in the U.S., have opposed it. Although the deal excluded rice — a key Korean crop — farmers are worried that other kinds of U.S. agricultural produce will pour into the country, threatening their livelihoods. "Farmers would be the biggest victim of the free trade deal," said Lee Young-soo, a farmer who attended the rally, speculating that the deal could cause the entire agriculture industry to collapse.

For more information on the US-Korea FTA, please see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6257420.stm

For more information on the recent demonstration in Seoul, please see http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5in2uzn9BtKHzr2lPuE4IoJButWMQD8SREC3G0


The emergence of a new Domestic Fair Trade Movement

Co-op to Co-op Fair Trade: Equal Exchange Introduces Domestic Fair Trade Snacks, November 2007

Equal Exchange, known for Fairly Traded coffee, tea and chocolate, has introduced a line of packaged snacks in partnership with grocery co-operatives across the country. These "Domestic Fair Trade" products, including Organic Dried Cranberries, Roasted Pecans, and Organic Tamari-Roasted Almonds, are sourced from family farmers and farmer co-operatives right here in the US. "Our relationships with these producers are guided by our mission and 20 years experience as a Co-operative Fair Trade Organization," said Erbin Crowell, Domestic Fair Trade Program Manager for Equal Exchange. The roasted pecans, for example, are grown in southwest Georgia by the members of the Southern Alternatives Agricultural Co-op (SAAC), a co-operative of African-American farmers and workers. In a region devastated by unemployment, SAAC helps to market its members' pecans and operates a shelling facility that provides jobs in the community. Look for Equal Exchange's fairly traded packaged snacks, including Roasted Salted Pecans, Organic Dried Cranberries, and Organic Tamari-Roasted Almonds in your local food co-op. For more information on Equal Exchange's Domestic Fair Trade Program, visit www.equalexchange.coop/dft.


Bellingham, Washington: The Possibilities of Local Fair Trade Networks, November 2007, Travis English of CAGJ attended and filed this report.

On Nov. 6th, at the Bellingham library, Community Food Co-op and Community-to-Community Development (C2C) hosted a two hour discussion with a panel of participants in the sustainable food movement. Farmers, students, laborers, representatives from various organizations, and concerned citizens were present amidst the crowd of over a hundred people in attendance. Eric Esse of Local Fair Trade Network (LFTN, www.localfairtrade.org) began by describing a pilot project underway in Minnesota to implement a local fair trade label. Four farms and two food co-ops are involved in the project, where entire farms are labeled "Fair Trade," through a partnership with the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP). They will act as auditors, guaranteeing transparency on the farm, and will be responsible for certifying local farms based on standards set by AJP and the Domestic Fair Trade Working Group. Eric also noted that Bellingham, WA, is a prime place to launch a similar project. With its progressive farming community, willing food co-op, and organizations like C2C why not?


Tom Hanlon-Wilde of Equal Exchange also presented. EE has launched its own Domestic Fair Trade campaign, working with farmer co-ops in the Southeastern United States. EE, along with other organizations, founded the Domestic Fair Trade Working Group, which is responsible for writing "Principles for Domestic Fair Trade", setting the standards by which some domestic goods are labeled. While the campaign has been fairly successful, Tom points out that the most prominent challenges with fair trade products has been consumer confusion around certification and standards, corporate involvement, and the varied issues surrounding international competition.


Community Calendar of Events

U.S. Social Forum meeting

Saturday, December 1 at 1:00 p.m.

LELO's offices: 3700 South Hudson, Unit C We will talk about what we want to do for the January World Day of Action - CALL TO WORLD DAY OF ACTION: JAN. 26, 2008. After the successful first ever United States Social Forum (USSF) in Atlanta, Georgia during June 27 to July 1, 2007 the 'Peoples' Movement Assembly' (PMA) was established to continue and carry out the movement building process. The PMA in conjunction with the World Social Forum (WSF)/International Council, join in the CALL for action for January 26, 2008 designated as a 'World Day of Action'. The last time a World Day of Action took place was in February 15, 2003 designated as a Day to protest the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is estimated 38 million people took part in the protest on that day. Contact: PMA at pma {at} ussf2007.org

***

Central Cinema will screen two Moving Images films about Argentina to the general public - Sunday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. for the regular $5 admission to the theater.

Argentina-Hope in Hard Times <2005> 74 min. After its premier at the Seattle Art Museum, this film has screened in festivals around the world and won several awards, including a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle. “Que se vayan todos!” “Throw them all out!” Chants echo off the skyscrapers and burst through the plazas of Buenos Aires. With a failed economy and distrusted politicians, regular people took it upon themselves to make their country look more like their dreams. If you haven't yet seen this inspiring film about a tumultuous period in Argentina's history, here's a great opportunity.

Argentina-Turning Around <2007> 38 min. Premiere. A few years later, Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin returned to Argentina to re-visit worker-run factories and talk with economists and journalists. They wanted to find out if the outpouring of citizen action after the economic collapse of 2001 had led to fundamental changes, or if it is business as usual.

***

The People's Summit

Saturday December 8, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Rainier Beach High School
8815 Seward Park Avenue South
Seattle, Washington 98118
http://www.lelo.org/

***
International Human Rights Day Funeral March

Sunday, December 9, 1:00
Meet outside Washington Trade and Convention Center (on Pike between 7th and 8th Ave)
Participants encouraged to wear black, bring funeral props
puso.seattle {at} gmail.com

[eridani]

8. January 2008

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended the WTO commemoration event “Cuz the Power of the People Don’t Stop!” and CAGJ’s workshop on Dec 1. Despite a snowy day we had incredible turn-out (over 200 people), the Labor Temple never looked so beautiful (bedecked in WTO protest banners, posters and puppets) and many of Seattle’s hard-core activists attended workshops at 8:30 on a Saturday night! Then we all partied til midnight.

Currently CAGJ’s Steering Committee and working groups are all focused on preparing for the February retreat where we will determine our programmatic focus for 2008. You can get involved by filling out the survey (see link at top of page) and by coming to the first Community Meeting of 2008 on Feb 5th at the office!

We have several new monthly sustainers (THANK YOU!!!) – members who make monthly donations through an automatic deduction from their credit card – but we still need to raise about $150 more per month to meet our goal of covering basic monthly expenses through sustainerships. Can you help us meet our goal with a monthly donation of $5 or $10? Please consider making a donation today – we can’t continue our grassroots organizing without support from our members! We are also applying for grants. You can make a donation safely and quickly at CAGJ’s web-site: click on the ‘Donate Now’ button on the home-page: seattleglobaljustice.org – Thank you!

Upcoming CAGJ Happenings: January & February Calendar
-Tues. Jan. 15: Steering Committee Meeting at CAGJ office
-Wed. Jan 16: Action-Study book group, discussing ‘Omnivore's Dilemma’. Contact Kristin for more info, <kristin.bleem {at} gmail.com>
-Mon. Jan 21 MLK Day: Come to CAGJ Workshop, 'Building Alternatives to Corporate Agriculture' & Join CAGJ contingent in the March (look for our banner): Franklin High-school, 3013 S Mount Baker Blvd
-Tues. Jan 22: 2008 Dinner Planning meeting, 6:30 – 8:30 at CAGJ office
-Tues. February 5: Community Meeting for membership input into determining our programmatic focus for 2008. 6 – 8pm at CAGJ office.
-Fri. & Sat Feb 8&9: CAGJ Retreat: contact Heather Day for more info <hrd99 {at} igc.org>

Location of CAGJ office: 606 Maynard Ave. South in the International District


Read more:
Agroecological Alternatives to the Green Revolution: Meetings held in Mali, Africa in late 2007 – adapted from an article by Food First
A two-day conference organized by Food First focusing on African Agroecological Alternatives to the Green Revolution addressed a number of initiatives from multinational companies, foundations and politicians who are pushing a “new green revolution” in Africa. One of them is Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

In 2006, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a joint $150 million Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to save Africa from hunger. AGRA is actually breaking ground for a larger network of chemical, seed, fertilizer companies and Green Revolution institutions seeking to industrialize African agriculture as they have already done in the U.S. and in large parts of Latin America and Asia. AGRA’s high-profile campaign for a new Green Revolution, headed by Kofi Annan, is designed to attract private investment, enroll African governments, and convince African farmers to buy hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers. AGRA is laying the foundation for researchers, institutions, and African farmers to introduce GMO crops—not only for rice, wheat and maize, but also for cassava, plantain and other African food crops.

The AGRA-led Green Revolution not only threatens the richness of African traditional agriculture, it ignores (and is attempting to co-opt) the many successful African agricultural alternatives including sustainable agriculture, agro-forestry, pastoralism, integrated pest management, farmer-led plant breeding, sustainable watershed management and many other agroecological approaches. Because AGRA is but one—highly visible component of a wider industrial push, attendees realized that they need to decide where to put their energies, and be prepared for the divisive nature of involvement with AGRA.

[eridani]

9. February 2003

CAGJ Community Meeting - Tuesday February 5th
6:30 - 8:30 at CAGJ office (see address below)


We invite CAGJ members to help us determine how best to strengthen local economies everywhere in 2008! This Community Meeting will help us prepare for our strategic planning retreat on Feb 8 & 9.

We want to hear your ideas for what CAGJ should work on in 2008, and get your feedback on some proposals we have been developing, including the possibility of working on an ordinance to make Seattle and King County "sweatfree", and several food justice related proposals.

Yummy locally grown and fair trade foods will be served!

January 2008 Survey:

If you have not already, please take a few minutes to respond to our short survey online!

This is another important way to give us feedback for the direction of our work in 2008.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bPK3Zjtmi9MSA1neyvRUgQ_3d_3d

Thank you!

**************

The CAGJ office is located in the International District of downtown Seattle.
Address: 606 Maynard Ave South, 2 doors north of Bush Garden restaurant
(Cross-street is Weller, between Jackson and Dearborn streets)

Please call us at 206.405.4600 if you have any questions.

[eridani]

10. March 2008

Proposal for CAGJ's programmatic focus for the next year, to be ratified by membership at Tuesday, March 4 Steering Committee Meeting:

‘We propose that CAGJ work to expand and strengthen the local food movement by facilitating dialogue and awareness-raising, and by building an analysis about local global links and the need to strengthen local economies, everywhere. This includes a commitment to educating about immigrant rights and accessibility in the local food economy in 2008. We will also pursue a new campaign by helping to coordinate awareness–raising about the Gates Foundation’s funding of a “green revolution” in Africa.’


We put off a decision on two proposals until the March 4 mtg, although solid support exists for both: ‘Continued opposition to Free Trade Agreements’ and ‘Lay Groundwork for Domestic Fair Trade.’ We also decided to support the formation of a CAGJ group to be involved in ‘NoSweat Seattle’ if at least 2 CAGJ activists step up to take the lead.


We want to hear your input! Please join us Tuesday March 4th at 6:30 to finalize our plans for the next year. The meeting will be at CAGJ’s office in the Intl District: 606 Maynard Ave South, Rm 252.


CAGJ Calendar of Activities
-Wed. Feb 20, 6:30 – 8:30: Study Action Book Group discussion of draft report just published by Sustainable Seattle, ‘Why Local Linkages Matter: Findings from the Local Food Economy Study’. Email Kristin for more info about book group: [email protected]




-Wed Feb 27, 6:30 – 8:30: 2008 S.L.E.E. Dinner & Fair Planning Meeting at CAGJ office. Everyone is invited to get involved!

-Tuesday March 4, 6:30 – 8:30: Steering Committee meeting at CAGJ office, open to all members. We will be ratifying the proposal for CAGJ’s work in 2008.

-SAVE THE DATE! Friday March 7, 8pm – 2am: Fundraising Party! Location: 403 29th Ave E. $5 at the door.


Update: Local Farms - Healthy Kids from Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network

Good News: Yesterday Local Farms - Healthy Kids passed out of the House with a 95 to 1 vote. It was a huge milestone and bodes well for the bill overall. Now the house bill will move over to the Senate to run through the committee process again. It is also possible that the Senate bill may be up for a floor vote as early as today (2.14). There were some minor amendments to the house bill that we are tracking. You can review the amendments here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2798.


While moving slower than anticipated, the process of ironing out differences between the Senate and House Farm Bills has at least left the gate…Many of our the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture’s 2008 Farm Bill priorities have only one leg to stand on. They are included in either the House or the Senate Farm Bill—but not both—and are therefore at risk of being struck in conference…Negotiations at the Member level are likely to include some very difficult decisions over funding. President Bush has threatened to veto any Farm Bill that includes a tax increase or is without tighter limits on adjusted gross income for the recipients of farm program payments. Bush’s veto threat has brought the issue of payment limitations back to the table. It also threatens funding for many of the programs the sustainable agriculture community cares most about. The tax veto threat is aimed principally at the $14 billion in tax revenue raisers for the Farm Bill provided by the House Ways and Means Committee, and $8 billion raised by the Senate Finance Committee. Without this new revenue our hopes for an adequately funded Conservation Security Program, Value Added Producer Grants program, beginning farmer programs, programs to encourage the production of cellulosic biomass, organic research and extension and rural microenterprise are all in jeopardy.”

The Farm Bill Digest tracks developments around the National Campaign's Farm Bill Priorities. Recent Farm Bill alerts are posted here: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/action.php

Report: Mexicans March to Demand Renegotiation of NAFTA & Fight “NAFTA-plus” Excerpted from “Mexicans Say: Integrate This!” by Katie Kohlstedt, Foreign Policy in Focus

As part of a broadened alliance of civil society groups demanding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexicans from all parts of the country occupied Mexico City’s Zocalo and surroundings on January 31. In a display of unity, in solidarity with their country’s agricultural producers, and the spirit that “without corn, there is no Mexico,” Mexican farmers and others seem to be coming together. Mexico’s movements appear to be united in a sort of “buy Mexican” campaign. This is not necessarily so. Some of the 300,000-plus protestors marched against the increasing price of corn, pesticides, and fertilizer. Some marched against the secretary of agriculture. Some marched to get a free lunch. There were marchers against genetically modified organisms (GMO). But at the other end of the march was a contingent of tractors, which had traversed the country to make a dramatic procession down the Avenida Reforma, that sported pro-GMO stickers sponsored by Monsanto.

Despite these various and sometimes divergent interests, the Mexican campaign against NAFTA is finding a focus. One of the best attended sessions of the recent Mexico Social Forum was on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), a so-called “NAFTA-plus” closed-doors agreement stirring concern throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico that the most undemocratic corporate domination is yet to come. The SPP needs to be on the radar of citizens of all three countries because it ties the issues together into a particularly sinister package. Security, natural resource control, militarization as a response to the drug war, the abandonment of small farmers, and links between NAFTA and immigration are all now brought together within the SPP - and within the social movements that oppose it. To read the article in its entirety: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/11/6982/


Upcoming Events:

Sat Feb 16: Carbon Trading: Solution to Climate Change or Corporate Resource Grab?

6:30 – 9:30, Wykoff Auditorium, Seattle University

Round table discussion with Larry Lohmann, author of “Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation On Climate Change, Privatization And Power”

Also with representatives from these co-sponsoring organizations:

Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
Linda VerNooy, NetGreen
JP Kemmick, Cascade Climate Network / Power Shift
Preston Hardison, Tulalip Natural Resource Department
Jessica Coven, Climate Solutions
Morgan Ahouse, Global Citizen Journey/Sierra Club
Running Grass, Three Circles Consulting—Facilitator


Sponsored by the Community Alliance & Peacemaking Project

A project of the Potlatch Fund

Tues March 11: David Bacon presents “Life & Debt: Surviving Economic Globalization”
7pm, $10 suggested donation, 712 S. 1st Street, Mt. Vernon

David Bacon, internationally known photojournalist, will focus on immigration and buying locally in this slideshow presentation. Panel with discussion to follow.

For more info on Mt. Vernon’s 5th Human Rights Festival: http://www.pflagskagit.org/HR-festival.htm

April 12-13: Seattle Green Festival Register Online after 2/18
Join us for this 2-day party with a purpose! Come celebrate what's working in our communities — for people, for business and for the environment. You'll enjoy more than 150 visionary speakers, great how-to workshops, interactive kids' activities, delicious organic cuisine and diverse live music. Shop in our extensive green marketplace of more than 300 exhibits — everything from all-natural cleaning products and Fair Trade gifts to solar panels, eco-cars and socially-responsible investing. You'll find inspirational and practical ideas for healthy, earth-friendly living at Green Festival. Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center. www.greenfestivals.org

[eridani]

11. Additional info March 2008

Our program in 2008:

- Expand and strengthen the local food movement by facilitating dialogue, awareness-raising and by building an analysis about local-global links and the need to strengthen local economies, everywhere through neighborhood potlucks, a Spring film series, the June dinner and a possible Teach-in this Fall.

-Educate about immigrant rights and accessibility in the local food economy through sharing of research in above forums and by building relationships with immigrant rights and food justice groups in WA.

-Raise awareness about the Gates Foundation’s funding of a “green revolution” in Africa by playing a leading role in AGRA Concern group, through research, public education and possible future actions.

-Continue to fight all extensions of NAFTA by taking action in partnership with CISPES, WA Fair Trade Coalition and others.



CAGJ in the community: CAGJ has participated in several community events over the past few months. In January we led a workshop at the MLK Jr. Celebration called “Building the Movement for Food Justice” that was well-attended. CAGJ members attended the annual “Farmer Chef Connection” event organized by Chef’s Collaborative, which aims to build relationships between producers and buyers. We made connections with chefs, food producers and others who expressed interest in collaborating on this year’s dinner. CAGJ also had a strong presence at a recent workshop discussing the findings of a study by Viki Sontag (former CAGJ Board Member), “Sustainably Growing the Local Food Economy”.



CAGJ welcomes two new Advisory Board members, Lucy Jarosz and Viki Sontag, and we want to thank this quarter’s fabulous research interns!
Caitlin Henry: Identified and summarized studies to help CAGJ better understand “accessibility” and food justice issues in WA state.

Leah Zajac: Participated in AGRA Concern group, and produced report on Gates involvement in AGRA – key players, position on GMOs. etc

Erin Beckstrom: Did a comparative study of the costs of foods at farmers markets and area grocery stores.

April Nishimura: Researched conditions for farmworkers in WA state, and history of their organizing.

Brodie Nelson: Developed new fair trade materials for CAGJ, and researched Coop policies on fair trade

Thanks to internship coordinators as well: Gabrielle Roesch, Kristin Engelbrecht-Bleem, Travis English and Heather Day.



5 Top Ways to Get Involved in CAGJ!
1. Come to Next Action/Study Book Group Meeting this Wed March 19th, 6:30-8:30 PM. Reading 'Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm', by David M. Masumoto. Contact Kristin for more info: bookactiongroup {at} gmail.com



2. Join the Next Dinner Planning Meeting: Wed April 2, 6:30 – 8:30 at the office. Join this group to plug into the fun work of putting on our 2nd annual dinner & fair! We need your help soliciting donations for the dessert auction and the silent auction, deciding on the program for the evening, organizing the fair, etc! If you want to be involved, but cannot attend the mtg, please let Heather know: hrd99 {t} igc.org



3. Bring your friends and family to Come to CAGJ hosted event, Thursday April 3: “A Nastier NAFTA: The Security and Prosperity Partnership” about the nastier NAFTA, trade/immigration links, and Plan Mexico. See more info below. We are seeking volunteers and organization co-sponsors! Please contact Heather: hrd99 {at} igc.org



4. Volunteer at the CAGJ table at the Green Festival! Sat. and Sun., April 12 and 13. Free admission! Sign up for a shift! Contact Heather if interested: hrd99 {at} igc.org



5. Renew your membership and become a sustainer! Look for the Donate Now button on the www.seattleglobaljustice.org homepage, to give securely via Groundspring.

There are many other ways to get involved in CAGJ: Make a donation, help organize this Spring’s film festival, volunteer in the office, intern, or forward this newsletter! For more info, please contact CAGJ’s Director, Heather Day, at 206.405.4600 or send her an email: hrd99 {at} igc.org - Thank you!



CAGJ hosts “A Nastier NAFTA: The Security and Prosperity Partnership”

Thursday April 3, 6:30-9pm, Labor Temple Hall 6: Tri-national Speaking Tour Event

Speakers from the US, Canada and Mexico will detail the indisputable yet seldom mentioned links between bad continental trade and economic policies and accelerated Mexican migration to the US, and take a critical look at the "NAFTA-plus" economic and security arrangements (aka the “Security and Prosperity Partnership”) being forged behind closed doors between the leading corporations and executive branches of Canada, the US, and Mexico without genuine consultation with the legislatures or public in any of the three countries.



Speakers:

-Carleen Pickard, Regional Organizer, Council of Canadians

-Hector Sánchez, Policy Education Coordinator, Global Exchange's Mexico Program.

-Manuel Pérez Rocha, Associate Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies; directs an advocacy and research project on the Security and Prosperity Partnership.



Tour sponsored tri-nationally by Global Exchange, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, The Council of Canadians, the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade, the Alliance for Responsible Trade, and others.



Community Events Calendar

Wed. March 19: End the War Now!, Fifth Anniversary Protest, Demonstration/Rally Wed. March 19 6pm. Westlake Center. Let's mark this date with the biggest possible protest against U.S. war, genocide and colonialism in the Middle East. [email protected]



Tues April 9: The Roots of Migration: Free Trade, Debt and Survival in Nicaragua

Witness for Peace Northwest is pleased to host Yamileth Perez in Seattle on April 9 (Location To be determined). Yamileth is a community organizer in Managua, Nicaragua and will speak about the root causes of migration in Nicaragua including international debt owed to the IMF and World Bank and job loss due to the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). She will also speak to the impact on Nicaraguan communities whose members are migrating to Costa Rica and the U.S.

For more information, please contact Beth Poteet, wfpnw {at} witnessforpeace.org or 503.287.7847



April 12-13: Seattle Green Festival: Join us for this 2-day party with a purpose! Come celebrate what's working in our communities — for people, for business and for the environment. You'll enjoy more than 150 visionary speakers, great how-to workshops, interactive kids' activities, delicious organic cuisine and diverse live music. Shop in our extensive green marketplace of more than 300 exhibits — everything from all-natural cleaning products and Fair Trade gifts to solar panels, eco-cars and socially-responsible investing. You'll find inspirational and practical ideas for healthy, earth-friendly living at Green Festival. Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center. Register Online: www.greenfestivals.org - Contact CAGJ for volunteering opportunities and free entrance!

Reports: 4 Peruvian Farmers Killed protesting the Peru-US Free Trade Agreement

Excerpts below by Daniel Denvir, independent journalist from the US and collaborator at the Latin American Information Agency (www.alainet.org) in Quito, Ecuador.

A two-day national agrarian strike against a pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States ended on Wednesday February 20th, leaving four farmers dead after President Alan Garcia declared a state of emergency and ordered a violent crackdown Farmers are demanding financial support from the government in the face of a predicted increase in the importation of highly subsidized U.S. crops with the passage of the trade deal. 700 farmers were detained, a number of whom face terrorism charges. The strike, called by the Peruvian Farmers Confederation (Confederación Campesina del Peru, CCP) and other organizations began on Monday February 18th and ended once the government agreed to talks. The strike was in protest of what the CCP called "government indifference that has descended into the total abandonment of our nation’s farms."…The CCP also demanded an end to plans to privatize and exploit public lands in the Amazon, attacks on teachers’ job security, attempts to privatize water and a proposed law that would allow the privatization of cultural patrimony, including a number of sites in historic Cusco. Tens of thousands of Cusco residents blocked access to the ancient Incan ceremonial complex of Machu Pichu and other popular tourist sites and partially shut down the city’s airport, leaving over two thousand tourists stranded.

Read whole article here: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1149/1/



Clinton, Obama and all WA’s Democrats supported the Peru FTA!

From www.stopperufta.org:

Clinton and Obama both expressed strong support for the agreement, but missed the vote on it. According to Phil Josselyn of the NYC People’s Referendum on Free Trade, “In Wisconsin and Ohio, Hillary and Obama have been working overtime to convince voters that they support overhauling NAFTA, but below the radar they’ve been supporting the nearly identical Peru Free Trade Agreement at the behest of major campaign contributors like Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. At a time when John Edwards was raising vital questions about the Peru FTA and urging Democrats to oppose it, Hillary and Barack came out in support of it, providing political cover for their fellow Democrats to sell out workers, farmers, and the environment in the US and Peru and vote for the FTA. No one was fooled when they failed to show up to cast their votes on the Peru Free Trade Agreement—they were staunch supporters of this rotten trade deal, and the blood of four farmers is now on their hands.”

TAKE ACTION: Washington State’s Democratic contingent in the U.S. House and Senate unanimously supported the Peru FTA. Call your Representatives to condemn the killing of the 4 Peruvian farmers, and to demand that the Peru FTA be repealed! We must also register our condemnation of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which promises more of the same, failed NAFTA recipe.

Congress switchboard: 202.224.3121


Report: AGRA Concern Committee, by Leah Zajac, CAGJ Intern

On February 25th, a group of activists gathered at the CAGJ offices to discuss concerns about the Gates Foundation's green revolution in Africa facilitated by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). A month ago, the Gates Foundation announced it would spend $306 million on Africa's agricultural development in 2008, $164.5 million of which will be given to AGRA, but the intentions of the green revolution have become dubious as connections between agribusiness, investors, AGRA and the Gates Foundation have surfaced.


The group expressed concerns about the Gates Foundation's transparency and the use of a development model that may challenge Africa's food sovereignty. The green revolutions in Asia and South America during the 60s and 70s relied heavily on pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified seeds, and left nations environmentally devastated and dependent on western corporations for supplies. While AGRA promises a new model that learns from the mistakes of the past, evidence points to many similar agricultural development methods. In 2006 the Gates Foundation hired Robert Horsch, long time VP of Monsanto and 25-year employee, as Senior Program Officer for Africa. Monsanto is known for its toxic pesticides, herbicides, and the development of "terminator seeds" which die after one harvest and thereby require constant purchasing, contributing to debt. We are concerned that AGRA's vague hands-off policy on GMOs does not preclude their use in the future.

After two hours of deliberation about the dynamics of the issue and potential action, the group decided the most important next steps are to deepen our own understanding of AGRA to move towards public education. Eventually, the group hopes to encourage transparency and public accountability of the Gates Foundation. For more information on the AGRA Concern group, the group's reading list or to get involved, contact Heather Day: [email protected]


Report: Meat recall by Reid Mukai, CAGJ Steering Committee member

On February 17th the USDA ordered the largest meat recall in US history - 143 million pounds of beef produced by Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. in California. The recall came three weeks after the Humane Society posted a graphic video of abuse at the plant, documenting workers beating, shocking, and shoving downed cattle with forklifts.
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_investigation?qp_source=gabfak&gclid=CKvLu4nF4pECFQKRgwodZAiPfQ] The footage, already seen by hundreds of thousands of people, justifiably created public outrage due to the abuse of the animals as well as for the graphic evidence of corporate food producers compromising public health for the sake of money.

"Downer" cattle should never enter the food system because they have weakened immune systems and in some cases the condition may indicate the presence of life-threatening diseases. Meat from downed animals, especially in factory farms, also have a greater chance of becoming tainted with fecal matter which increases the odds of the beef supply becoming contaminated with deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

It is estimated that 37 million pounds of meat that should have been recalled has already been consumed, mostly by children since Westland/Hallmark is a major supplier of beef for the National School Lunch Program. They have contracts with more than 100,000 school lunch and child-care programs in 36 states, including 700 schools in Minnesota.

Public statements from the beef industry are intended to convince the public that this problem is the result of a few bad apples and loopholes in the inspection system that can easily be fixed. A deeper analysis of the issue indicates a problem that is much larger and more systemic. Incidents of cattle abuse and contamination have increased as money and support for inspections have decreased. In recent years, there's been a growing concentration of power and wealth in the meat industry with just four companies dominating 71 percent of the market: Cargill, National Beef, Swift and Co., and Tyson. They spend millions on PACs and use their influence to shape the decisions of lawmakers and get industry operatives appointed to important positions such as USDA Secretary, USDA Director of Communications and USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing.

In this context, the institutional reform needed to insure public safety is unlikely to happen soon, so what can we do about it? Besides becoming vegan/vegetarian (which has many political, environmental and medical benefits), if one must eat beef, grass-fed free-range cattle (which are safer to eat and better for the environment than factory farm cattle) is commonly available at local farmer's markets.


Report: Feb 21 NAFTA protest by Sean Oneill, Seattle U Students for Global Concern

On Thursday Feb 21 over fifty students from Seattle University, the University of Washington and community activists protested against the presence of Sergio Rios, the trade commissioner of Mexico, who spoke on Seattle University’s campus about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). During the year Rios travels throughout the west coasts of Canada and the US and encourages trade with Mexico (which has become increasingly efficient for corporations as a result of NAFTA). SU students were moved to action after having organized a panel discussion on free trade, indigenous rights and migration earlier this year. As Rios started his lecture, three SU students revealed a banner in front of the auditorium, reading “NAFTA= Poverty for the People, Profit$ for the Rich”. After being escorted out by campus security, students joined a rally outside where another banner was dropped from a stair case reading “Human Needs NOT Corporate Greed”.

Halfway through Rios’ presentation, two SU students (dressed as indigenous women and wearing bandanas in solidarity with the Zapatistas) distributed cornhusks to the audience (including our friends from the Mexican Consulate, who were taking pictures of the women throughout the action). Each husk revealed quotes from people impacted by NAFTA and figures about how Mexican farmers continue to suffer due to the influx of US subsidized agricultural products, corn holding the most cultural significance.

During the Q&A session, more than 50 activists in the audience grilled Rios with questions and comments from student activists, as well as prominent immigrant and labor activists in the community. However, the most powerful testimonies came from several immigrants from the Mexican working class and indigenous populations, who further inspired the audience and discredited Rios’ rhetoric.

All tariffs on corn, beans, sugar and milk were lifted in Mexico on Jan. 1, 2008, signifying the first day of NAFTA’s full implementation (this same day thousands of Mexican farmers, factory workers, students, teachers and families occupied the streets of Mexico City in protest). According to the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, from 1994 to 2005, 1.5 million Mexican farmers have lost their livelihoods due to NAFTA; this figure is increasing each day. It is becoming increasingly necessary to advocate for the repeal of both NAFTA and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and all rubber stamped expansions including the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and Plan Mexico.

[eridani]

12. May and June events 2008

Community Alliance for Global Justice
May 2008 Newsletter & Annual Appeal

CAGJ Annual Appeal:

This week you have hopefully received CAGJ’s 2007 Annual Report & 2008 Program overview in the mail. In addition to being informative, we send you this report to request that you renew your membership. CAGJ needs the support of members to continue our organizing! Our organization is 100% volunteer-run at the moment. We can guarantee our continuation and sustainability only if we inspire members to make donations. Please renew, or become a member today by sending in the form, and if possible by making a generous donation. Alternatively, online donations can be made securely by clicking on the “Donate Now” button on CAGJ’s home-page: seattleglobaljustice.org Thank you for your support!

Upcoming CAGJ happenings:

-Tuesday May 6: Steering Committee Mtg, 6:30 - 8:30 at the office. RSVP to hrd99 {at} igc.org…All are welcome to attend!

-Thursday May 8: Raj Patel event, 6:30 - 9pm at University Friends Meeting…See below

-Tuesday May 13: Food Justice Project meeting, 6:30 – 8:30: contact hrd99 {at} igc.org…All for more info

-Monday May 19: Dinner planning meeting, 6:30 - 8:30 at the office

-Wednesday May 21: Action/Study Book Group: next book “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved”, by Sandor Katz. Contact Kristin for more info: bookactiongroup {at} gmail.com

-Thursday May 22: leaflet at “Battle in Seattle” opening…more info below

-Thursday May 29: Next AGRA Watch meeting, 6:30 - 8:30 at the office


Call CAGJ: 206.405.4600
Come by the office: 606 Maynard Ave South, Room 252, Seattle 98104
Email the Director, Heather Day: hrd99 {at} igc.org

You are invited by CAGJ to hear Raj Patel, Author & Food Activist, talk about his new book! Thursday May 8, 6:30-9pm at University Friends Meeting, 4001 9th Ave NE – http://www.scn.org/friends/ufm.html>. $10 requested donation; no one turned away for lack of funds.

In "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System," Raj Patel provides an overview of the inequalities and imbalances perpetuated by the corporate global food system. His work addresses topics such as the causes of food price increases, food politics, race and social justice & the impacts of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a joint project of the Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. In his Seattle talk, Patel will discuss AGRA, whose aims are questioned by CAGJ and the newly formed Seattle group, AGRA Watch. Our first step has been to attempt to track AGRA and obtain justification for the program, in line with the Gates Foundation's stated commitment to transparency. CAGJ will also give an overview of our organizing. After his talk, Raj Patel will sign copies of "Stuffed and Starved”, which will be available for sale. Co-sponsored by American Friends Service Committee and UW Department of Geography. Read more about Raj Patel: www.stuffedandstarved.org & www.rajpatel.org

Sat. June 28: CAGJ presents 2nd Annual “Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere” Fair & Dinner…tickets on sale NOW!

Garfield Community Center: 23rd Ave & Cherry St. in the Central District of Seattle. Fair 3 – 6pm: Free & Open to the Public: Live music, local Farmer Meet & Greet, local and fair trade crafts and information from our region’s food, farming, fair trade and worker rights groups. Dinner 6-9pm: Key note by Carlos Marentes – Via Campesina and Committee for Immigration Reform and Social Justice. Locally sourced and fair trade meal prepared by local chefs, including the participation of Stumbling Goat Bistro, Portage Bay Café, and La Medusa. Enjoy conversation during dinner with local farmers and farmworkers.

Tickets:

*Be a table captain! Buy tickets for a table of your friends & colleagues: $250 Regular Rate (for 8 people total), $300 Farmer/Farmworker Table (for 8 people including a Farmer/Farmworker): Contact Heather Golden for info or to purchase a table: namaskaara {at} gmail.com

*Individual tickets FOR SALE TODAY at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/34497: $10 Low-income, $30 Regular Admission, $50 Support a Farmer/Farmworker: Buy a ticket for yourself and ensure that a local farmer or farmworker can be one of our honored guests!

We need MANY volunteers for this event - volunteers get in for free!! Please contact Jen Mullen in you can volunteer before, or the day-of the event:jenfaymullen {aaat} yahoo.com


TAKE A STAND FOR WORKER RIGHTS & SAY NO TO THE US-COLOMBIA FTA! Calls are needed to Stop the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement! This Free Trade Agreement (FTA) contains all of the same problems as NAFTA, CAFTA and the Peru FTA, but adds insult to injury by providing privileges for a government that does almost nothing to stop the murder of workers who organize to improve their lives: More union activists have been murdered in Colombia in the past 5 years than in all other countries combined! 18 have already died this year – imagine what that would be like if it happened here in the US! Shamefully, 98% of cases are not prosecuted.

Yet, despite the fact that the majority of Democratic Reps in Congress have stated their opposition to the deal, NOT ONE of WA’s REPS HAS TAKEN A PUBLIC STAND!

Why take action now? It is true that Nancy Pelosi has delayed the vote, but it could be brought back for a vote at any time, or in a lame duck session after the election when no one is paying attention. By declaring opposition to the Colombia FTA now, our representatives will help assure that it will not be brought back for a vote or supported as part of an unholy political bargain.


Call your elected Representative today & tell him to take a public stand for justice for workers!

Jim McDermott 202-225-3106
Jay Inslee 202-225-6311
Adam Smith 202-225-8901
Brian Baird 202-225-3536
Rick Larsen 202-225-2605
Norm Dicks 202-225-5916

Don’t know who your rep is? Call the Congressional Switchboard: 202.224.3121


OPENING NIGHT OF SIFF: "Battle in Seattle” May 22, 7pm, McCaw Hall. The moment we have all been waiting for (?!) has finally arrived…The sure-to-be-troubling Hollywood re-enactment of the 1999 WTO protests, "Battle in Seattle”, is the opening night film of this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. According to SIFF’s website, starring actress Charlize Theron, director Stuart Townsend, and others are expected to attend, but at $50 a ticket, most activists won’t be able to go inside…but CAGJ plans to leaflet outside! We hope the website announced at the 8th Anniversary event, realbattleinseattle.org, will be launched by then – its aim is to provide a space for social movements to reclaim our history. Contact us if you are interested in joining us at the opening, or see you there! E-mail Heather: hrd99 {at} igc.org

Analysis of the Global Food Crisis, by Reid Mukai, CAGJ member
Although the poorest people around the world have voiced opposition to industrial agriculture and development policies for decades, only recently has the situation deteriorated to a point where it's now impossible to ignore (though I'm sure corporate media will try it's best). Since late last March food shortages and social unrest have hit at least 37 countries including Egypt, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Mexico, Brazil, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

As reported by Amy Goodman on her April 8th report on Democracy Now, The price of food had risen 50% throughout West Africa and 300% in Sierra Leone. A 41% price increase in the U.S. has led to a $120 million budget shortfall for the World Food Program. On the same program Amy interviewed Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System" (speaking in Seattle May 8!). When asked about the cause of the recent global surge of food prices he highlighted several factors.

Partly due to climate change, there have been poor harvests around the world, reducing supply while demand increases (by about 70 million people every year). With increasing upper and middle classes in developing countries there is higher demand and consumption of meat which raises the price of grain. It takes approximately seven pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef and about 35 gallons of oil (the equivalent of one barrel) for one steer to go to market.

Perhaps with an eye on the problem of peak oil, more countries, especially the U.S., have been pushing the production of biofuels which are mainly derived from corn and sugar cane. This drives up the value of these commodities out of the price range of the poor. It could also have the effect of worsening global warming because production of biofuels actually creates more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels they replace.

Another problem associated with peak oil is record high fuel prices. The corporate global food system depends on oil for transportation, refrigeration, fertilizers, pesticides, processing and manufacture of materials necessary for all of these things. Approximately 20% of American petroleum is used for the production and transport of food.

Last but not least are problems associated with corporate globalization and so-called free trade agreements. To quote Raj Patel: "...one of the reasons that you’re seeing food price riots right now is because all the countries that you listed, from Haiti to Senegal to Burkina Faso to India, they are largely hitched to an international economy where they have to import grain in order to be able to consume it. And this is a consequence of the US pushing a so-called free trade agenda, where countries are being forced to lower their tariff barriers, to stop protecting farmers. And as a result, what you’re seeing is that the countries that are worst affected by this are the ones that have most enthusiastically been forced to embrace free trade."

Over the years industrial agriculture has brought us soil erosion and nutrient loss, unfair labor practices, pollution and waste, toxic chemicals, irradiation, GMOs and hormone treatments, contamination and depletion of aquifers, animal abuse, disease-tainted meat and vegetables, global economic injustice and resulting food riots and starvation. To put it mildly, now would be a good time to support and expand sustainable organic and local food systems.

Seattle City Council Passes Local Food Action Initiative

The full council voted to support the passage of the Local Food Action Initiative, 7 to 2, on April 28. The Initiative will expand resources for food banks; strengthen local farmers’ markets; develop solutions that will reduce the cost of food for urban consumers by making stronger connections between our rural and urban areas; plan for better management of the food system in emergencies and disasters, and more. The City will now develop a Food Policy Action Plan which will identify policies, programs and opportunities to promote local food system sustainability and security. In addition, the City will begin working on a Regional Food Policy Council that can bring the City and the County together to develop policies that contribute to these goals (and formalize the Acting Food Policy Council). Council President Richard Conlin, the initiative’s sponsor and chair of the Environment, Emergency Planning and Utilities Committee, said, “Access to food is one of the most fundamental needs of our community. This new initiative will bring together the work that is being done in the community and the City to create a framework for ensuring that Seattle residents have access to a healthy and sustainable food resources.”

Calls to Mayor Greg Nickels are needed to ask him to release a statement of support for the Initiative! Phone: [phone]


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

SPECIAL SCREENING of “It’s All a Lie" (10 min, UK). Sunday, May 4, 1 pm. Location: Johnson Hall, Room 175, UW. Come learn about the threats posed by shrimp farm development, and the communities fighting to protect their land and livelihoods in Northeast Brazil. Immediately following the screening there will be a question and answer period. About the film: In September, 2007, Environmental Justice Foundation investigators visited the northeast coast of Brazil where a proposal for a shrimp farm the size of London’s Heathrow airport would turn coastal forests into a virtual wasteland, destroying sustainable livelihoods and threatening marine habitats. The film illustrates the delusion of local residents due to false promises made by the shrimp farming industry for jobs and a better life, and shows the devastation caused to alert Caravela’s residents of the activity’s reality.

CELEBRATE FAIR TRADE AWARENESS DAY AND INTERNATIONAL MIGRATORY BIRD DAY. Sat May 10, 1-3pm. Location: Grounds for Change 15773 George Lane, Suite 204, Poulsbo, WA 98370. Free coffee tasting and trivia event! Did you know that buying certified shade-grown coffee can help preserve habitat for the birds we love? Seattle Audubon and Kitsap Audubon are teaming up with coffee roaster, Grounds for Change, to celebrate the connections between birds, coffee, and the environment. Play trivia, win prizes, Sample shade-grown coffees, learn to identify specific flavors and aromas, Learn about the shade coffee movement and get involved, Find answers to your questions like, “Organic coffee is shade-grown, isn’t it?”. Event is free and open to the public! Please RSVP to [email protected]. Visit www.shadecoffee.org for complete details, including ferry schedule, map of location and carpooling information

AUTHOR EVENT WITH MARK WINNE Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 Third Place Bookstore (Ravenna). Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty will do a reading and signing of his book. Closing the Food Gap tells the story of how we get our food: from poor people at food pantries and corner stores to the more affluent classes who increasingly seek out organic and local products. Dr. Jane Goodall says, "Closing the Food Gap reveals the chasm between the two food systems of America - the one for the poor and the one for everyone else. Speaking from his decades of political activism, Mark Winne offers compelling solutions for making local, organic and highly nutritious food available to everyone." Mark Winne was the executive director of the Hartford Food System in Hartford, Conn. for 25 years and now writes, speaks and consults on community food system topics. He now resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he works on local and state food and agriculture policy issues. www.closingthefoodgap.com/www.markwinne.com

[eridani]

13. Fair trade dinner date changed to 6/29

Please note: The date of this event has been changed to Sunday June 29! We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, and we hope you can still attend!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/34497

Community Alliance for Global Justice presents 2nd Annual

'Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere' Dinner & Fair!

Sunday June 29, 2008 PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE!

Garfield Community Center: 2323 East Cherry Street, Seattle, WA 98122, in the Central District of Seattle

***Volunteers are needed now & the day of the event (& will get in for free)! Please contact Jen Mullen at jenfaymullen {at} yahoo.com if you are able to help out!

Fair 3 – 6pm: Free & Open to the Public
Want to learn more about supporting local and global alternatives to corporate-led globalization? Meet local organizations, small businesses, and food producers dedicated to food justice, fairer trade and farm policies, urban gardening, and immigrants' rights. Also enjoy Live music, Local Farmer Meet & Greet, Community art project, and food and beverages from local wineries and breweries!

Dinner 6-9pm: See info on how to buy tickets below
Registration begins at 5pm!

Join us for a delicious dinner prepared by local chefs and restaurants, including La Medusa, Portage Bay Café and Stumbling Goat Bistro, using Fair Trade products and ingredients produced sustainably by small growers in the Pacific Northwest. Local wineries and breweries also represented.

Dinner program features keynote by Carlos Marentes, who works with Via Campesina and Committee for Immigration Reform and Social Justice, and discussions at each table with local food producers and farmworkers. Music with Sin Fronteras.

Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/34497

Individual tickets on sale now at brownpapertickets.com: $10 Low-income, $30 Regular Admission, $50 Support a Farmer/Farmworker: Buy a ticket for yourself and ensure that a local farmer or farmworker can be one of our honored guests!

This dinner is a fundraiser for CAGJ's organizing: please bring cash and checks to participate in the silent auction and dessert auction! The event is wheelchair accessible and child-friendly. Childcare and fun activities provided.

Current Co-sponsors: Acting Food Policy Council, Alter-Eco, BALLE Seattle, Bonnie River Fair Trade and World Friendly Store, Cascade Harvest Coalition, Cascadian Edible Landscapes, Chaco Canyon, Chow Foods, Committee for Immigration Reform and Social Justice, Eco-Praxis, Full Circle Farm, Fuse, iLEAP Center for Critical Service, Jubilee Farm, Justice Works!, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, LELO, Lettuce Link, Madison Market, Mangrove Action Project, New Roots Organics, Northwest Environmental Education Council - Seattle Bioneers, Northwest Harvest, PCC Farmland Trust, PCC Natural Markets, Philippine U.S. Solidarity Organization (PUSO), Reclaim the Media, SCALLOPS, Seattle Audubon NW Shade Coffee Campaign, Seattle CISPES, Seattle Tilth, Seattle Youth Garden Works, Sister Sage Herbs, Sol Colibri, spud!, Theo Chocolate, Tilth Producers of WA, Tools for Change, UKUSH, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 21, US Women and Cuba Collaboration, UW Program on the Environment, Village Volunteers, WA Biotechnology Action Council, WA Fair Trade Coalition, WA State Food and Nutrition Council, WA State Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice, WA Toxics Coalition, Yes! Magazine, ZipCar.

For more information, please contact CAGJ: 206.405.4600/ hrd99igc.org

[eridani]

14. Fair Trade events June 2008

Washington Fair Trade coalition June Newsletter

WFTC Calls McDermott a Duck

Our recent anti-Colombia FTA campaign work has involved targeted communication with Rep. Jim McDermott - one of the many Washington State Congress members yet to take a stand against the Colombia FTA. McDermott held several Town Hall meetings in the Seattle area recently, so we decided to target him and call him a DUCK since he has been ducking the issue and not taking a stand on this trade agreement!

Members of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition were present at all three meetings Rep. McDermott held last week (May 29, 31, and June 1). At the first meeting we made the most noise, holding up duck-themed signs, wearing duck masks, and passing out flyers explaining that ducking this issue is unacceptable. At all three meetings attendees asked him pointed questions about the Colombia FTA with relation to issues such as workers' rights, corruption in the Colombian government, and general faults with our trade model. McDermott, as usual, was hard to pin down - he has indicated that he won't support the FTA right now, but might as a "trade off" for better provisions for American workers, such as a strengthened TAA bill. He did say he agrees with many of our policy beliefs - the need to include labor and environmental provisions in trade agreements, the absurdity our current investor-rights provisions and agribusiness subsidies, among other issues. Yet he seems unable or unwilling to "connect the dots" and oppose the FTA.

One attendee heard McDermott indicate - quietly - that he doesn't plan to vote for the Colombia FTA. However, since he seems willing to trade off Colombian workers' rights for American workers', we are considering his position to still be unsatisfactory. We urge you all to contact his offices and explain to him that supporting workers' rights means supporting them everywhere, and that fairness and decency means he must extend his concern to workers in Colombia as well.

If you live in the 7th District, you can email Rep. McDermott here: http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/contact.shtml. Or call [phone].

Tell him not to duck this issue, and to support workers' right by openly opposing the Colombia FTA!


Adam Smith - Irksome Cheerleader for Free Trade

Adam Smith has been working against our fair trade efforts by becoming a spokesman for "free trade" in the media and in Washington DC . He has been actively campaigning for votes on the Colombia and Korea FTAs to take place, saying "Once our government has put the authority of the U.S. behind a negotiation, I think Congress has an obligation to vote on it." This of course conveniently neglects the fact that none of us asked for or participated in the negotiation of this or any of the other pending trade agreements. And it goes without saying that, by pushing for a vote now, he's hoping the agreements are more likely to pass. With Democrats like Adam, who needs Republicans?!

If you live in Rep. Smith's district, please contact him and remind him that you don't want him to act as a cheerleader for a failed trade model! You can email him here: http://www.house.gov/adamsmith/IMA/email.shtml. Or call him at [phone].

Sierra Club Report on Trade and Climate Change

"The Current Trade Model Contributes to Climate Change?" You Bet!

The Sierra Club recently published a hard-hitting report that discusses the impacts of our current trade model on global climate change. Though many fair traders are already aware of these links, this report provides powerful new evidence that the NAFTA trade model contributes to the grave threat of global warming.

The report goes beyond the most common issues to really investigate the numerous and complex ways that bad trade policy can contribute to global warming - from transportation and pollution to complex legal impediments to improving environmental policies around the world. It also points us toward possible solutions that would help protect the environment as well as workers, jobs, and communities. Estrangement

The report can be accessed from the Trade section of the Sierra Club's website: http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/


New Executive Committee Member - Cameron Herrington

Cameron Herrington, Director of CISPES-WA, has agreed to join the executive committee of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition. Cameron has done a great job in the past couple of years energizing and focusing the work of CISPES, and building collaborations with other groups. He is an awesome penner of OP- EDs and experienced counter-puncher in meetings with MOCs, with especially deep knowledge of the impacts of NAFTA and CAFTA on partner countries. Welcome Cameron!


For further reading

"Democrat Urges House Vote on Korea, Colombia Pacts"
Read about Rep. Adam Smith's recent cheerleading for free trade.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/05/22/democrat_urges_house_vote_on_korea_colombia_pacts/


"EMBARGOED FOR DELIVERY: Renewing U.S. Leadership in the Americas"
An interesting and rather progressive speech by Barak Obama regarding US-Latin American relations, including reference to trade policy.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/05/obama_latin_america_speech_in.html


"South Korea Relaxes US Beef Ban"
A change that may help ease the way for more support of the US-Korea FTA.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7353767.stm


"DEVELOPMENT: More Fears Rise Around Doha Deal"
Developing countries grow more doubtful that liberalizing their economies during the Doha Round of WTO talks will help them cope with the food crisis.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42418

[eridani]

15. Fall 2008 events

CAGJ happenings
*CAGJ's Action-Study Book Club is reading Raj Patel's Stuffed and Starved in August and September! The next book group will be Wednesday Aug. 20 (they are always the 3rd Wed/month). To find out more, please contact Heather Day: [email protected] or call 206.405.4600



*Save the date: September 13 Annual Movie in the Park!

CAGJ is excited to be organizing another Summer Movie in the Park event! It is planned for Saturday Sept 13 – please mark your calendars, and stay tuned for more details!



*Check out CAGJ's new web-site!
As you hopefully already know, CAGJ launched a new website at the same URL: seattleglobaljustice.org – check out recent postings about the recent WTO collapse and blogs for each of CAGJ's projects!


*Next meeting of the Food Justice Project – planning the Movie in the Park and this Fall's Food Politics Teach-in: Tuesday August 12, 6:30 – 8:30. Everyone is invited to attend! Please contact Teresa Mares for more information: [email protected]



Recap: June 29 Fair & Dinner
The June 29 Fair & Dinner was an outstanding success. Thanks again to everyone for their participation! We are excited to announce that we raised enough to begin paying a part-time salary to our Director, Heather Day, and we were also able to use the funds to launch our new website!



-Call for photos: did you take photos at the event? Please share them with CAGJ! Contact Heather at [email protected]

-We have several dishes from dessert donations – please contact the office if you are missing something you would like back! Call 206.405.4600.



Ram Pokhrel, who works with the Rural Youth Development Program in Nepal, was one of iLeap's fellows this summer, and attended CAGJ's dinner. He posted this comment on iLeap's blog:

"Yesterday on behalf of iLEAP we participated in the Fair and Dinner program organized by Community Alliance for Global Justice. We got an opportunity to meet with different organizations, small businesses, food producers, urban gardeners, activists, journalists, individuals, supporters and so on. It was in fact a great event with hundreds of people around the center busy learning from one another. I could observe organizations with creative ideas, with networks developed and resources identified and mobilized for Global Justice. The mass participating in the dinner seemed to be aware of the global food issues. The event gave me additional motivation and greater understanding of people's curiosity over sustainable food systems. The farmers were recognized and were appreciated for being farmers. This is a positive development towards food issue, today. Not only the farmers need to be involved in food production but to some extent all of us living either in rural or urban areas need to learn and grow some part of our food, which will help all of us to overcome the food crisis."



News: Doha Dumped Again, When will we learn? by Masha Burina, Chair of CAGJ's Trade Justice committee

In the face of serious economic challenges, in particular a troubling global food crisis, the world saw an encore presentation of failure in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization negotiations on July 30th. The leading reason for the collapse was the ongoing double standard of core countries (Europe, U.S., and Australia) who continue to uphold their free trade rhetoric while simultaneously massively subsidizing their farm sectors, and barring developing nations from supporting their domestic agriculture (so-called “protectionism”). Academic and activist, Raj Patel (our recent guest in Seattle), provides the grave critique that India's decision to walk away from the talks comes in the midst of an election year; it is convenient to support the vast majority of small rural farmers in your country when their support is needed upon election day. Brazil’s support of neoliberal policy to sustain its own corporate agri-businesses indicates a failure of representation of rural farmers across the board. Ultimately, the WTO's latest collapse reminds us of the need to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Global South, as the agendas of a number of growing powers seem to neglect their own people. However there is a beacon of hope: the organized voices of some southern labor and environmental movements manage to have the backing of their governments. We must stand in unity with those brothers and sisters to strengthen our democratic demands for true social and economic development.



· Read Raj Patel’s discussion of the WTO negotiations and how they’re interlinked with global politics and U.S. immigration: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/30/wto.india

· See links to Raj on the radio and other WTO anaysis on our website! seattleglobaljustice.org



Monsanto's Vultures are Closing in on the Food Crisis, Excerpted from an article by by Annie Shattuck…read the whole article: http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2177

The vultures of corporate America are closing in on the carcass of cheap food. With corn selling at $5.86 a bushel (up from just $2.00 in 2005, and $4.28 just six months ago), the food price crisis has been somewhat of a windfall for farmers. But the briefly glimmering hope for rural communities is about to go out. Last week Monsanto announced it would increase the price of its corn seed by $100 a bag, or about 35%. $100 a bag! So if you are a farmer with 1,000 acres in corn, Monsanto will be demanding an extra forty grand this year. The timing on Monsanto's unilateral price hike is especially heinous. With the world thrust into a profound food crisis, governments shaken, and children hungry, Monsanto is pushing the envelope on one of the world's most important grains. This in combination with the outrageous inflation in the price of fertilizer, (over 400% in the past two years, due to the increase in the price of natural gas, from which fertilizers are made) means farmers are once again barely breaking even….Why is this so worrisome? At the UN Food Summit in Rome on June 5th of this year, Monsanto announced that the company would be here to save us from the food crisis, injecting millions of dollars into public research on wheat and rice, and pledging to double yields on soy and cotton over the next 20 years…Monsanto is using the food crisis to stack our food system on an increasingly genetically narrow and physiologically fragile set of genes. Remember the Irish potato famine? Genetic diversity keeps our food system resistant to disease. Planting all one variety is dangerous…Not only is Monsanto leeching the first real profit in years from small farmers, but planting our food system in ever-more shaky ground. The irony of course, is that in establishing themselves as the white knights of the global food crisis, Monsanto puts us at risk of an even deeper hunger.



Community Calendar
COMPASSION IN ACTION: THE FARM PROJECT
Please support the Black Dollar Days Task Force's "Community Walk and Picnic" in support of the Clean Greens Farm and Market Project. This project is a bootstrap ecumenical and interfaith initiative to create a community farm in Duvall that is committed to Converting 24 acres of pasture to farm land for the production of Organic (chemical-free) food; Providing enriching farming and food-production experiences for youth and at-risk youth; Making healthy organic produce available to Central Area residents at non-organic and affordable prices.

You can help by Joining the walk:

When – Saturday, August 9th, 2008; registration at 9:30AM ($20), walk starts at 10:00AM

Where – Spruce Park, 124 – 21st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122

Picnic – Free after the walk at Pratt Park, 20th Avenue & East Yesler Way

For more information, contact John Hale ( [email protected]; 425.865.0659)



Blues for Food Fest 2008
Saturday, Aug 30 11am - 7pm
Location: Magnusun Park Ampitheatre, Seattle

Featuring 5 northwest local bands! !!cold drinks hot food!! Local farmers market favorites will be serving up delicious homemade and organic food all day long. A children's garden staffed with the most dedicated master gardeners with children's activities scheduled 11-3pm. Fresh homemade pies by homemade by real p-patchers! Composting demonstrations! By real live master composters! Lots of free parking!! Proceeds from this event will go to the P-Patch Trust, a non-profit organization that works to prevent hunger by promoting community gardening in Seattle and by supporting programs that distribute food to needy and help people grow their own food. Bring fresh organic vegetable donations! They will be donated to foodbanks.

Price: $10 - $20 – buy tickets in advance at brownpapertickets.com



Save the date - CAGJ Annual Movie in the Park Sat. September 13, 2008!
More information forthcoming!

[eridani]

16. September 2008 Newsletter

Community Alliance for Global Justice
September 2008 Newsletter


In this newsletter:

- CAGJ happenings…

*Sat. Sept 6: Join CAGJ at Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Fair - Free!

*Dept of Neighborhoods Matching Funds grant will fund Dec. Food Politics Teach-in!

*Tues. Sept 9th 7:30, Teach-in Planning Meeting: Cafe Allegro upstairs

*YOU ARE INVITED Sat. Sept 13 - Annual Movie in the Park!

*Q Café giving 10% of its Sept. proceeds to CAGJ!

*CAGJ seeking Fall Interns

*Nov 2: CAGJ invited to help Central Co-op's Madison Market Celebrate 30 Years

-Fair Trade Road Show ready for audiences now!

-Americas Social Forum, Guatemala City, 7-12 October 2008

-Support CAGJ’s partner, Bonnie River

-Community Calendar



CAGJ happenings
Upcoming Meetings:

-Tues. Sept 9 – Food Justice Project/Teach-in Planning Meeting: Cafe Allegro – upstairs!

-Wed. Sept 17 - CAGJ Book Club: reading Raj Patel's Stuffed and Starved

-Tues. Oct 7 – CAGJ Steering Committee Meeting at CAGJ Office

Contact us for more info: [email protected]



Join CAGJ at Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Fair, Sat Sept 6, 10 – 5pm - Free!
Join CAGJ at Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Fair and experience the rewards that come from being a part of the exciting local foods movement! For 30 years Seattle Tilth has been educating people about growing their own organic food, supporting local farmers and creating a strong local food system. If you have interest in fresh local food, gardening, supporting a local economy, improving the environment, your personal health, or having a good time, then you will not want to miss Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Fair. With a theme of “Celebrate Local Food,” the event boasts a full day of hands-on activities, educational opportunities, sustainable shopping, great food and good old fashioned fun not found anywhere else! “Local hero” Sue Mc Gann, of Lettuce Link’s Giving Garden at Marra Farm, will connect local food choices to a global perspective.

Location: Meridian Park behind the Good Shepherd Center (4649 Sunnyside Ave N)in Wallingford

Find out more: http://www.seattletilth.org/events/Harvest%20Fair/HarvestFair



Department of Neighborhoods Matching Funds grant to fund Dec. Food Politics Teach-in!

CAGJ is very excited to announce that we were recently awarded a Department of Neighborhoods Matching Funds grant for almost $10,000 to organize the Food Politics Teach-in this Fall! The Teach-in will include a public forum the evening of Friday Dec. 5 (location TBD) and a day-long session at Seattle Central Community College (SCCC), Sat. Dec 6. Key partners include Central Co-op's Madison Market and professors Jason Niebler and Katie Gagnon at SCCC, who are in the early stages of organizing a Sustainable Agriculture program at the college. The Teach-in will focus on making the links between local and global food and farming issues, and understanding the food crisis. We aim to educate and inspire people to take action for a just food economy by presenting films, speaker panels, discussions and strategy sessions. And we want to create spaces where a broad range of people involved in the food economy can speak about their experiences, including small and medium sized farmers, farmworkers, farm interns, grocery store workers, restaurant workers, fisherfolk and immigrant workers.



We need your help - Please help us organize! Teach-in planning meetings will take place the 2nd Tues/month: Join us Tues Sept 9, 7:30 – 9pm, at Café Allegro in the U-district (upstairs!). Please contact CAGJ’s director, Heather, if you would like to participate but cannot attend the meetings.



YOU ARE INVITED to the Annual Summer Movie in the Park at Marra Farm! CAGJ and Lettuce Link co-present “The Greening of Cuba” and “Zapata’s Garden/ El Huerto de Zapata”. Bi-lingual discussion to follow the films.

Saturday, September 13, 2008, 7:00 PM - Rain or Shine
Location: Marra Farm - one of the last two remaining pieces of original agricultural land in Seattle! Address: 9026 4th Ave S. 98108 (Located in the South Park Neighborhood, just south of S. Cloverdale and 5th Avenue S. – see directions below.) The film will be shown in the Lettuce Link garden, in the NW corner of the farm. Carpooling highly encouraged – please contact CAGJ at 206.405.4600 if you either want a ride or can give a ride! Suggested donation: $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds) What to Bring: blankets, your kids, and snacks or a dessert to share! Food: We’ll have freshly roasted corn and drinks available!



Films: “The Greening of Cuba” - A Food First film that profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture, based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported agricultural inputs. In their quest for self sufficiency, Cubans combine time-tested traditional methods with cutting edge bio-technology. “Zapata’s Garden/ El Huerto de Zapata” - Shot and produced by indigenous men and women video makers in the Autonomous Municipaltiy of Emiliano Zapata, this video looks at the new society that the Zapatista’s are building. Zapata’s Garden shows how this new municipality is fighting the effects of globalization and government corruption through their work in their collective garden. Community members talk about the importance of collective work in building this new society.



Lettuce Link is a project of Solid Ground. Event co-sponsored by US Women and Cuba Collaboration! For more information: 206-405-4600 or [email protected]



Q Café giving 10% of its Sept proceeds to CAGJ!
Q Café is giving 10% of its proceeds in September to Community Alliance for Global Justice! Please visit the Café to lend your support to both of our organizations! Q Café is a non-profit neighborhood cafe featuring direct trade espresso - Stumptown Coffee - and tea, art, live music, and community events. Every month, the Q Cafe donates 10% of its sales to a local organization working on local or global causes. Location: Interbay - 3223 15th Ave. West - just south of the Ballard Bridge. Hours: 8am-5pm , 8am-9pm. OPEN MIC Tuesdays 6.30-9pm, and LIVE all-ages MUSIC SHOWS Fridays 7.30pm. http://www.qcafe.org/



CAGJ seeking Fall Interns
Do you want to participate in a dynamic, growing grassroots organization committed to social justice both locally and globally, while also receiving college or high-school credit? CAGJ has several internship openings this Fall! We are looking for curious and dependable individuals who are interested in the areas of Grassroots Fundraising, Research and Organizing. Several interns will help organize the Fall Teach-in. More information, including how to apply, will be posted soon on our website! You may also email CAGJ's Director Heather Day directly: [email protected]



CAGJ invited to help Central Co-op's Madison Market Celebrate 30 Years
Save the date! On November 2 CAGJ will help Central Co-op's Madison Market celebrate its 30th birthday, 12 – 5 at Richard Hugo House. CAGJ’s Director, Heather Day, and two of our Advisory Board members, Viki Sonntag and Derek Hoshiko, have been invited to join a panel “of local heroes…who are successfully building a local food economy, and having fun doing it. Beyond just local food, these neighbors of ours are crafting ways to live that meet our human needs, strengthen the local economy and respect the living Earth”.



Attend the panel discussion moderated by webster walker 1-3pm: "Living our Cooperative Values: Sustainable alternatives to a culture in crisis." Other speakers: Seattle Council President Richard Conlin, Lottie Cross of Black Dollar Days Task Force, Diane Dempster of Charlie’s Produce, Sue McGann of Marra Farm, Mark McIntyre of Cascade Harvest Coalition, Keith Possee of UW Medicinal Herb Garden, and a representative to be determined from 21 Acres.



Fair Trade Road Show ready for audiences now!
The Washington Fair Trade Coalition has created an engaging presentation on Fair Trade that is available to bring to your organization! This presentation, entitled "Free Trade and its Problems: Fair Trade Solutions" discusses concerns about the current free trade system, and points to possible solutions including current bills and local campaigns that you can support. This is a great opportunity for members of your organization to learn about and get more engaged in fair trade issues - especially at a time when we have the potential to see meaningful changes made in the next administration. Contact Stephanie Celt at 206-227-3079 if you would like to bring the Fair Trade Road Show to your next community or board meeting. The presentation plus questions/discussion time can run anywhere between 20-60 minutes (average 30 minutes) depending on the needs of your meeting. It can be amended to suit different audiences, and we are working on a Spanish language version!



Americas Social Forum, Guatemala City, 7-12 October
From 7-12 October 2008, the third Americas Social Forum (ASF) will take place in Guatemala City, Guatemala. With themes ranging from “Defending quality of life in the face of predatory capitalism” to “Diversities and equalities and the challenges for achieving them,” the third Americas Social Forum will provide space for meeting, dialogue and debate, as well to strategize and plan for innovative actions and campaigns to further their work. At this historic point in time for peoples and countries throughout the Western Hemisphere, the Americas Social Forum will further build solidarity among the people of this hemisphere. Deadline to register for the ASF is September 22, 2008. For more information visit:

http://www.forosocialamericas.org/index.php.en



Support Bonnie River’s new online store!
CAGJ’s partner, Bonnie River Fair Trade and World Friendly Store in Wallingford, had to close its doors recently. But…the New Bonnie River online store is now open! They have some really interesting and cool things from around the world and will be adding some more items in the weeks to come. The stories owner, Kathy Riley, says “Thanks again to all you great customers who made the Wallingford store such a gratifying experience. I'm hoping we can continue the life of Bonnie River, and the ideas behind it, with this cyberspace version.” Please check it out! http://www.bonnieriver.com/



Community Calendar
Sat. Sept 13, 12 – 7pm Eat Local Now! A Hands-On Festival
For the first time, Eat Local Now! brings us a skill-building, knowledge sharing event on the food cycle: from gardening to planting, growing, harvesting, cooking, composting, processing, transportation, and local food economy. This will be a unique "hands-on festival" with learning opportunities about local food and the local food system. Come learn how to weave local foods more into the fabric of your life, whether it is a new concept to you or you have been doing it for years.

Location: University Heights Center. Noon: mini-conference, 5: local foods dinner outside in the plaza area, weather permitting. Admission: suggested donation $15 for mini-conference; the dinner will involve paid tickets on a sliding scale between $25-$30. A limited number of reduced price low-income/student tickets are available upon request at [email protected]. Purchase tickets now! at http://www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/42433



Wed Sept 24, 7-9 pm – UW Kane Hall 220

Facing Climate Change in the Developing World: How Can We Help?

It is well known that developing countries, and people living in poverty, are most vulnerable to the disabling effects of climate change. But how these societies will be affected, and what communities can do to adapt to the threats created by climate change, is only beginning to be understood. The purpose of this forum is to explore a coherent response to climate change in developing countries, and gain a better understanding of how the threat might alter the strategies of activists and donors supporting poor communities in overcoming poverty. Presenters: Dr. Tom Ackerman, Director of the UW’s Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO), KC Golden, Policy Director at Seattle-based Climate Solutions; Heather Coleman, Senior Policy Advisor on Climate Change at Oxfam America. Sponsored by: Pangea: Giving for Global Change, The Seattle Foundation, and Center for Global Studies (Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, UW)



Saturday, September 27th, 10 – 4:30

King County Harvest Celebration Farm Tour – 10th Annual!

Farms from around King County invite you to come and get a taste of farm life! It's a day of fun and agricultural learning for children and adults! Last year, thousands of tour participants talked to farmers and walked their fields, enjoyed family hay rides, ran through corn mazes and ate produce fresh off the field! Go on this year's farm tour and see for yourself where farmers grow our local foods, raise farm animals, and steward rural and agricultural land in King County. The Harvest Celebration Farm Tour is presented by WSU King County Extension, in partnership with King Conservation District and King County. For more info:

http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/HarvestCelebration.html)



Friday, October 3, 2008, 7:00-9:30 PM
Film: “BLACK GOLD” (78 min, Marc Francis & Nick Francis, 2006)

As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar industry, BLACK GOLD traces one man's fight for a fair price. http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

Event is FREE and open to the public! ...but Donations are kindly accepted.

Location: Keystone Congregational United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle (Wallingford), 0.4 miles west of the I-5 NE 50th St. Exit - Metro Bus Routes 16, 26 & 44



Friday, October 10, 2008, 7:00-9:30 PM
Film: “WE FEED THE WORLD” (96 min, Erwin Wagenhofer, 2005)

WE FEED THE WORLD is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers, long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us. http://www.we-feed-the-world.at/en/film.htm

Event is FREE and open to the public! ...but Donations are kindly accepted.

Location: Keystone Congregational United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle (Wallingford), 0.4 miles west of the I-5 NE 50th St. Exit - Metro Bus Routes 16, 26 & 44



Saturday, October 11th, 8:30AM-4PM, Seattle Center Northwest Rooms

6th Annual Seattle Race Conference: Movements for Reparations - Restoring Racial Justice, Building Unity and Healing Our Diverse Communities

This conference will explore what the movement for redress means for our diverse communities. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Redress to Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. Our goal is community education on the ways reparations can play a role in racial reconciliation and healing as well as build bridges between all our communities. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Raymond Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University and former Director of Race Relations at Fisk University. In 2001 Winbush was a delegate to the UN World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Winbush is also the editor of the anthology, Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations. For more information: www.seattleraceconference.org/ or [phone].

[eridani]

17. October 2008 newsletter

Upcoming CAGJ happenings…

Save the date – Dec. 5-6, 2008! CAGJ & Partners present…Confronting the Food Crisis Teach-in: Cultivating Just Alternatives to the Corporate Food System

Offering over 15 individual talks, panels & workshops and 3 thematic areas: Understanding Corporate Control, Building Just Alternatives and Hands-on workshops…also an all-day film series, good food…and it is all free!



Join the fun! Next Teach-in Planning Meeting: Tuesday Oct 14, 6:30 – 8:30
For location please contact Heather Day: 206-405-4600 or [email protected] CAGJ's Food Justice Project for more info: [email protected]



An Invitation to join CAGJ’s Action-Study Book Club
Every now and then we need inspiration, a reminder of what the struggle is about, and just a chance to hang out in a setting less formal than an official meeting. That's why once a month a group of us get together to discuss ideas from books related in some way to what we do. We know how busy everyone is, so whether or not you've read the entire book or would just like to learn more about it, we invite you to join our discussion.



Next Book Club meeting: Wednesday Oct 15 (3rd Wed/month), 6:30 – 8:30

Book: ‘The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America’, by Patricia Klindienst. The book is about the relationship between the earth, community and family; the things that matter most in our lives. Klindienst “gathered the stories of urban, suburban, and rural gardens created by people rarely presented in books about American gardens: Native Americans, immigrants from across Asia and Europe, and ethnic peoples who were here long before our national boundaries were drawn...” Received 2007 American Book Award

Contact Reid Mukai for more information! [email protected]



Thanks for making our annual Movie in the Park a success!
Our annual Movie in the Park event on September 13th, in partnership with Lettuce Link and hosted by Marra Farm, was great! About 80 people enjoyed roasted corn, a potluck, and films focusing on radical food politics in Cuba and the autonomous Zaptista communities in Mexico. Thank you to everyone who came, and those that helped make it happen! See photos:

http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2008/09/thanks-for-making-our-annual-movie-in-the-park-a-success/



Analysis: The Financial Crisis and the Food Crisis: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Excerpted from article by Food First Analyst Annie Shattuck - read the whole article! http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2252


"Food riots, foreclosures, lost pensions, destabilized governments, the threat of “financial Armageddon” and an increasingly hungry planet are all evidence of the same failed policies. A $700 billion dollar bail out to Wall Street may or may not stabilize markets in the short run, but will do nothing to address the root causes of the current crisis, nor will it stave off the next one. A real solution must include measures to stabilize both food and financial markets. We need strong oversight on large traders and financial services, and increased support to local economies, small farmers, small, local banks, and small borrowers. Most of all, we need a dramatic departure from the free-market fundamentalism that brought us here in the first place."



Update: Costa Rica Gets Three More Months To Pass CAFTA Implementing Bill
The United States and other signatories of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have agreed that Costa Rica will have until Dec. 31 to pass legislation needed to implement the trade deal, according to Costa Rican sources. This is roughly a three-month extension from an Oct. 1 deadline. The new deadline was decided during a Sept. 30 meeting between U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias…Costa Rica, the only CAFTA country yet to pass implementation legislation, needed the deadline extension after the country's high court ruled on Sept. 11 that the intellectual property protection (IP) part of the implementation bill was unconstitutional because the government had failed to consult the indigenous population. Costa Rica originally had a March 1 deadline to pass the CAFTA implementing legislation, which marked two years after El Salvador became the first country to implement CAFTA in March 2006.



Community Calendar
Friday, October 3, 2008, 7:00-9:30 PM

Film: “BLACK GOLD” (78 min, Marc Francis & Nick Francis, 2006) and discussion facilitated by CAGJ member Bill Mace!

As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar industry, BLACK GOLD traces one man's fight for a fair price. http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

Event is FREE and open to the public! ...but Donations are kindly accepted.

Location: Keystone Congregational United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle (Wallingford), 0.4 miles west of the I-5 NE 50th St. Exit - Metro Bus Routes 16, 26 & 44



Saturday, October 11th, 8:30AM-4PM, Seattle Center Northwest Rooms

6th Annual Seattle Race Conference: Movements for Reparations - Restoring Racial Justice, Building Unity and Healing Our Diverse Communities

This conference will explore what the movement for redress means for our diverse communities. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Redress to Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. Our goal is community education on the ways reparations can play a role in racial reconciliation and healing as well as build bridges between all our communities. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Raymond Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University and former Director of Race Relations at Fisk University. In 2001 Winbush was a delegate to the UN World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Winbush is also the editor of the anthology, Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations. For more information: www.seattleraceconference.org/ or [phone].



Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m. Seattle University Wykoff Auditorium
The struggle for sovereignty: Grassroots democracy in El Salvador a presentation by Father Miguel Ángel Vásquez, Jesuit priest from El Salvador and Professor Robert Andolina, International Studies at Seattle University

Seattle University, Wyckoff Auditorium (inside Bannan Hall - bldg. 24 on map)



Friday, October 17, 7 p.m., University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave NE, Seattle: Immigration Dialogue & Dessert

Presented by UUC's REACH for Immigrant Justice: Have you heard an anti-immigrant argument that feels wrong, but you need the facts to contest? Do you have a fear or concern about immigration? Bring these arguments and concerns. We'll work together to better understand our experiences and the facts, with an excellent panel of guests:

Jorge Barón, Executive Director, NW Immigrant Rights Project, Chris Benoit, CASA Latina Committee for Worker Defense, Charles Hirschman, UW Professor of Sociology, Jackie O'Ryan, Communications Director, OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone)

Opening Music by UUC's InterGenerational Choir; Refreshments provided, everyone welcome. To learn more, contact Roberta Ray: [email protected]



Sunday November 2, Noon – 5pm at Richard Hugo House
Central Coop's Madison Market 30th anniversary celebration
"Living our Cooperative Values: Sustainable alternatives to a culture in crisis"

Richard Hugo House - 1634 11th Avenue in Seattle

Program:

Noon – 12:50 p.m.: Golden Heron Gamelan, in the cabaret

1 - 3 p.m.: Community panel: "Sustainable alternatives to a culture in crisis", in the auditorium (CAGJ's Director, Heather Day, will speak on the panel)

3 - 5 p.m.: Music and dance with Mambo Cadillac, in the auditorium

4 - 4:15 p.m.: Happy birthday Central Co-op! Birthday cake and brief words, in the auditorium

Noon - 5 p.m.: Co-op history room, community organizations and children’s activities in conference rooms.



Thank you reading CAGJ's newsletter!

Contact us if you have any questions, concerns or to be unsubscribed:

contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

[eridani]

18. November 2008 newsletter

CAGJ Happenings…
Central Co-op’s 30th Anniversary Celebration

Sun November 2nd, noon to 5pm at Richard Hugo House, Free

Come celebrate central Co-op’s 30th anniversary with live music, food and drinks, children’s activities and a panel on “Sustainable alternatives to a culture in crisis: Community leaders share reasons for hope”, 1-3pm: CAGJ's Director, Heather Day, will speak, as well as two of CAGJ's Advisory Board members, Derek Hoshiko and Viki Sonntag! For more information call Madison Market 206.329.1545

Fall print CAGJ Newsletter
You may have received our Fall print Newsletter in the mail this week, where you will find articles about the bail-out and its ties to the food crisis, updates from our committees, as well as an overview of the Presidential candidates views on agriculture, small farms, development, the US role in Africa and more. If you did not receive a copy, and want one you can: 1)email us at contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org with your address and we will mail you one or 2)look for it soon on our website!

Fair Trade for the HolidaysWe also mailed order forms with the newsletter for our annual fundraiser, Fair Trade for the Holidays! If you want to buy fair trade gifts this holidays season for your loved ones, we are offering chocolate (individual bars, Theo samplers and wine-pairing gifts), coffee, tea, two different tshirts, AND Domestic Fair Trade dried cranberries, pecans and nuts, from Equal Exchange – Bring Fair Trade Home! This year you can order ONLINE! Order Form:http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/fairtradeholidays! You may pick up your Fair Trade for the Holiday orders at our Dec. 12 Holiday Party!…. Carolers Unite to Stop Shopping! Holiday Party Friday Dec. 12

This Dec. 12, CAGJ links up with our pals at Reclaim the Media for a holiday party celebrating sustainable local economies and a healthy media ecology! Stop by for holiday cheer, refreshments, and learn holiday carols on loan from Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. Based in Seattle since 2002, Reclaim the Media conducts grassroots organizing for social change through media justice. http://reclaimthemedia.org/ Details about the party to follow!

Teach-in Update:The December 5 & 6, join CAGJ & Partners for…Confronting the Food Crisis: Cultivating Just Alternatives to the Corporate Food System! Offering over 15 individual talks, panels & workshops and 3 thematic areas: Understanding Corporate Control, Building Just Alternatives and Hands-on workshops…also an all-day film series, good food…and it is all free! See List of workshops and speakers on our homepage! seattleglobaljustice.org


Next CAGJ Meetings – Please Join us!*CAGJ Steering Committee: Wednesday Nov. 5, 6:30 - 8:30 at office*Food Justice Project Teach-in Planning Meeting, Tues. Nov 11, 6:30 - 8:30 at office…or to get involved in planned email: [email protected]*Book Club: Wednesday Nov 19 (3rd Wed/month), 6:30 – 8:30

Book: ‘The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America’, by Patricia Klindienst. The book is about "urban, suburban, and rural gardens created by…Native Americans, immigrants from across Asia and Europe, and ethnic peoples", and is so great that we had to discuss it two months in a row! Contact Reid for more information…reidm {at} u.washington.edu

TAKE ACTION: Thousands of Indigenous Colombians March against the US-Colombia FTA - March Attacked

Take Action NOW: CALL YOUR REPs to say NO to a lame duck vote on the US-Colombia FTA! Call(202) 224-3121 and ask the Capitol Switchboard operator to connect you to your member of Congress’ office. Then call BOTH of your Senators!


"With the 110th Congress wrapping up at the end of this month to prepare for the November 4th elections, U.S.-Colombia FTA supporters are lobbying in full force as they desperately seek a vote on the deal before Congress officially adjourns. Since a vote on the controversial FTA before the elections would be too politically costly for many members, proponents are banking on a Congressional “lame duck” vote in December if Congress reconvenes." Source: American Friends Service Committee

News: A major Indigenous mobilized which has taken place over the past three weeks in Colombia, has been violently attached resulting in many wounded and deaths. According to the International Federation of Human Rights, on October 11 in the department of Cauca and along the Pan-American Highway, "approximately 10,000 indigenous persons have been mobilized throughout the country to celebrate the "Minga for Social and Community Resistance" in order to remember the anniversary of the landing of the Spanish on the American continent and to request the respect for their fundamental rights".

The Indigenous communities have 5 demands: 1. No to the economic model and the Free Trade Agreements with the US, Canada and Europe; 2. A removal of the legislation that empoverishes peoples, destroys and denies rights and freedoms, delivers the wealth of the country to corporate interests and has not gone through consultation with those affected; 3. No more war and terror as the main Government policy. 4. Respect and application of international and national agreements and establishment of the conditions that will allow the people to construct a new, possible and necessary country. 5. A proposal not for indigenous peoples, but from them, to construct jointly a new society.

Democracy Now interviewed Rafael Coicué, a former mayor, and indigenous leader who lost sight in his left eye when he was assaulted by masked gunmen in the recent attacks. IN expressing his views of the Colombia FTA, he stated, "it is very harmful to us, because it means handing over natural resources to the multinational corporations. It’s pillaging our natural resources. It also means exploiting cheap labor that one finds in Colombia, setting up companies that would not have to pay taxes, as well as cultural issues, intellectual property rights issues. The rights of the indigenous people will be decimated, will be destroyed, will simply be relegated to museums and paintings."

In response to the peaceful assembly, the government mobilized "at least 1000 armed men...supported by armored cars and helicopters". On October 15, "the protestors were assaulted with rifles, tear gas, and hand grenades, which caused the death of one person and wounded dozens more. On previous days, several persons had also been wounded and four arbitrarily detained." The FIDH reports that in the month leading up to the march, close to twenty indigenous persons were murdered by paramilitaries in the region. This is not the first major mobilization in Colombia against the US-Colombia FTA: 70,000 marched against the FTA in September, 2004 in what many said was the largest march of indigenous people in Colombia's history.

Eat Local for Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, in addition to celebrating the fall season with friends and family, consider eating locally – take the Eat Local for Thanksgiving pledge to offer at least one locally grown or raised food item on your holiday table! It's simple, affordable and delicious. Take the pledge and you'll be entered to win a locally raised heritage turkey or free Organic Valley milk for a year! Learn more about the large variety of local foods that are available throughout the fall and where you can purchase them, download holiday recipes and take the pledge at: http://pugetsoundfresh.com/eatlocal/

News: Washington Fair Trade Coalition and CAGJ Meet with Rep. Inslee
Members of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, including Heather Day and Allan Paulson of CAGJ, met with Representative Jay Inslee in early October to urge him to become a sponsor of the TRADE Act. The TRADE Act calls for an assessment of existing trade agreements, and renegotiation of those that do not meet a set of standards that support workers rights, the environment and food security. Inslee showed a good understanding of the way in which the deregulation of global financial markets has been promoted through the ‘free’ trade agenda, leading to the current global credit crisis and recession. He also indicated that he understands how trade policy has been designed to prevent the government from enacting and enforcing sound environmental policy. He has been urging changes to Chapter 11, the section of NAFTA (and other FTAs) which permits investors to sue states if regulations prevent them from realizing anticipated profits, but “no one will listen.” As a result, he said he has told the leadership that they cannot count on him to support new trade agreements like the one with Colombia, and he speculated that may be why they are not bringing these FTAs forward for a vote. However, Rep Inslee stopped short of agreeing to become a sponsor of the TRADE Act, claiming he was not yet familiar with its details. He did, however, promise to meet with us again after the election, to discuss it further. All in all, it was a positive and constructive discussion.

Food Crisis Reports: The Value of Growing Your Own Food - from Food First

“A dime spent on seeds yields about one dollar’s worth of produce, and people are taking note. Because of raising prices and a stagnant economy, more and more people have been forced to choose between buying food or fuel. Such an impossible decision has led both suburban and urban dwellers to rip out laws, and garden on fire escapes and rooftops, and grow vegetables on empty lots. Interest in growing produce has always picked up during economic downturns, most recently during the 1975 national oil crisis….Cities are also getting involved, often in collaboration with nonprofits such as People’s Grocery of West Oakland, CA….Last year the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development helped farmers gain access to two half-acre parcels of city land to grow food and develop community gardens. More cities are making food more accessible for families feeling the crunch of high prices by making land and other resources more available to nonprofits.”

Food Crisis Reports: A day in the life in El Salvador – from Share Foundation

According to the UN World Food Programme the average Salvadoran family living in the countryside is consuming just 60% of the calories that it did in May 2006. A combination of unjust trade policies, natural disasters, competition for food grains with bio-fuels, and the dismantling of the agricultural sector have resulted in a food crisis. In the face of disaster, small farmers across the Salvadoran countryside are seeking local solutions so that their families do not go hungry. You can help by purchasing a seed kit to help a farmer plant this rainy season. Contact Share: www.share-elsalvador.org

Cooperation as rebellion: Creating sustainable agriculture in Paraguay – Excerpted from article by April Howard; 1 Oct 2008,Toward Freedom

“While many Paraguayan campesino families have moved into urban peripheries, tenacious farmers have fought not only for their right to land, but also to redefine and recreate the agricultural model based on cooperative, organic and people-friendly alternatives. As newly elected President Fernando Lugo moves to make good on campaign promises, the proposals of Paraguayan farming movements already point the way to sustainable change…The campesino struggle has gained strength and press over the past few years, and in the build up to the election, presidential candidates postured themselves either against soy expansion or in favor of it. A large part of Lugo’s base is made up of farmers who have been hurt by the industrial soy companies, and Lugo promised them comprehensive land reform…It is probable that social groups that helped bring Lugo to office will have to exert similar pressure on their new president. Indeed, in Venezuela, and more recently Bolivia, social protest has helped governments strong-arm laws through conflicted congresses.”

Community Calendar
Central Co-op’s 30th Anniversary Celebration

Sun November 2nd, noon to 5pm at Richard Hugo House, Free

Come celebrate central Co-op’s 30th anniversary with live music, food and drinks, children’s activities and a panel on “Sustainable alternatives to a culture in crisis: Community leaders share reasons for hope”, 1-3pm: CAGJ's Director, Heather Day, will speak, as well as two of CAGJ's Advisory Board members, Derek Hoshiko and Viki Sonntag!

For more information call Madison Market 206.329.1545 or e-mail info {at} madisonmarket.coop

Taste, Toast and Twirl! with Seattle Tilth
Wed, November 12; 6-9pm at Herban Feast SoDo (3200 1st Ave Seattle)

Guests will have the opportunity to discuss the craft of making various wines, beers, and chocolates with local producers, while indulging in the best seasonal flavors. Take a taste of autumn’s bounty with fresh ingredients from local and organic farms transformed into exceptional vittles by the acclaimed chefs at Herban Feast (herbanfeast.com). Enjoy locally produced sweets, treats, wines, beers, ciders and more as you twirl across the dance floor to Trio A Propos and the Tallboys. Richard Conlin will also be presenting some inspiration and information about Seattle’s Local Food Action Initiative. More information at www.seattletilth.org; tickets through www.brownpapertickets.com


Please Join LELO in Raising $10,000 To Send a Delegation to Venezeula in January 2009
Friday, Nov 21st at the Brockey Conference Center at South Seattle Community College

Privatization of public services, land and natural resources the global market have impacted communities throughout the world, causing a decrease in wages and standards of living. The 2009 delegation will have a unique opportunity to talk directly with Venezuelan workers, students, and leaders who are working within their communities to reverse privatization at the local and global level. This year's project, "Reclaim Our Communities – End Privatization!!" will inspire local actions against privatization of public services, land and natural resources link local workers with members of grassroots organizations in Venezuela. (6:00-6:30 PM – Reception; 6:30 PM Dinner and Program) RSVP by Friday Nov. 10 Please call [phone] X3 or online at www.lelo.org

[eridani]

19. Fair trade teach-in on 12/5-12/6 in Seattle

See you at the Teach-in!

Confronting the Food Crisis: Cultivating Just Alternatives to the Corporate Food System!

December 5: Garfield Community Center, 6pm – 9pm

December 6: Seattle Central Community College, 9am – 5:30pm

Offering over 15 individual talks, panels & hands-on workshops to help us Understand Corporate Control & Build Just Alternatives.



See Updated list of workshops and speakers on CAGJ's homepage! http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

20. January 2009 newsletter

Community Alliance for Global Justice

January 2009 Newsletter


In this newsletter:

CAGJ Happenings

Over 400 People Attend Food Crisis Teach-In!
CAGJ Event Feb 19, Mexico Unconquered: Join us for an evening of music, film, photos and discussion!

Change or Agribusiness as Usual? by Reid Mukai

Nafta's Unhappy Anniversary
Community Calendar



CAGJ Happenings
Come to the CAGJ Community Meeting!

Tuesday January 27, 6:30- 8:30pm

Come to the first CAGJ Community Meeting of 2009! Open to all members and the general public. Come - bring friends! - meet and mingle with other wonderful CAGJ members and Seattle activists. Learn about current projects, events, and ways to become involved. Bask in the afterglow of the Teach-in and brainstorm ways to harness the energy and connections sparked at the event. This is a potluck - please feel free to bring something to share, but it is not required to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!



Location: CAGJ office in the Int'l District - 606 Maynard Ave. S. #252 Seattle 98104

Questions? Call CAGJ 206.405.4600 or email contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org



Buy a Chinook Book & Save money & Support local sustainable businesses & Support CAGJ! Chinook Book is a book full of coupons that easily pays for itself. You can buy yours on CAGJ's website, or at our office! Example of Coupons: PCC, Madison Market, Mighty-O Donuts, Essential Baking Co., Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Rep Theatre, Third Place Books & much much more! Cost $20 – CAGJ gets a percentage of each sale. http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/get-involved/cagjstore/


Upcoming Meetings:

*AGRA Watch, Sun. Jan. 11, 4:30 – 6:30pm, agrawatch {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

*Food Justice Project, Tues. Jan. 13, 6:30 - 8:30pm, fjp {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

*Book Club: Wed. Jan 21, 6:30 – 8:30pm, bookgroup {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

Book: ‘Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World', by Mike Davis

*CAGJ Steering Committee: Tues. March 3, 6:30 - 8:30pm at office


Over 400 People Attend Food Crisis Teach-In!
More than 400 people attended CAGJ's “Confronting the Food Crisis: Cultivating Just Alternatives to the Corporate Food System” Teach-in on December 5th and 6th. This was a huge turnout that far surpassed our expectations! A big thank you goes out to all the speakers, co-sponsors, volunteers, and allies who made it happen. We couldn’t have done it without you! We want to especially thank the City of Seattle for providing funding through the Department of Neighborhoods. On Friday we opened the Teach-in with an event at Garfield Community Center, with Lucy Jarosz from the UW Geography Department, Sue McGann from Lettuce Link (a project of Solid Ground), Carlos Marentes from Comité for Immigration Reform and Social Justice and Via Campesina, and Carol Thompson of Northern Arizona University, a scholar and activist for food sovereignty in Africa. The panelists presented diverse views of why we need to confront both the food crisis and its mainstream representation. While opinions and approaches diverged, all of the presenters addressed the underlying themes of people power, sustainability, food justice, and food sovereignty. On Saturday, our all day teach-in included hands-on workshops, panels of activists and people working toward a just food system, a delicious locally-sourced lunch, and sessions that included films, games, and music. Sixteen separate sessions took place at Seattle Central Community College, and all were packed with enthusiastic community members sitting in every free chair, table, and inch of floor space. The energy radiated through and out of every room, as we each offered assessments of our current situations and fantastic ideas and discussions of how to create a just food system that works for everyone!



Read a full summary, see photos, and soon find notes from all of the sessions here: http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2008/12/teach-in-reportback/#more-93



CAGJ Event Thursday February 19, 2009, 7 - 10pm
Mexico Unconquered: Join us for an evening of music, film, photos and discussion!

Journalist and activist John Gibler will give a short talk about his new book, "Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt", City Lights Books, 2009. "Mexico Unconquered is an evocative report on the epic powers of violence and corruption in Mexico and the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up." At the event we will watch a clip from the documentary, 'Un Poquito de Tanto Verdad'..."When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, they didn't take their story to the media...they TOOK the media"; Film-maker Jill Friedberg in attendance; Photo Exhibit: 2007 Oaxaca Uprising and the Zapatista Other Campaign; Music by Abel Rocha and Sin Fronteras. Food & Drink available! Location: Central Cinema @ 21st & Union, 1411 21st Avenue, Seattle WA 98122, www.central-cinema.com

For more information, call 206.405.4600 or email contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org



Change or Agribusiness as Usual? by Reid Mukai
In mid-December it was officially announced that Obama's cabinet pick for Secretary of Agriculture is former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. As head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (a department with a $97 billion annual budget and 110,000 employees) the Secretary of Agriculture is a powerful office in charge of food stamp and nutrition programs, agriculture subsidies, food safety, the Forest Service and the Farm Bill. The USDA also influences energy policy because of the rise of biofuels and its Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program. From a president elect with a mandate for "change we can believe in", this nomination is particularly disheartening because change is so urgently needed for our nation's food system. Unfortunately Vilsack's track record offers little reason to believe his policy decisions will lead to changes in a positive direction.



According to the Farm Subsidy Database* Vilsack received payments totaling $42,782 from 1995 through 2006. In 2000 he founded and chaired the Governors Biotechnology Partnership and in 2001 the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) gave Vilsack a "Governor of the Year" award for his support of GMOs. In 2005 Vilsack pushed a preemption law (backed by Monsanto) that weakens municipalities and county's ability to regulate GMOs. According to Ronnie Cummins, director of the Organic Consumers Association, Vilsack has also supported bioengineered pharmaceutical crops, cattle cloning technology and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs, aka factory farms). Vilsack's supporters cite his alternative energy advocacy as proof of his environmental credentials. However the alternative energy he favors is corn and soy based ethanol which is largely dependent on chemical fertilizers and GMOs, creates enormous amounts of greenhouse gasses during its production, and is linked to an increase in food prices. On a hopeful note, as pointed out by Michael Pollan in a recent NPR interview, Obama's pick for Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, is a fierce critic of corn-based ethanol. Tom Vilsack reportedly has a reputation for being a good listener. It's up to all of us to watch carefully who he listens to as well as whose interests his actions and decisions ultimately serve.

*http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=000545453



Nafta's Unhappy Anniversary: For both the US and Mexico, Nafta has failed to deliver on its economic promises. It's time for it to be renegotiated. by Kevin Gallagher and Timothy Wise In Mexico, the fifteenth birthday is a special time, an ornate coming of age celebration – the quinceañera – complete with dancing and piñatas. On January 1, the North American Free Trade Agreement turns 15, but it does not seem like anyone in Mexico is going to throw any parties for the groundbreaking trade agreement. Celebrations in Washington are likely to be muted as well. President-elect Barack Obama swept to victory on a platform critical of NAFTA…Obama also promised to take a "time-out" on trade agreements while a thorough review of US trade policy is carried out. He should make good on that promise. And unlike the campaign, which focused exclusively on how these agreements have brought limited benefits for people in the US, the review should take a hard look at Mexico's experience as well. It is not a pretty picture….The economy grew slowly – an annual rate of 1.6% per capita. This was low by historical standards. The economy grew 3.5% per year from 1960-79, under the widely criticised policies of "import substitution". And it was low by developing country standards. China, India and Brazil all vaulted ahead of Mexico, following a much less orthodox set of policies that would be illegal for Mexico under NAFTA. Slow growth means limited job creation, all the more so with US exports displacing "inefficient" domestic producers…Mexico saw a net loss of employment under NAFTA, and this at a time when the country's baby boom has about one million young people entering the work force each year. No wonder an estimated half-million Mexicans make the increasingly perilous and militarised crossing to the US each year, double the migration rate before NAFTA, which, remember, was promised to end the migration problem by allowing Mexico to "export goods, not people". No wonder some Mexicans are calling for their own government to renegotiate NAFTA on its fifteenth birthday. read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/01/nafta-anniversary-us-mexico-trade


Community Calendar

Friday, January 9 at 6:30pm
AN ECUMENICAL PRAYER FOR PEACE IN GAZA AT SEATTLE’S ST. JAMES CATHEDRAL
St. James Cathedral invites Christians of all denominations to gather and pray for peace on Friday, January 9 at 6:30pm. “In light of the devastating violence in Gaza which is taking an alarming number of civilian lives, it seems important that the Christian community come together to pray earnestly for the cessation of hostilities,” says Father Michael G. Ryan, Pastor of St. James Cathedral. The prayer service will include songs from the ecumenical community of Taizé, scripture readings, prayers, and candlelighting Also Father Samir Abulait will do a reading St. James Cathedral: 9th and Marion in downtown Seattle. For additional information: Corinna Laughlin, 206-622-3559, claughlin {at} stjames-cathedral.org


Saturday, January 10, 2009 12:01 PM
Save Gaza-End the Siege protest - Federal Courthouse, 700 Stewart Seattle

Join with others at this regular weekly demonstration against the siege on Gaza and to demand an end to the US-backed massacre. This week the demonstration will be at a different location, the Federal Courthouse on Stewart near the Greyhound station.

Sponsored by: Save Gaza Campaign. For more information please contact: odehamin {at} yahoo.com or Seattle Answer web page: http://answerseattle.org/



Monday, January 19, 2009 Garfield High School

"Yes We Can: Change Begins Now!" The 27th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. March and Rally
The Martin Luther King Celebration Committee announces the 27th annual region-wide Martin Luther King Jr., Celebration with Workshops (9:30am-11am), Rally (11am) and March (12pm). March from Garfield High School to the Federal Building. Immediately after the March, food and refreshments will be served at Garfield's lunch room free to all participants! For more info: http://www.mlkseattle.org/



CISPES Election Monitoring delegation to El Salvador: March 9-19, 2009

Recent polls in El Salvador show that the leftist FMLN party is 15% ahead over the right-wing presidential candidate from the ruling party. This only confirms what Salvadorans in the social movement, members of the FMLN, and the general public have been saying all along: El Salvador is the next in line to join the Latin American shift to the left! The Committee with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) has a long solidarity relationship with the Salvadoran people. One way CISPES continues to support REAL democracy in El Salvador, opposing US economic, military, and political intervention, is by bringing international observers delegations to El Salvador. You too can support free and fair elections and learn about the current situation in El Salvador by joining the CISPES delegation from March 9-19, 2009. Contact Seattle CISPES for more info: 206.325.5494. Deadline to apply Jan 17. http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=417&Itemid=51





Thank you for reading CAGJ's Newsletter!

___________________________________

Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600 Email: contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

21. Update

Community Alliance for Global Justice
January 2009 Update


Upcoming Events with CAGJ & friends!

Jan. 19: March with CAGJ in MLK March!

Jan. 20: CHANGE & HOPE: Post-Presidential Inauguration event

Jan. 22: "Good Food" film screening

Jan. 27: CAGJ re-launches Community Meetings!

Jan. 28: David Bacon discusses new book, "Illegal People"

Feb. 19 CAGJ Event: Mexico Unconquered/Mexico No Conquistado



Monday, January 19th, 11am Rally, 12pm March

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March & Celebration

"Yes We Can: Change Begins Now!"

Garfield High School, 23rd Ave & E Jefferson St, Seattle

March with CAGJ! Meet us at 11:45am in front of the gym

Workshops inside Garfield High School:9:30-10:45am

Rally 11am at Garfield High School gym

March to Federal Building 12pm

Immediately after the march, food and refreshments will be served at Garfield's High School lunchroom free to all participants. Seattle has one of the largest annual Martin Luther King Day Celebrations in the U.S. We honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for his work toward racial equality and toward economic justice for all people, for his commitment to nonviolence, and for his stand against war and militarism. The event is led by the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee. For more info, call [phone] or http://www.MLKSeattle.org.



Tuesday January 20th 5:30PM

CHANGE & HOPE: Join El Comité Pro-Reforma Migratoria y Justicia Social for a Post-Presidential Inauguration event and evening of food and discussion

We will televise the Obama’s Presidential inauguration speech, for those of us that were unable to see it during the morning, followed by an open public discussion on the issues of: the War, Employee Free Choice Act and labor issues, the economy, healthcare, immigration, Defense of Marriage Act and LGBTQ rights. Co-sponsors: SEIU Local 6, AFGE Local 3937, CASA Latina, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites, Socialist Workers Party of Seattle, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and others…For more information please call [phone].



Thursday January 22nd 7:00 - 9:00 pm

"Good Food" film screening

North Seattle Community College Baxter Events Center

9600 College Way N, Seattle, WA 98103

"Good Food" offers an intimate look at farmers, ranchers and businesses that are creating a more sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest. Free film screening plus guest speaker and info tables co-hosted by Homewaters Project and NSCC Sustainability Club. More info at http://www.HomewatersProject.org or 206-526-0187.



Tuesday January 27, 6:30 – 8:30pm

CAGJ Community Meeting!

Want to learn more about CAGJ's projects, or have input to our plans for 2009? Want to meet other CAGJ activists? Please join us for the first Community Meeting of 2009, and just to hang out! We will provide some food and drink – please bring something to share if possible. Future Community Meetings will take place the last Tuesday of every other month: March 31, May 26.

Location: CAGJ Office in the International District

606 Maynard Ave S, Rm 252, Seattle 98104

Please contact us if you have questions: 206-405-4600, [email protected]



Wednesday, January 28

3 Seattle events: Nationally recognized author and photo-journalist David Bacon will discuss his most recent book, 'Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants' - Beacon Press, 2008. In 'Illegal People', Bacon explores the human side of globalization, exposing the many ways it uproots people in Latin America and Asia, driving them to migrate. At the same time, U.S. immigration policy makes the labor of those displaced people a crime in the United States. 'Illegal People' explains why our national policy produces even more displacement, more migration, more immigration raids, and a more divided, polarized society.



12noon: UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, Native American Room, UW Ethnic Cultural Center, 3931. For more info call: 206.543.7946

4:30-6pm: Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, 15 Second Ave., #400

7:30 Elliott Bay Books, 101 S. Main St.



CAGJ Event Thursday February 19, 7 - 10pm

Mexico Unconquered: Join us for an evening of music, film, photos and discussion!

Journalist and activist John Gibler will give a short talk about his new book, "Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt", City Lights Books, 2009. "Mexico Unconquered is an evocative report on the epic powers of violence and corruption in Mexico and the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up." At the event we will watch a clip from the documentary, 'Un Poquito de Tanto Verdad'..."When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, they didn't take their story to the media...they TOOK the media"; Film-maker Jill Friedberg in attendance; Photo Exhibit: 2007 Oaxaca Uprising and the Zapatista Other Campaign; Music by Correo Aereo and Sin Fronteras. Food & Drink available! FREE Admission. Location: Central Cinema @ 21st & Union, 1411 21st Avenue, Seattle WA 98122, www.central-cinema.com

For more information, call 206.405.4600 or email [email protected]



Mexico No Conquistado: ¡Acompáñanos en una tarde de música, película, fotos y diálogo!

El periodista y activista John Gibler hará una breve presentación sobre su libro, "El México No Conquistado: Crónicas de Poder y Rebelión", publicado por City Light Books, 2009. “México No Conquistado es un reportaje evocativo sobre los poderes épicos de la violencia y la corrupción en México y sobre la gente común y los rebeldes que arriesgan su vida en su afán de construir la justicia desde los cimientos.” En este evento se exibirá también una sinopsis del documental “Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad”… “Cuando la gente de Oaxaca decidió que ya estaban hartos de tanto mal gobierno, no fueron a hacer sus denuncias a los medios de comunicación… se TOMARON los medios de comunicación”; la cineasta Jill Friedberg estará en el evento. También disfruta de una exibición de fotografías sobre el Levantamiento de Oaxaca del 2007 y sobre la Otra Campaña de los Zapatistas, de la música de Correo Aereo y Sin Fronteras, además de bocadillos y refrescos. Admisión GRATUÍTA. Jueves 19 de Febrero, 7 – 10 pm. Co-auspiciado por Community Alliance for Global Justice. Para mayor información, llama al 206.405.4600 o email a [email protected]



Thank you for reading CAGJ's Newsletter!

[eridani]

22. February 2009 newsletter

CALLING ON ALL CAGJ SUPPORTERS: Please Show your Commitment to CAGJ by Becoming a Member! Some of you will be receiving our fab new Membership form in the mail soon as part of an effort to update our data-base and get y’all more involved. & Everyone can sign up online! All we ask is that you commit to attending events, helping to organize, volunteer and/or make a donation – it’s easy! It’s fun!

Online Link: http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/get-involved/become-a-member/

CAGJ Community Meetings Revived!
Thanks to everyone who attended CAGJ’s first Community Meeting of 2009. Folks who came shared their awesome ideas for how to move CAGJ’s work forward in 2009, which we will be taking up at our upcoming Retreat! The next Community Meeting will take place Tuesday March 31.


CAGJ Strategic Planning Retreat – Feb 20 & 21
CAGJ activists are invited to attend our strategic planning retreat Friday night Feb 20 and Sat. Feb 21, 9 – 5pm, in West Seattle. Since the agenda will build on itself, we ask that you attend all, or most of the retreat. We will build on the successes of the past year by developing strategies and programs for 2009. Please RSVP by Feb 13 to Victoria Gibson: [email protected]

Volunteer Opportunities with CAGJ
CAGJ seeks people with fundraising experience, or desire to learn, to help with grants and other fundraising strategies. You can also help out CAGJ by volunteering at our office, or at one of our upcoming events (Feb. 19 or March 1), by tabling at the Green Festival March 28 or 29 (FREE passes!), or by helping to plan and organize this summer’s Fair and Dinner – organizing meetings will begin in March! To get involved, contact: volunteer {at} seattleglobaljustice.org


2 Upcoming CAGJ Events!
Mexico Unconquered: Join us for an evening of music, film, photos and discussion! Thursday February 19, 7 - 10pm

Journalist and activist John Gibler will give a short talk about his new book, "Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt", City Lights Books, 2009. "Mexico Unconquered is an evocative report on the epic powers of violence and corruption in Mexico and the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up." At the event we will watch a clip from the documentary, 'Un Poquito de Tanto Verdad'..."When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, they didn't take their story to the media...they TOOK the media"; Film-maker Jill Friedberg in attendance; Photo Exhibit: 2007 Oaxaca Uprising and the Zapatista Other Campaign; Music by Correo Aereo and Sin Fronteras. Food & Drink available! English to Spanish interpretation available. Admission FREE. Location: Central Cinema @ 21st & Union, 1411 21st Avenue, Seattle WA 98122, www.central-cinema.com


March 1 –CAGJ Benefit at Nectar Lounge!

On Sunday March 1 come enjoy groovy tunes & good vibes at Nectar Lounge in Fremont, and help CAGJ raise crucial funds for 2009 organizing! Bring your friends!! Ruby Shuz will be playing, as well as another band, TBA. Ruby Shuz just released their first CD – check it out! Ruby Shuz vs. The Evil Doctor Frontenac (rubyshuz.com/music/)

$7 Suggested Donation at the door, 21 and over only. Location: 412 N 36th St, Seattle, WA, in Fremont

Announcing Community Partnership with Central Co-op’s Madison Market
CAGJ is proud to have been selected a 2009 Community Partner of Central Co-op’s Madison Market! We share the honor with Seattle BALLE, Black Dollar Days Task Force and Sustainable Capitol Hill. Central Co-op is a member-owned natural foods cooperative in the heart of Seattle dedicated to sustainable practices, community accountability, and the local food economy. The Co-op is seeking candidates for 3 open positions on their Board of Trustees – annual elections will be held in May. If you have time in your life to give to your community, and skills or experience to share with the Co-op’s crew of dedicated volunteers, please consider applying. To serve, you must be a member-owner of Central Co-op’s Madison Market. Minimum time commitment is two Tuesday evenings per month, and two Saturday trainings each year. Trustees receive a 15% discount on co-op purchases. Deadline to apply is March 15, the election is in May, and the three-year term begins in June. Complete information and applications are available here: www.madisonmarket.coop. Please e-mail board {at} madisonmarket.coop if you are interested in applying.

Contaminated Peanuts and Corn Syrup - why real local food is safer than centralized, processed food products by Hoby Van Hoose, CAGJ activist

This month has been met with two of the biggest "food safety" debacles in history: peanut products contaminated with salmonella and products containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contaminated with mercury. The peanuts are being removed and destroyed in a massive product recall. The HFCS problem is currently being ignored but may result in similar actions. A nationwide epidemic erupted from a single ingredient. Why did this happen? While not all food is always safe to eat, this contamination has gotten into so many food products because of industrial trends of food production - centralization, excessive processing, and profit maximization. Instead of a bad batch of peanuts making a couple people in a town sick, we have a high-speed peanut processing plant knowingly shipping out contaminated ingredients being infused into millions of pre-packaged products, potentially sickening billions of people. Locally produced food with diversified, minimal processing is one solution to produce broader food safety. One reason why is that localized food means each source creates smaller quantities for fewer people. This smaller production also tilts the quality vs. quantity ratio in favor of producers opting to offer safer foods (more profit risk in losing customers than in spending money on testing, sanitation, employee happiness, etc). Minimal processing (that is, less deconstructing and reconstructing of food elements) means that a contaminated batch of one ingredient has a much lower chance of showing up in other food products and food testers have an easier time of determining what (if any) ingredient is tainted. These are some of the many, many benefits to shifting where we get our food to sustainable sources.For more info: seattleglobaljustice.org/food-justice; pugetsoundfresh.org; seattlelocalfood.com; seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch; seattletilth.org; kitchengardeners.org


Via Campesina Analysis: The High Level Conference on Food Security in Madrid on the 26th and 27th of January is a forum dominated by the World Bank, IMF, and WTO, and transnationals like Monsanto. It excludes the main stakeholders—the small farmers its policies and ideas will affect—in the debate on the food crisis from meaningful participation giving them only a few minutes on the floor. The policies of these various institutions and transnational companies have completely failed – it is time to implement the alternative – food sovereignty. Small farmers and social movements from all over the world promote a model based on food sovereignty: the right to food and to the rights of peoples to define their own agricultural policies. The food crisis should not be an opportunity to make more money through the sale of fertilizers, agrochemicals and genetically modified seeds—agribusiness and international financial and trade agencies cannot be relied upon to solve a problem they themselves have caused. We call for an end to the development of new initiatives such as the High Level Task Force or Global Partnership. Other such initiatives in the past have failed. We call for one single space inside the UN to deal with the food crisis with the full participation of social movements and smallholder food producers.


Community Calendar
Thursday, Feb. 5 & Friday, Feb. 6: Democracy Center Book Tour
The Democracy Center's new book, “Dignity and Defiance, Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization” (University of California Press) is now for sale. Dignity and Defiance tells the story, from the ground up, of how people have fought courageously to keep globalization from swallowing their lives and to make it work to their benefit – as activists, workers, and immigrants. Ultimately the book is a story of inspiration, and it goes to the heart of what has drawn so much global attention to Bolivia.


Thursday, February 5: 6:15pm-8:15pm at Schafer Auditorium, Lemieux Library, Seattle U. Speaker: Democracy Center Founder and author, Jim Shultz . For more information: contact Prof. Robert Andolina in International Studies at 206.296.2481 or [email protected]

Friday, February 6 at 7pm at the University of Washington, HUB 310. Speakers: Co-editor, Jim Shultz and Bolivian activist and author, Leny Olivera Rojas. For more information: http://depts.washington.edu/sauf/hub/directions.php or email [email protected]


Saturday, February 7 - 5th Annual "Stop Violence Against Women" Night of the 17th Annual Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival film festival, held February 4-8, at the Northwest Film Forum located on 12th Ave in Capitol Hill. We are presenting three powerful films and have invited filmmakers and other special guests for discussions and a reception afterwards. Films include Female Faces of War, The Sari Soldiers, and Shame. Please purchase your tickets online: www.shrff.org; Full schedule of Film Festival online at www.shrff.org.

Saturday, February 7 - Celebrating Seattle's Striking History : 90th Anniversary of the Seattle General Strike
Location: Seattle Labor Temple (2800 First Ave, Suite 140). Time: Doors at 12:30pm, Program 1 to 5pm. Ninety years ago on Feb. 6, 1919 Seattle shut down, marking the beginning of what became known as the Seattle General Strike, an event that made headlines around the world and ignited an era of labor unrest following World War I. To commemorate the event, union members, scholars, students, community organizers and musicians will come together to mark the 90th anniversary of the Seattle General Strike. Presentations and performances will revisit the event, followed by discussions of the strike’s legacy. Sponsored by the UW’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, the UW’s Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 and the ML King County Labor Council. Includes presentations by Howard Kimeldorf and Robert Cherny, musical performances by the Seattle Labor Chorus, Rob Rosenthal, the Anti-Fascist Marching Band, and Jess Grant. For more information, contact James Gregory at 206-543-7792 or [email protected], or Andrew Hedden, Bridges Center program coordinator, at 206-543-7946 or [email protected]. More information about the Seattle General Strike can be found on the Web at: http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/index.shtml

Tuesday, February 10 - “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”
Global Fund For Women and The Channel Foundation present a screening of “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”, a film by Gini Reticker and Abigail E. Disney. 7 PM at the Varsity Theater, $7, 4329 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105. A 20 minute Q&A will be held after the screening with a speaker from the Liberian Association of Washington State, along with Global Fund Vice-President of Development, Jennifer Weber. Pray the Devil back to Hell tells the harrowing story of the courageous women of Liberia who organized across faith to bring peace to their country. Film opens Feb 6th.


January 24 to June 7, 2009: “Coffee” on display at the UW Burke Museum
Coffee: The World in Your Cup presents the story of one of the world's most widely traded commodities and how it has affected cultures, economies, and environments across the globe. Coffee explores the environmental and social impacts of the coffee industry and recommends ways for consumers to make socially and environmentally responsible coffee purchases at the grocery store or in a coffee shop. Learn about the impacts of caffeine, the world’s most commonly-used drug, on your body, discover coffee's early controversial reputation as a "revolutionary drink," and consider the culture that surrounds coffee in the twenty-first century. Photos, maps, text, selected artifacts, audiovisual presentations, and hands-on demonstrations help visitors explore the fascinating world behind the coffee we drink.

For more info: http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/coffee/index.php

Thank you for reading CAGJ's Newsletter!

___________________________________

Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600
Email: contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

23. March 2009 newsletter

Community Alliance for Global Justice
March 2009 Newsletter

Join us this Sunday March 1, 7 - 10pm
CAGJ Benefit at Nectar Lounge!

Come enjoy good vibes & groovy tunes by Ruby Shuz & SUPERSONES! Win cool prizes! & Help CAGJ raise crucial funds for 2009 organizing! Please bring your friends!! Nectar Lounge in Fremont (412 N. 36th St., Seattle WA 98103); 21 & over only (sorry!) $7 suggested donation (no one turned away).


CAGJ Happenings
Upcoming Ways to get involved:

-Tues March 10, Food Justice Project meeting, contact [email protected]

-Tues March 17, 6:30 at CAGJ office: FIRST MONTHLY ORGANIZNIG MEETING FOR JULY 18 FAIR & DINNER EVENT: we hope to see lots of folks who want to help organize our 3rd annual summer community gathering!

-Wed March 18 Book Group: Reading Soil not Oil, By Vandana Shiva

-Tues March 31, 6:30 at CAGJ office: CAGJ Community Meeting


Stay abreast of CAGJ happenings with our new online Calendar!
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/news-events/events-and-meetings-calendar/

Support CAGJ!

1. If you drink Fair Trade coffee, then you can help CAGJ by buying directlly from Grounds for Change, a Pouslbo based Fair Trade coffee company that will give a percentage of the proceeds from your coffee purchase directly to CAGJ! We have a goal of selling 25 lbs of coffee this year through Grounds for Change – Just click here, or look for the icon on CAGJ's homepage every time you need some more coffee:

http://www.groundsforchange.com/partners/CAGJ/

2. CAGJ has about 8 Chinook Books left to sell – when you buy one from CAGJ for $20, we get part of the proceeds! The coupons easily pay for the book! You can buy yours online here: http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/get-involved/cagjstore/

Thanks for making 'Mexico Unconquered' event a great success! Our sincere apologies to the dozens of people we had to turn away, due to Central Cinema being filled to capacity. You can hear two interviews of author John Gilber on Seattle radio stations KUOW and KBCS, discussing his book Mexico Unconquered and ongoing social struggles gripping Mexico: http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=16954 ; http://kbcs.fm/site/PageServer?pagename=OneWorldReport_20090219

Also, CAGJ has Jill Friedberg's films about Mexican teachers and broader social movements in our library (Granito de Arena and Un Poquito de Tanto Verdad); you may contact us to borrow them!

Great news from SLAP!

SLAP (Student Labor Action Project) has successfully pressured the University to cut its contract with Russell Athletic after the company illegally closed a unionized factory in Honduras! This is the first time the UW has terminated an agreement based on labor rights violations - a major precedent! Next they will continue working on how to keep pressure on the university to hold NIKE accountable for its labor rights violations. Contact [email protected] for information on their next meeting and to get involved.

World Social Forum 2009—Beyond capitalism by Leonor Hurtado and Frances Lambrick for Food First The world economic crisis spells the death of globalization, and action is needed to protect the poor, said organizers of the World Social Forum as it wrapped up in Brazil on Sunday, February 1st. The forum's leaders hailed the strong participation at this year's gathering, which brought together 133,000 people from unions, religious associations, family organizations, ecologists and other progressive groups. Held at the same time as the World Economic Forum in Davos, the World Social Forum presents an alternative to address the global food and financial crises. The strong critical analysis of neo-liberalism delivered by previous World Social Forums has been proven. The role now is to revaluate neo-liberal policies—and opening the door to social democratic reform of economies and states. Read whole article: http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2359

Are USDA and White House “Moving on Progressive Food Agenda”?

The food blogosphere is all a-twitter: According to Jim Slama of familyfarmed.org, “Local and sustainable food advocates are smiling these days as signals out of Washington indicate major new support for their efforts. The biggest news was the announcement that long-time organic advocate Kathleen Merrigan had been tapped to become the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, the number two position at the USDA. As an aid to Senator Patrick Leahy, Merrigan was the major force behind the Organic Food Production Act which recognized and regulated organic farming...This follows the decision by Obama to hire their Chicago personal cook, Sam Kass as assistant chef in the White House kitchen...Kass is known for his strong support for local and organic foods...Kass' impact on the First Family may already be taking root. At a visit to the United States Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, First Lady Michelle Obama brought a Magnolia tree to be planted in their new garden. The garden replaces a blacktop parking lot and will include fruits and vegetables, some of which will be provided to local soup kitchens. Mrs. Obama praised a just announced program at the USDA that will be planting such gardens in all their facilities worldwide. "I'm a big believer in Community Gardens," she said, "both because of their beauty and for providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables to so many communities across the nation and the world."

But according to Obama Foodarama (“A Daily Diary of The Obama Foodscape, One Bipartisan Byte At A Time”) our new Secretary of Ag is a big schmuck, and “USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service Public Affairs Team Leader Terry Bish confirmed that in fact, the pavement busting was a Birthday Bicentennial publicity stunt on the part of Secretary Vilsack, and the garden initially had nothing to do with food”. The Obama Foodarama blog is a useful resource for analysis about Obama administration food and agriculture policy, including articles analyzing the new budget's proposed cuts of farm subsidies: http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/

Community Calendar

Friday, March 6, 7:00-9:30 PM

FILM: “UNNATURAL CAUSES - IS INEQUALITY MAKING US SICK?” with guests from the UW Population Health Forum. UNNATURAL CAUSES (60 min, Larry Adelman, 2008) draws attention to the root causes of health and illness, and shows us that economic, racial and social injustice and inequality are not just abstract concepts, but have very real health consequences. This powerful documentary film suggests to us that effectively addressing these inequalities may, in fact, be one the best medicines of all. Sponsored by Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice; Location: Keystone Church


Thursday, March 19, 2009, 7:00 pm

Diversity Lecture Series: Winona Laduke: Women, Politics, and Environmental Justice from a Native Perspective. Location: The Bush School New Gym, 3400 E. Harrison St., Seattle, WA. The Diversity Speaker Series is focused on exploring issues related to diversity, privilege, and oppression. Each year we invite experts in these areas to speak and engage with members of The Bush School and the greater Seattle community. These events are free and open to the public. For more information visit http://www.bush.edu/diversity. For seating reservations and any questions, please call Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., Director of Diversity, at 206-326-7731 or [email protected].


Friday, March 20, 7:00-9:30 PM
FILM: “FLOW: FOR THE LOVE OF WATER” (93min, Irena Salina, 2008)

Irena Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "Can anyone really own water?" Sponsored by Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice; Location: Keystone Church


Saturday & Sunday, March 28-29, All day

Volunteer or visit CAGJ at the Seattle Green Festival at WA State Convention & Trade Center. Green Festival is a 2 day event co-produced by Global Exchange and Green America committed to the movement towards a just and sustainable society, featuring 350 socially and environmentally responsible enterprises, over 150 leading speakers, live music, and delicious organic food and drink. www.greenfestivals.org. To volunteer with CAGJ, email [email protected]


Wednesday, April 29, 7pm
The Future of Grass-Roots Development in the Majority World

Come join this moderated conversation with the 2009 iLEAP International Fellows as they debate the promise, problems and future of development in the Majority World. These Fellows hail from Uganda, Zambia, India and Liberia and are leaders in their respective organizations where they are committed to working for change at the grass-roots. The iLEAP Fellowship programs works to expand and deepen their understanding of social change through an integrated curriculum built around the methodology of reflective practice and the concept of critical service. Free Admission. Location: Antioch University Seattle, 2326 Sixth Avenue Seattle WA 98109. Sponsors: Antioch University Seattle Center for Creative Change, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Global Washington, iLEAP: The Center for Critical Service, Pangea


___________________________________

Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600
Email: contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

24. Update

Community Alliance for Global Justice
March 2009 Update

Help Organize the 3rd Annual Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere Fair & Dinner – July 18, 2009

Tues March 17, 6:30 - 8:30 at CAGJ Office: First Organizing Meeting
The first of monthly organizing meetings will take place next week: come to find out how to get involved! Many volunteers are needed to plan the Community Fair and Dinner program, for outreach to farmers, farmworkers, fisherfolk and other food system workers and producers, for outreach to cosponsors, silent auction and dessert auction donors, publicity, and logistics. Organizing meetings will take place the 3rd Tuesday/month, but work-groups meet at other times…We have a lot of fun putting on this community gathering and key fundraising event for CAGJ.

If you can't come, but want to lend a hand, please contact Director Heather Day, 206.405.4600. Thank you!


Volunteer with CAGJ at the Green Festival!

March 28, 10 – 7pm & March 29, 11 – 6pm
For the 2nd year, CAGJ will have a table in the Community Action Center of the Green Festival, an event organized by Global Exchange and Green America. We need volunteers to help out at our table – you can volunteer for either the morning or 2 afternoon shifts on either Saturday or Sunday. You will get in for free, and have the opportunity to check out great speakers and vendors. Location: Washington State Convention & Trade Center, downtown Seattle


1. Check out the speaker schedule here: http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/seattle-2009/ & see the overall schedule here: http://www.greenfestivals.org/seattle/schedule/


2. And then email us or call, to let us know when you want to volunteer!

Contact Alma Dea Michelena: volunteer{at} seattleglobaljustice.org, Or call us! 206.405.460

3. We will have some extra free passes – give us a call if you want one or more! 206.405.4600

At the Green Festival you can…Visit CAGJ at the Community Action Center, where Sustainable Communities ALL Over Puget Sound (SCALLOPS) will be hosting workshops on sustainable actions you can take right in your own home and neighborhood that will help heal the planet…find out What Youth Can Do in a panel that includes five young local experts, Saturday at 4pm…hear other Visionary Speakers including Danny Glover, Alice Waters, Jerome Ringo, Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, Bryant Terry, Damali Ayo, Dune Lankard, Lawrence Lessig, Paul Stamets, John Perkins, Belvie Rooks, David Korten, Vicki Robin, Malkia Cyril, and many more. PLUS...Support the green economy by visiting sustainable businesses, big and small, local and national…you will find thousands of eco-friendly products and services screened for their commitment to people and the planet—everything from natural body products and organic cotton clothing to Fair Trade gifts and sustainable home remodeling materials.


CAGJ Community Meeting
Tuesday March 31, 6:30 - 8:30 at CAGJ Office
Community Meetings are a chance for folks interested in finding out more about CAGJ to meet other people involved in the organization, and learn about our organizing. This month we will be announcing the Food Justice Project's 2009 Programs, including Food & Farm Site Visits & Work-parties, and a Food Justice Activist Hand-book! We will also give an update on AGRA Watch's campaign development. Everyone is welcome – it's a potluck, please bring something to share if you can.

Technology and Revolutions - The Gates Foundation and African Agriculture
AGRA Watch Short-course: Wed April 1, 8 and 15, 6-8pm
You are invited by CAGJ to ‘Technology and Revolutions - the Gates Foundation and African Agriculture’, a short-course presented by AGRA Watch. Please join us for presentations and facilitated discussions on the key issues surrounding the work of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

FREE - RSVP’s appreciated: send to agrawatch {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

Location: University of Washington, Gould Hall 110, on the corner of 15th Ave NE and NE 40th St. in the U-district.


Wed. April 1st: Deconstructing the dominant technology paradigm, Phil Bereano
Wed. April 8th: What are genetically modified seeds and why are they more harm than help?, Jen Krenz
Wed. April 15th: Green Revolutions: Past impacts, current issues and the role of philanthropy, Travis English

*Read full Course descriptions: http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2009/03/agra-watch-short-course/

Let Us Eat! Food Security, Trade and Migration in Mexico & the U.S.

Thursday April 9, 7-9pm, Location: TBD
After 15 years of NAFTA, we have not seen increased prosperity nor reduced migration, as its original supporters claimed. Who is impacted? What should the future of NAFTA and similar agreements look like? Join a panel of civic leaders and community members to look at the impacts of NAFTA on communities in the US, Mexico and beyond. Small group discussions, facilitated by panelists, will further explore the roots of migration and the movements for food sovereignty and trade justice in our communities. Special guest Baldemar Mendoza, of Oaxaca, Mexico, is an expert on food sovereignty issues and the impacts of free trade agreements on indigenous farmers from Oaxaca. Teresa Mares of CAGJ will join guests from other Seattle organizations who will share analysis and reflections on the social movements for change. Tamales will be available for sale. This event is free and open to the public - donations are welcome. Co-sponsored by: Witness for Peace NW, Community Alliance for Global Justice, CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), Washington Fair Trade Coalition.


Community Calendar

Two events with Keith McHenry, co-founder of the international peace and social change movement, Food Not Bombs! Food not Bombs has active groups throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. It is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to nonviolent social change. There are no formal leaders and Food Not Bombs strives to include everyone in its decision making process. Each group recovers food that would otherwise be thrown out and distributes it to people in need or makes fresh hot vegetarian meals that are served outdoors in public spaces. Food not Bombs also caters social change events, protests and actions.


Thursday, March 19, 5pm
Food Not Bombs: The Development of a Grassroots Social Network
Location: University of Washington Johnson Hall, Room 75

McHenry will describe the growth of Food Not Bombs from a small impromptu soup kitchen and public protest in Boston, Massachusetts, to a decentralized network of hundreds of chapters around the globe. He will discuss the combined crises of hunger and food waste, the organization of grassroots social networks, and the oft-hostile response of the state to Food Not Bombs. Sponsored by the Program in the Comparative History of Ideas at the

University of Washington or more information contact: other{at} u.washington.edu

Saturday, March 21, 7pm

Food Not Bombs: Building Community, an Evening with Keith McHenry
Location: Rainier Valley Unitarian Universalist Center 835 Yesler Way, Seattle, 98104

McHenry will talk about the history and the upcoming 30th anniversary of Food Not Bombs. This talk will be accompanied by a vegan potluck - please bring a dish to share. Cosponsored by Seattle Food Not Bombs and Rainier Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s Social Justice Committee. For more information contact: seattle-fnb {at} riseup.net, 206.729.0384


Thank you for reading CAGJ's March Update!
___________________________________

Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600 Email: contact_us{at} seattleglobaljustice.org
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

25. CAGJ Trade Justice Meeting 5/26

Tuesday May 26, 6:30 – 8:30pm at the CAGJ office, 606 Maynard Ave. S. #252

Help us plan for the 10th Anniversary of the Victory over the WTO! Ideas under consideration include a Teach-in, street action and activist skills trainings…Come to the meeting to help develop ideas & contacts, and to lend your organizing skills to this effort! If you or your organization wants to be involved, but cannot attend the meeting, please let us know: contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

[eridani]

26. CAGJ Community Meeting with film-maker Martina Brimmer 5/27

CAGJ Community Meeting with film-maker Martina Brimmer!
Wednesday May 27, 6:30 – 8:30pm at the CAGJ office, 606 Maynard Ave. S. #252

Come to CAGJ's May Community Meeting!! This is where seasoned CAGJ activists and new members can meet and mingle. This month we have a special guest, Martina Brimmer, co-director of the documentary "Food Justice: A Growing Movement". Come and see the film and participate in a discussion with Martina! And you will hear updates about CAGJ's organizing and find out ways that you can get involved. For more information, contact Alma Dea at [email protected]

___________________________________

Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600 Email: contact_us{at} seattleglobaljustice.org

[eridani]

27. June 2009 newsletter

Community Alliance for Global Justice
June 2009 Newsletter

Teach Out! Engaging the Local Food Cycle

The first event in our "Teach Out!" series of farm and food site visits was a great success! With the help of 40 CAGJ volunteers, we planted summer crops that are headed to the Providence Regina Food Bank, cleaned up the open spaces of the Lettuce Link garden and began work on two new garden beds!

Come and join us for our second event on Saturday, June 27th. We will be visiting the Danny Woo garden in Seattle's International District for a garden work party, as well as learning more about the sustainable food work taking place at the Umojafest Peace Center in the Central District. Contact Teresa at [email protected] for more information and to reserve your space! Spaces for the June visit are limited! Events for the Teach Out! will continue every month through November. Each visit has options for a guided bike tour or carpooling from the city center.

Sat. July 18, 2009, 3pm – 11pm: 3rd annual Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere Dinner & Fair.
New Location! St. Demetrios Church, 2100 Boyer Avenue E, Montlake.

Buy your tickets to the July 18 dinner today!
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/67951.

Prices: $35 regular admission; $65 enables you attend as well as a local farmer or food worker! $12 low-income/student/senior; $5 kids.

Contact Heather if you can volunteer, or donate to the silent and dessert auctions! hrd99 {at} igc.org

FAIR 3 - 6pm: FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Multiple organizations presenting their work to the public in addition to hands-on workshops and opportunities to learn about food and farming directly from farmers and food-workers. Also enjoy live music, hors d’oeuvres and libations! DINNER 6 - 9pm: Volunteer chefs will prepare the dinner with contributions from Fair Trade partners as well as local food producers, as well as dishes prepared by Portage Bay Cafe and Kaspar's. WA small farmers and food workers will be honored at each table, where guests will be served family style. KEYNOTE: Steve Williamson, UFCW 21 – "Food workers' rights in the global food economy". DANCING 9 - 11pm! Parking on site; Free child-care.


Upcoming organizing meetings:

-Food Justice Project Meeting: Tues. June 9th, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Heather's house
-Next organizing meeting for Tues July 18 Dinner & Fair: June 16th, 6:30 – 8:30pm, CAGJ office
-Trade Justice/Organizing for 10th anniversary of Victory over the WTO: Tues June 23rd, 6:30 – 8:30pm, CAGJ office
-Book Group: Wed. June 17th, Reading The Transition Handbook: From Oil
Dependency to Local Resilience, by Rob Hopkins & Richard Heinberg; Discussion led by Bill Aal, currently leading trainings around the country on building the Transition Towns movement!


First CAFTA Investor-State Case: Pacific Rim vs. El Salvador, from WA Fair Trade Coalition

Canadian mining company Pacific Rim, acting through a U.S-based subsidiary, announced this week that it will sue the Salvadoran government over the government's refusal to issue mining permits for the El Dorado silver and gold mine in the department of Cabañas. The case will be heard by a special international arbitration court established by the 2006 U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) under chapter 13 of CAFTA (the same investor-state rules are in the infamous chapter 11 of NAFTA - this provision allows for a company/investor to sue a state in the case of potential lost profits). The El Dorado site is located in the basin of the Lempa River, the country's most important source of water. The Lempa provides invaluable irrigation water for much of El Salvador's agricultural industry, as well as drinking water for over half of the population of the greater San Salvador metropolitan area.

UW SLAP: Struggle Against Nike Brought to Emmert's Office

Hot on the heels of their successful effort in February to end UW's apparel licensing contract with Russell Corp. (for shutting down it's only unionized factory, Jerzees de Honduras), on May 6, the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) organized a protest against UW's controversial licensing contract with Nike (which could expire on July 1 unless given a 10 year extension). A week later an investigation by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) found evidence proving Nike was the primary buyer at Honduran factories whose owners illegally withheld $1.5 million in severance pay for unionized workers after two factories were shut down in January. SLAP sent UW President Mark Emmert a letter demanding that the university take action. When they received his response on May 15 stating that he needed more time to review the information they weren't satisfied and moved onto the next stage of their campaign. On Thursday May 21 SLAP organized a rally and march which gathered about 100 students in the Quad with banners, chants, bagpipes and the Yellow Hat Band, where they staged a mass dialing of Emmert's office and proceeded towards Red Square (where the message "Just Pay It" was spelled out with human bodies), ending at Emmert's office in Gerberding Hall. When they reached his office on the fourth floor they were met by Special Counsel to the President Carol Niccolls who announced that Emmert was currently out of the country and expressed irritation regarding the nonstop phone calls. SLAP presented to Niccolls a new letter urging immediate and direct action. Despite disappointment over Emmert's absence, the group expressed determination with chants of "We'll be back! We'll be back!" as they filed downstairs to continue the rally in Red Square. If Emmert decides to uphold the UW's Code of Conduct he should pressure Nike to ensure Honduran workers receive the $1.5 million in legally owed severance pay and send them a breach of contract notice. If Nike fails to respond, SLAP wants the UW to reject the renewel of their contract. As a longterm goal, SLAP seeks to place students at the negotiating table for future decisions and to make the Designated Suppliers Program (a procurement standard promoting fair labor practices) the official standard for UW. Learn more about UW SLAP:

http://students.washington.edu/uwslap/

Sustainable Agriculture Legislative Report from Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network

Your calls and emails worked. In spite of the $9 Billion deficit we were able to save several programs very important to sustainable agriculture: Funding for Better Food in Schools! Funding for a more equitable food system! Easing Regulations for Small-Scale Poultry Farmers! Protecting Farmland! We are still sorting out the impacts to Washington State University and how the cuts will affect sustainable agriculture research and outreach. Thanks to everyone who helped to support sustainable agriculture this legislative session!


Community Calendar

Nickelsville needs your help!! Packing day is Friday, June 5th

As some of you may know and others may not, Nickelsville is on the move again. Nickelsville offers a safe and supportive community for over a hundred of Seattle's homeless residents, but, like other tent cities is always on the move. This move is more important than ever as Nickelsville is moving to a permanent location. Packing day is Friday, June 5th and we need all the hands we can get. Please meet us as early as you can this Friday to help pack up at the current Nickelsville location: The Bryn Mawr United Methodist Church at 8016 S 116th St. After packing up, we will be making the move at 9pm. If you have any form of transportation: trucks, SUVs, the like… we badly need them! We also need cars to transport the residents. Some other things we desperately need are garbage bags, nails, ropes, plywood, 2x4s, hammers and tents. Financial Contributions are also greatly appreciated! Please mail your contributions to: Nickelsville c/o VFP Ch92, PO 2548 Seattle, WA 98111. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Real Change at [phone].

Friday June 5th 7:00 PM

Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice: “Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies” THE 9TH ANNUAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL

Location: Keystone Congregational United Church of Christ ,5019 Keystone Place N. Every year, the MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL is the premier showcase for a new collection of jury selected shorts on the most important topics of the day. This year’s festival showcases twelve jury-selected shorts tackling a broad range of social issues with humor, humanity, and honesty. The films include jury prize winner NEXT WAVE, director Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzer’s alarming documentary about the world's first climate change refugees from the Carteret Islands; and LOCUSTS, a rousing docu-musical on the effects of ill-planned urban planning featuring hotly-tipped Detroit hip hop artists, Invincible and Finale. Other films spotlight the impact of gun violence on young people, an immigrant family torn apart by deportation, the burden imposed on Bolivia by America 's war on drugs, and Middle Easterners whose diverse outlooks defy common stereotypes.

For more information: www.mediathatmattersfest.org
(Event is FREE and open to the public! ...but Donations are kindly accepted).

Sunday, June 7th, 11:30 a.m.

CISPES and Wallingford United Methodist Church are proud to host a lunch with William Hernández, Representative of the new FMLN government in El Salvador, and Deputy to the Central American Parliament

Location: Wallingford United Methodist Church, 2115 N. 42nd St., Seattle, 98103

El Salvador's first-ever leftist president, Mauricio Funes of the FMLN party, was inaugurated on June 1st. Citing Archbishop Oscar Romero as his inspiration, President Funes has said he will work on behalf of El Salvador's poor and disadvantaged. Nevertheless, an economic crisis and obstructionist right-wing bloc in the legislature pose difficult challenges for the new government. William Hernández, a long-time FMLN leader who is touring the U.S., will give a report on the incoming Funes administration's vision for change and planned first steps. A question and answer period and time for discussion will follow.

A Salvadoran lunch (pupusas!) will be served. Donations to cover the cost of food are welcomed.


Pacific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA) conference
Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13 at the Seattle Labor Temple

The PNLHA is hosting its annual conference; there will be a round table on "Remembering the WTO" occurring Saturday morning, featuring Jonathan Rosenblum (1199NW SEIU), Brian Charlton (Canadian Union of Postal Workers, BC Region former Education Director) and Tom McCarthy (Organizer, AFT Washington). You can learn more about the whole conference at http://www.pnlha.org

Thank you for reading CAGJ's Newsletter!


Community Alliance for Global Justice
working locally for justice in the global economy
606 Maynard Ave S. Rm 252, Seattle WA 98104
Ph 206.405.4600 Email: contact_us{at} seattleglobaljustice.org
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/

[eridani]

28. June 2009 update

ommunity Alliance for Global Justice
June Update: CAGJ Action & Teach-out this week!


Tickets to CAGJ's July 18 dinner are going fast! Buy yours today!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/67951



Peru Solidarity Action at Rep. McDermott's office, 1809 7th Ave!

*This Sat. June 27, 10 – 5pm

* RSVP's required! Email fjp{at} seattleglobaljustice.org


6/24 Day of Action at Rep. McDermott’s Office - Denounce Violent Free Trade Policies in Peru


The recent violence against indigenous peoples in Peru is an example of how dangerous certain provisions of NAFTA-style Free Trade Agreements – including the Peru FTA – are when they enable governments to single-handedly change local laws without congressional oversight (as happened in this case with reference to laws protecting the rainforest, changed by the government to reclassify this land and open it up to drilling and other destructive processes).


We want our elected officials to denounce the violence, as well as the NAFTA-style provisions that enabled it to occur. We call upon them to oppose pending NAFTA-style FTAs including those with Panama, Colombia, and Korea, and to support fair trade policy that protects all people and our planet, by co-sponsoring the TRADE Act.

McDermott is someone who is often very supportive of human rights and, in particular, the right to free speech. Thus, he is likely to be sympathetic to suffering of the Peruvian indigenous people. However, he is also hesitant to oppose the NAFTA model – thus, he is a good target to approach with these linked issues, and to ask him to seriously consider the implications of the trade policies that he often supports.



“We do not accept the kind of ‘development’ that the president offers us, because it is not sustainable and it threatens the Amazon rainforest, which is humanity’s heritage. For that reason, if the government insists on sidelining us and continues to refuse to overturn the decrees, we will no longer block roads but will instead draw our own limits to establish how far into our territories we will allow the authorities to come. Our territory is our market, our mother. We don’t have supermarkets like people in the big cities. We have to track and hunt down animals for two or three days, and find our food in the jungle. Everything we need for our survival is in the rainforest. That’s why we are defending it with our lives. The struggle will continue until the laws are gone. We’ll shut down oil extraction, and stop cooperating. What happens next is up to the government” - Salomón Aguanash, President of the Regional Committee for the Struggle for the Respect of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

Teach Out! Engaging our Local Food Cycle
AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT AND WORK FOR A LOCAL GARDEN

Coordinated by the Food Justice Project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice

Second Event! UmojaFest Peace Center and the Danny Woo Garden

Saturday, June 27th, 10:00am-5:00pm (Bikers will meet at Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill at 9:30am)

JOIN THE GUIDED BIKE RIDE, RIDE THE BUS, OR CAR-POOL!

CAGJ’s Food Justice Project invites our members and others to learn about and build connections with key players in the local food region through monthly visits to farms, community kitchens, and community gardens! The site visits will include hands-on work that is needed by or is appropriate to the sites, opportunities to debrief and reflect at the end of the site visit, and calls to action! Each visit will allow for carpool options and will also feature a bike route guided by a CAGJ member. Through these visits, CAGJ hopes to facilitate a place for the voices of our local food producers to be heard and their knowledge and skills to be recognized and celebrated.

The UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center is a multi-purpose youth centered cultural facility being developed in the heart of Seattle’s historic Central District. While visiting with the UmojaFest Center, we will get a chance to see and hear about their plans for the UmojaFest Memorial P.E.A.C.E. Garden. The memorial peace garden recognizes the toll that violence has taken on our community while promoting harmonious sustainable living and community building through maintaining a neighborhood organic garden. The Danny Woo International District Garden is a special urban park in the heart of downtown Seattle, and the largest green space in the Chinatown/International District. The 1.5-acre garden provides community gardening space, picnic benches, public art, and walking trails. Interim CDA manages this urban space, coordinating hundreds of volunteers every year to maintain and improve the Danny Woo Garden for everyone to enjoy. The steeply terraced garden, surrounded with the lush greenery of bamboo and trees, is home to more than 100 community garden plots. Here elderly Asian gardeners tend to vegetables rarely seen in the typical grocery store, but which reflect their native lands: bok choy, bittermelon, daikon, and watercress. And younger generations of community gardeners experiment with plum trees, strawberries, beans, and herbs.

**Please note, this visit can only accommodate 25 people, so RSVP’s are required. To RSVP for the Umojafest/Danny Woo visit, or to get more information, please email Teresa at fjp {at} seattleglobaljustice.org. We will send you directions and bike route details before the event, as well as information about what to wear and bring. All activities will be appropriate for children and we can work out disability accommodations if needed.


Stay tuned for future monthly visits planned through November!

Thank you for reading CAGJ's Update!

[eridani]

29. August 2008

Teach Out! Engaging the Local Food Cycle! Fourth Event!
Jubilee Farm & Local Roots in Carnation, WA
Saturday, August 22nd 10AM – 4PM
*Space is limited and RSVP REQUIRED! RSVP to Teresa at [email protected]
*Ride your bike to the Teach-out! Contact Teresa for route info
Our visit to Carnation, WA will begin at Local Roots for a farm tour, and then continue down the road for a work party at Jubilee Farm! Both farm stops will offer opportunities to talk with the farmer and ask questions. Founded in 2007 by recent college grads, Local Roots is a diversified vegetable, fruit, and now chicken, farm. They deliver fresh, delicious, and healthy food at local farmers markets, through their CSA program, and to local restaurants. Jubilee Farm is celebrating its 20th year in Snoqualmie Valley. The desire to become sustainable has led owners Erick and Wendy Haakenson from the state "certified organic" program to the Biodynamic farming tradition. www.localroots.com and www.jubileefarm.org

CAGJ’s FOOD JUSTICE PROJECT invites our members and others to learn about and build connections with key players in the local food region through monthly visits to farms, community kitchens, and community gardens. Expect hands-on work, time for reflection, and calls to action! Carpool or bike (tour guided by CAGJ member). Stay tuned for visits this summer to a Vashon Island overnight!



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Seattle+10 Organizing Committee prepares for 10th Anniversary of WTO Protests! Local/Global Week of Action, Nov 28 - Dec 5
CAGJ's Trade Justice Project recently co-founded the Seattle+10 Organizing Committee, an ad-hoc group meeting regularly to plan events & actions to mark the 10th anniversary of the WTO protests this Fall. We invite you to take a short survey, so we can hear your ideas and thoughts about the significance of the protests... What was the significance of 1999? What lessons can be learned from the challenges and successes of '99 organizing? What struggles and issues are most vital for your community in 2009? How should we commemorate the ten years since "Seattle"? At the end of the survey you can Endorse the Call to Action and sign up for the Seattle+10 Organizing Committee list-serve!

Take the survey now! (It will take 5 - 10 minutes) http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jd833STesDH8pn_2btUTuJ_2bw_3d_3d

And join the organizing! CAGJ is planning a Teach-in Nov 28 - 29, 2009 to mark the 10th anniversary of our victory over the WTO. We aim to organize workshops/panels/skills-building sessions to a) learn from the lessons of '99, and b)build today's social movements struggling for justice and the end of corporate rule! We invite all interested individuals & organizations to join the planning!

Meetings will be held:
-2nd Wed/month and 4th Tues/month
-Aug 12 and Aug 25, 2009
Contact [email protected] for more info



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CAGJ Action/Study Book Group
August Book Selection: "Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About it"
Wed August 26, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Caffe Vita Coffee Roasting Co. , 1005 E Pike St

Food Inc is a powerful documentary & book deconstructing the corporate food industry in America. The film asks key questions, such as: Where has my food come from, and who has processed it? What are the giant agribusinesses and what stake do they have in maintaining the status quo of food production and consumption? How can I feed my family healthy foods affordably? The book expands on these themes and offers answers and inspiration!



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Victory for Food- Workers! Workers at world's largest pork facility ratify first-ever union collective agreement with UFCW
A majority of the 5,000 Smithfield Foods Tar Heel workers ratified their first-ever union collective agreement after 5 months of negotiations. The agreement represents a major victory for the labour movement and comes at the end of a bitter 17-year long struggle for human rights at the world's largest pork facility in North Carolina, USA, processing over 32,000 hogs a day. The agreement covers the hourly production and maintenance workers at the Tar Heel facility and entered into force on July 1, 2009. It raises workers’ wages and brings up benefits and working conditions to the union standards that cover more than 10,000 other Smithfield workers, and more than 240,000 employed in the meat packing and food processing industry covered by a UFCW collective agreement.



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Update on Honduran Coup by Reid Mukai, CAGJ member
Since July 24, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted from the country by a military coup on June 28, has remained at a base camp on the Nicaraguan side of the border. According to the social justice advocacy group Quixote Center (http://www.quixote.org), since the coup there has been repeated massive non-violent protests, targeted attacks on social movement leaders including Ramon Garcia and journalist Gabriel Fino, suspension of civil liberties, curfews and media blackouts throughout the country. At least six Honduran generals linked to the coup are graduates of the U.S. School of the Americas.

During the 1980s, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte supervised pro-capitalist counterinsurgency operations including Nicaragua's illegal Contra army. With large infusions of military aid from the Reagan administration and training of military officers at the School of Americas, hundreds of thousands of people in the region were killed, maimed, tortured, traumatized and "disappeared". It was in this context that the current Honduran Constitution was written and for this reason is widely viewed with skepticism by the country's social movement leaders as a document formed by and for U.S. corporate interests. The day of the coup, June 28, was supposed to be the day Manuel Zelaya was to hold an opinion poll to measure public support for the inclusion of a vote for a Constitutional Assembly in an upcoming November ballot. Honduras' interim President Roberto Michelleti claimed Zelaya was ousted because he was trying to change the constitution to extend his term.

Zelaya attempted to return to the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, via a Venezuelan jet on July 5 but was prevented from doing so when military vehicles blocked the runway. An estimated half a million people took to the streets surrounding the airport in support of Zelaya. Soldiers shot and killed two people and wounded several others.

On July 18 Zelaya agreed to President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias' seven-point plan to end the crisis but because of Michelleti's refusal to comply, on July 20 the EU announced the immediated suspension of all aid to Honduras (the equivalent of $92 million US dollars). On July 28, the Obama administration put pressure on Honduras' de facto government by revoking the visas of four high-level Honduran officials. The next day, July 29, Michelleti called Arias to express his support for a compromise but said he would need help building political support among the country's elite.



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Join the Health-Care Truth Squad - Street Theater Troupe!
Jobs with Justice and other organizations are creating a theater troupe on health care reform. We are spoofing Seattle’s own Grey’s Anatomy. We’ll be catering our skits to different populations and how they are affected by the broken Health care system. This troupe is open and ongoing. We want to do this street theater at events and in neighborhoods. We are also collecting petition signatures and letters to Senator Cantwell to push her towards real health care reform.
Please contact debbie {at} wsjwj.org if you are interested in getting involved!



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Community Calendar
Local? Sustainable? Equitable? Having Your Values and Eating Them Too!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Location: Rainier Square - Third Floor Atrium (1333 Fifth Avenue)
Registration: 11:30 a.m., Buffet Luncheon & Program: 12:15 – 1:30 p.m.
Buffet Luncheon: $20/CityClub Members | $25/Guests and co-presenters | $30/General public
Coffee & Dessert: $12/CityClub Members | $15/Guests and co-presenters | $18/General public
Visit www.seattlecityclub.org to register or call 206-682-7395!

We all eat every day; but do our food choices support our ecological, social, and economic values? And does everybody have the same opportunity to support their values with the food choices they can make? With some just struggling to have enough to eat, what influences what we can buy and how much it costs? What changes in policy at the local, state and federal level could better support local farming? Join us as we explore the different components that make up our local food system, how we got here, and what the future could hold. Bring your own questions and an appetite for local food! Speakers: Michele Bates-Benatua, King County Food and Fitness Initiative, Solid Ground; Nancy Hutto, Chair, King County Agriculture Commission; Dr. John P. Reganold, Ph.D., Regents Professor of Soil Science, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University; Michael Seliga, Co-Manager, Cascade Edible Landscapes; Moderator: Steve Scher, Host and Producer, KUOW 94.9

The Clean Greens Market Grand Opening! Aug 15 Walk & Community Picnic
9:30am - 11:00 am Clean Greens Walk:. Meet at 9am at Spruce Park (124 -21st ave in Central District), walk about 2 miles through the business area, and loop back to park
11am: Free community picnic at Spruce Park

Clean Greens Market will be open 10am - 3 pm every Saturday following!
Market location: New Hope Baptist Church, 116 - 21st Ave (just north of Yesler in Central District)
If you are interested in some really tasty mustards, collards, green & yellow squash, turnips, spinach and jewelry by Desiree Bradley come see us!! Spread the word!! If you are interested in helping harvest for the market, meet us at the Church at 9 am Fridays. For more info: call 206-324-3114 or check out http://www.cleangreensfarm.com

Support the South Park Market, 3rd Saturdays
Every 3rd Saturday this summer: Aug 15th & Sept 19th; 10am-3pm
Location: 14th Ave S and S Cloverdale St.
http://marketonwheels.wordpress.com

The idea is to hold a community event that allows people from the neighborhood an opportunity to buy and sell to their neighbors while offering healthy food options in a food access desert. Think of a farmer's market, but then stop thinking about a farmer's market and think of a very community minded, not necessarily organic or expensive market where Spanish flows as freely as English and your vendors live next door to you and sell tamales or jewelry that they make, etc. Now put it in the parking lot of a pizzeria on a corner of what is generally considered to be a "bad neighborhood" and there you go!

[eridani]

30. September 2009

CAGJ Receives Food Sovereignty Award!
This week CAGJ was honored and excited to learned that we have been awarded the Food Sovereignty Honorable Mention Prize, along with the Toronto Food Policy Council and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Kenya). La Via Campesina - the international movement of peasants who introduced the idea of “food sovereignty” - won the prize. Central Co-op’s Madison Market nominated CAGJ for the prize, sponsored for the first time this year by the Community Food Security Coalition and other organizations to “recognize organizations who have performed significant work to promote food sovereignty by raising public awareness, on-the-ground action, or developing and implementing programs and policies; and groups who recognize the importance of collective action in bringing about social change; global linkages in food sovereignty work; and the importance of women in agriculture and food issues.” CAGJ members will travel to Des Moines, Iowa in October to receive the prize at the 13th Annual Community Food Security Coalition Conference, “From Commodity to Community: Food Politics and Projects in the Heartland”. All prize winners will be highlighted in the conference program and on the website. We also hope to join Seattle Council-member Richard Conlin at the forum on the first day, “From People Power to Public Policy: A Gathering of Local and State Food Policy Councils”.

If you would like to help CAGJ members cover the cost of travel to the conference, please contact Heather Day, Director: 206-405-4600 or hrd99{at} igc.org. Learn more about the conference here: www.communityfoodconference.org

By Popular Demand: Kale served at the July 18 SLEE dinner!
Tasty, Simple & Healthy!
Ingredients: Head of Kale, Salt, Olive Oil
Place washed, individual leaves of kale on a baking sheet, sprinkle salt and lightly brush with olive oil. Place in oven at 375 and bake for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Enjoy!

CAGJ AGRA Watch researchers cited in article in The Nation!
Our friend Raj Patel, author of ‘Stuffed and Starved,’ has co-published an article in The Nation about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s role in Africa with Erick Holt-Jimenez and Annie Shattuck, both of Food First. The article will appear in The Nation’s September 21st issue ‘Food for All’ - along with articles by Michael Pollan, Anna Lappé, and Alice Waters. The article is by far one of the best critiques of the Gates Foundation’s dominant role in a top-down approach to agricultural development in Africa. It addresses the Foundation’s lack of transparency, their admission to “land mobility”, their inability to address gender issues, and, thanks to help of CAGJ, the article connects the Foundation to GMO research and specifically their strong relationship to Monsanto: “Travis English and Paige Miller, researchers with the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice, have uncovered some striking trends in Gates Foundation funding. By following the money, English told us that "AGRA used funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to write twenty-three grants for projects in Kenya. Twelve of those recipients are involved in research in genetically modified agriculture, development or advocacy. About 79 percent of funding in Kenya involves biotech in one way or another." And, English says, "so far, we have found over $100 million in grants to organizations connected to Monsanto." Although the article does not appear in printed form until the 21st, you can currently view each of the ‘Food for All’ articles at The Nation’s website: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921
Kudos to Travis & Paige and all of AGRA Watch for their important work!!!

Seattleplus10.org: Track our progress to mark the 10th Anniversary of our Victory over the WTO! & Get Involved!
CAGJ is helping to organize a teach-in, including skills-building, social movement strategy, and educational workshops to build our local and global movements for justice! The details are still being worked out, but mark your calendars: Nov 28 – Nov 29, with actions taking place Monday Nov 30 and throughout that week as well! And please contribute your time, funds and energy to make this an anniversary that builds our movements toward the socially just future we all desire! Meetings are the 2nd Wed/month at Café Allegro in the U-district and 4th Tues/month at Cascade Peoples’ Center; everyone welcome!

Seattle gets $300,000 for community food projects - Report from Richard Conlin's newsletter
In mid-July the US Department of Agriculture notified Seattle that we had been awarded a $300,000 grant to implement elements of the Local Food Action Initiative. The funds will all go to community-based organizations, with the City providing in-kind match to ensure that the projects will be successful. Seattle Community Farm and Good Food Project goal: create a vibrant urban farm that grows food for hungry people. The project will focus its efforts in the Rainier Valley, central Area, and Delridge neighborhoods, and includes plans to: Create market opportunities for low-income residents by increasing market capacity for the Clean Greens Farm and Market; Provide gardening education for low-income residents at community centers, senior centers, and other locations through the work of the Southeast Seattle Garden Education Initiative.; Support a Healthy Corner Store Initiative. Implementation begins this year, with the urban farm and all other components underway by the spring of 2010. Solid Ground, a community-based anti-poverty and anti-hunger organization, will be the lead agency for the project.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice
CAGJ is seeking submissions to the Food Justice Project's activist guide and recipe book, Our Food, Our Right, a community recipe book and activist resource guide that that promotes self-sufficiency and knowledge sharing, through a food sovereignty framework. The guide will be ready for sale during this Fall’s Week of Action marking the 10th anniversary of the WTO protests – & will make a PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT! Specifically, we welcome short articles on food justice/DIY ideas/local food issues/global food politics, recipes, art submissions, poems, creative writing pieces, and anything else you want to share! Please feel free to email any submissions, recipes, questions, or suggestions to Maria: rodriguezme08 {at} gmail.com

Introducing CAGJ’s Anti-Oppression Committee
As part of CAGJ's long-term goal of identifying local and global impacts of trade and monetary institutions, we feel it is important to challenge underlying roots of social oppression which perpetuate the dominant global economic system. With this in mind, CAGJ has committed to operate as a multicultural organization dedicated to recognizing and transforming the ways oppressive norms operate both internally and externally with our allies in the work we take on. Anti-oppression work (or anti-oppressive practice) seeks to challenge and transform the influence of inequality and oppression in societies, economies, cultures & groups. This work can be done in part through empathy, self-awareness, understanding the impact of social/political context on communication and group dynamics and creating changes to our structures. To this end, CAGJ has formed an Anti-Oppression Committee, a bi-monthly work group comprised of interested CAGJ members including representatives from each of the project groups. Starting with the previous Steering Committee meeting in July, CAGJ has included in the agenda a portion of time to discuss principles of anti-oppression and how it relates to the group's politics as well as each of us individually. Over time, we aim to find ways to integrate this approach in all of our ongoing work.

CAGJ also plans to bring an Anti-Oppression lens to the upcoming CAGJ Retreat in September and to incorporate it during November's Seattle +10 Teach-In. Discussion of anti-oppression in the context of the anti-corporate globalization movement is particularly important in light of organization problems during the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle which was critiqued in an influential article by Elizabeth Martinez titled "Where Was the Color in Seattle?". < http://colours.mahost.org/ articles/martinez.html > We hope that you take the time to read that article as well as others that will be linked to on the CAGJ website in the near future to get a better understanding of anti-oppression practice and analysis. We also invite you to attend the next Anti-Oppression Committee meeting which will be held on October 6 at the CAGJ office.

CAGJ Joins UFCW Local 21 Whole Foods Action
Last week CAGJ joined United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 21 leafleting at Whole Foods to protest Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s editorial blasting current Health Care Reform efforts. We called on Whole Foods shoppers to express their concerns to the company via their online comment page. Steve Williamson, who gave the keynote at CAGJ’s July 18 Dinner, wrote, “There is a Boycott Whole Foods movement brewing nationally, and it links our values on Health Care Reform to our values about exposing progressive imposters like Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.” Read Mackey’s: editorial: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
Leave a comment for the global headquarters of Whole Foods: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/service.php

CSTI 2009 Recap by Reid Mukai with contributions from Heather Day and Danielle Abbott
On the weekend after the record-breaking Northwest heat-wave this summer, three CAGJ activists - Heather Day, Danielle Abbott and Reid Mukai – attended the annual CSTI (Community Strategic Training Initiative) conference, put on by Western States Center, the area's leading activist and organizing training institution. Dan HoSang, a U of O professor and longtime community organizer, started off the program with his talk titled "Racial Justice in the Age of Obama" and effectively challenged the mainstream notion that the Obama presidency signifies a post-racial America. He pointed out how many current forms of social injustice are interdependent, that it's empowering to address how issues of racial justice are connected and the importance of keeping racial politics in the popular and political discourse. The plenary the second day was about the global impact of the economic collapse and was delivered by Pancho Arguelles of the Southwest community organization Collectivo Flatlander. It was a provocative account of the brutal and desperate situation of many working people in the Global South as well as a rousing call for action in short term as well as long term struggles.

On Friday, Heather co-facilitated a discussion on planned actions for the 10th anniversary of the WTO protests. CAGJ members also attended several day-long workshops, including “Beyond Diversity: Dismantling Racism”, facilitated by Kenya Pierce of TRENDZ for Youth and Scott Winn of the Coalition of Anti-Racist White, “Grants and Fundraising, Oh My,” facilitated by Anita Rodgers, Program Director from the MRG Foundation and "Bankers, Brokers, Bubbles and Bailouts" led by Steve Schnapp, Education Coordinator for United for a Fair Economy. The participatory fundraising workshop was especially geared towards progressive and radical groups that may have difficulty raising funds from mainstream sources, and the facilitator made herself available for future assistance and advice. The workshop on the economic crisis did an excellent job of using fun exercises and discussion to understand this issue, including how it relates to racism, sexism, and imperialism and how a transition to a Solidarity Economy (an economy without oppressive social relationships and which values people over profits) could be a way out of this and future crisis. The workshop on dismantling racism offered a very useful framework for anti-oppressive organizing for social justice that involves everyone in the necessary work for undoing oppression in our organizing and society. There was also an excellent balance of grounding the theory in people’s personal stories and experiences.

Looking back on it, the consensus is that CSTI was a well-organized, educational and fun event with many networking opportunities and at just $60 for registration was definitely worth the trip to Portland. We encourage interested CAGJ members to consider participating in CSTI next year. To find out more about the events of CSTI 2009, please visit this site:
http://www.westernstatescenter.org/news-and-spotlights/enews/articles/august/missed-something-at- csti

Participate in “SLICE: Strengthening Local Independent Co-ops Everywhere!” 
Saturday October 3, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

CAGJ is collaborating with our community partner Central Co-op along with BALLE Seattle on
”SLICE: Strengthening Local Independent Co-ops Everywhere”, a day-long workshop for people starting or interested in starting new co-ops, and anyone who supports co-ops and cooperation. With the economy and environment disrupted by financial speculation and the endless drive for growth and profit, SLICE brings together people from around Puget Sound and Washington to support strong, values-based cooperative enterprises of all kinds, as accountable and sustainable alternatives to standard ways of doing business..
SLICE highlights: Workshops on Building a Cooperative Movemen, Global Cooperation, Screening of “Argentina: Turning Around”, Regional coalition-building, policy development. Location: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Capitol Hill, Seattle. Cost $30 per person, advance registration and payment required, work-trade scholarships available.
Visit www.centralcoop.coop for more information, to register and purchase tickets or apply for scholarship.
 Coffee and tea provided by Equal Exchange, a producer co-op. Beer provided by Full Sail worker owned brewery. Scholarships provided by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union and Group Health Credit Union. See full agenda at Central Co-op website: http://www.madisonmarket.com/

Community Calendar
Seedsaving as an Activist Practice: a slideshow presentation by Marisha Auerbach - Friday, September 11
Seedsaving gives us the unique opportunity to dance with life and play a distinct role in our nourishment. We can nurture plants for the special qualities that may sustain us in an uncertain future. As corporations attempt to take control of our genetic diversity, seedsaving becomes an important political act. Come join us to learn how you can take responsibility for your own food supply by saving your own seeds from your garden. We will be discussing harvest of cultivated and native seeds as well as flowers and vegetable crops. Seed saving is a great localizing buffer against the globalization of our food supply, because it encourages diversity and increases the resilience in our gardens to pests and diseases. Location: Yogalife Studio, 200 Woodlawn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115. When: 7:15 pm - 9:15 pm. Cost: $10 - $7 sliding scale. For more information or to register, contact: Jenny Pell, jennypell {at} gmail.com, [phone]

Lettuce Link Outdoor Movie at Marra Farm- “What’s on Your Plate?” Saturday, September 12th, 6:30pm
Help support Lettuce Link projects - Giving Garden & Children’s gardening education at Marra Farm, city-wide Fruit Tree Harvesting, Urban Growing and Giving - and watch a cool new flick about kids and food politics. BONUS: First 20 people to purchase their ticket will get a Lettuce Link canvas tote bag. Come early, bring blankets and enjoy the show. Location: Marra Farm 9026 4th Avenue S (South Park) Bus Routes #: 60, 131, 132 & 134. Price: $15 ticket price, includes tour of farm, refreshments and movie. Questions contact: Teresa Mares – tmares {at} u.washington.edu or Anna Ramos - annar {at} solid-ground.org, www.solid-ground.org/News/OutdoorMovie

SEEDS September Harvest, Sept 12 -13 on Vashon
This September the Social Ecology Education and Demonstration School (SEEDS) is offering an interdisciplinary program of Weekend Workshops Sept. 11 – 13 at the Beall Greenhouses on Vashon that focus on community transformation, building a climate justice movement, grass-roots sustainability efforts, and organizing skills. SEEDS is inspired by the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE) in Vermont, which has played a leadership role in the ecology movement for over thirty years. ISE co-founder Dan Chodorkoff will give a public talk on Social Ecology and the Triple Crisis at 7 pm at the Land Trust Building. For more info., contact Bob Spivey at 206-949-4786, or visit www.socialecologyvashon.org.



Call for Dialogue and Action on Climate Change!
19th September, 2009, 3-7pm
Organized by SEEDS - Social Ecology Education and Demonstration School. World leaders will convene December 7, 2009 for a United Nations "Climate Change" conference. While this is not the first global meeting on climate issues, with the world's precarious and stark environmental and social condition this conference promises to be historic. When the member UN bodies come together this December, whose interests will they represent? Will this be another predictable outcome of financial interests tweaking the treaty to extend, trade, and buy off climate solutions as in previous years? The very same forces that are heading us toward climate catastrophe have created ongoing misery among the peoples of the global south. When will we have genuine "climate justice"? Please join SEEDS for a round table discussion on climate justice, and breakout strategy sessions intended to provide a framework for coordinating activities this fall and beyond. We invite you to come together with us in shaping the Pacific Northwest's contribution to the Mobilization for Climate Justice. Location: Cascade People's Center, 309 Pontius Ave. North Seattle, WA 98109. For more information & to RSVP: Email: pnw_climatejustice {at} igc.org, Or call Bob Spivey: 206-949-4786. Visit SEEDS: http://www.socialecologyvashon.org/
Also visit: http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/


2009 Harvest Celebration Farm Tour in King County
Saturday September 26, 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Location: 26 farms on Vashon Island, and in South and East King County
Date: Information: Tour is FREE! Suggested donation $10/family
Visit our website: www.king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/HarvestCelebration.html

Participate in “SLICE: Strengthening Local Independent Co-ops Everywhere!” 
Saturday October 3, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Location: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Capitol Hill, Seattle. Cost $30 per person, advance registration and payment required, work-trade scholarships available.
Visit www.centralcoop.coop for more information, to register and purchase tickets or apply for scholarship.
 Coffee and tea provided by Equal Exchange, a producer co-op. Beer provided by Full Sail worker owned brewery. Scholarships provided by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union and Group Health Credit Union. See full agenda at Central Co-op website: http://www.madisonmarket.com/

6th Annual Eat Local Now! Dinner
Sunday, October 11, in West Seattle
Sponsored by BALLE Seattle - Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, co-sponsored by Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom. More info, and to get involved!: http://www.eatlocalnow.org/2009-eat-local-now-dinner/get-involved

SAVE THE DATE: Next CAGJ Teach-Out: Clean Greens Farm, Duvall
Saturday, October 24

[eridani]

31. October 2009 newsletter

Call for Workshop Proposals for Nov 28-29 People’s Summit!
The Seattle+10 Organizing Committee is soliciting proposals for educational, action-oriented and skills-building workshops for the People's Summit. Workshops will be 1.5 hours in length, and will take place on Saturday Nov 28 at Seattle University. We are seeking proposals for participatory sessions on 2 themes:
1. Building today’s movements for social justice and resistance to corporate control
2. Learning from the lessons of the 1999 protests
Deadline: WED OCT 14! Please help to spread the word!

How to apply: Click here (right click and select "save link as...") or send an email to info {at}seattleplus10.org to receive the application!


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CAGJ Call for Volunteers
CAGJ needs volunteers to fill the following roles! WTO+10 Outreach; Grants Coordinator; Book-Keeper; Membership Support; Weekly Office Support Volunteer.

If you would like to learn more about any of these volunteer positions, please email: volunteer {at} seattleglobaljustice.org Thank you!


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Sat. October 24th: Join CAGJ’s Sixth Teach Out!

Visit the Clean Greens Farm in Duvall
Based on 22 acres of leased land in Duvall, WA, this innovative project was begun by the Black Dollar Days Task Force, an organization dedicated to creating economic opportunity and equity in Seattle’s low income communities. Goals for the Clean Greens Farm and Market: Promote a healthier cultural diet; Grow chemical-free, organic vegetables; Supply locally grown produce to inner city market; Educate inner city community residents about the benefits of buying locally grown produce; Expose inner city youth to the growing and marketing of produce which is vital to their health; Collaborate with Ethiopian, Hmong, Latino, Sumatran and other independent farmers to ensure the viability of small farms; Be good stewards of the environment; Participate in United States Department of Agriculture programs.
For more information on Clean Greens Farm, visit http://www.cleangreensfarm.com/

*Space is limited and RSVP REQUIRED! RSVP to Teresa at fjp {at} seattleglobaljustice.org


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Thurs. October 29th, 6-8pm: Community Meeting & Report-back from Iowa Food Conference
Hosted by Clean Greens at New Hope Baptist Church in the Central District: 116- 21st Ave, Seattle, Bus routes: 3, 4, 8, 14, 27, 48

CAGJ’s Community Meeting will be an opportunity to hear a report-back from CAGJ activists and other community members from the Community Food Security Coalition's 13th Annual Conference, "From Commodity to Community: Food Politics and Projects in the Heartland." Several CAGJ members will attend this conference in Iowa in early October, in order to accept CAGJ's honorable mention Food Sovereignty Prize and network with other US organizations on food security, food policy councils, and other issues of interest to our organizing locally. We are excited to share what we learn and use our networking to strengthen these movements in our local community. CAGJ also invites you to learn, give input, and get involved in our organizing for the fall and winter. We hope to see you on October 29th! Learn more about Clean Greens Farm at the Oct. 24 Teach-out, or at their website: http://www.cleangreensfarm.com/



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Climate Justice or Climate Chaos?
So read a circular banner on a locked-down street in San Francisco on Sept. 21st. Organized by the Mobilization for Climate Justice West, a coalition of groupsG20 meetings in Pittsburgh. There, activists set up a convergence space to bring international voices together on issues of climate change and justice. In New York City, activists directly confronted attendees of NYC Climate Week, high level meetings of UN delegates, mainstream "Green" NGOs, and government representatives to discuss climate change. A banner drop, direct flyering and discussions with attendees at their offices, and the disruption of a lecture by the Danish minister to chair the upcoming COP15 Climate Talks in Copenhagen... calling for urgent, direct action in response to climate change, the action comes as a part of a week of activity around the read the rest of this article here!


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Report from September Teach-out to Fisherman’s Terminal by Valentina Fuente, CAGJ Intern
“Today’s “Teach Out!” consists of a visit to the Fisherman’s Terminal to hear the rich story of one of the last family fishing operations left in Seattle, a visit the University Farmer's Market, and a visit to the newly burgeoning farm at the University of Washington where we will end our day with pizza made in a cob oven. Our group gathers at the Fisherman's Terminal where we listen to the compelling story of Loki Fish Company, who despite the political pressures from the Port Commission coupled with competition from industrial fishing, has continued to thrive and grow, and provide Seattle with sustainably caught fish. As we continue our visit to the University Farmer's Market, we pay a visit to the Loki Fish stand to buy some fish, and digest some more of Loki's delicious story…” read the rest of this article here.


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SAVE THE WEEK! NOV 27 – DEC 5, 2009

WTO+10: Global Justice Forward!

The Climate is Changing - It's Time for Solutions!
The time is right and it couldn't be more pressing. Issues ranging from global warming and economic collapse to immigrant rights and health care need urgent action. The political climate favors progressive change more than it has for many years, but we know change will only come when we stand up together and demand it!

Week of Action:

Friday Nov 27 Buy Nothing Day & Screening of New Documentary, "The Yes Men Fix the World", hopefully with the brilliant film-makers present! Watch the trailer: http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/

Sat.-Sun. Nov 28-29 The People's Summit - Seattle University, New Hope Baptist Church (Sat. eve), Town Hall (Sunday eve). A full day of engaging workshops & plenaries on Saturday, followed by a intern-movement strategy session on Sunday!

Mon. Nov 30 - Taking Action for Trade Justice & Climate Justice!

Thurs. Dec 3 - Film Screening of "This is What Democracy Looks Like!” & Panel discussion - MOHAI

Sat. Dec 5 - D5 Actions in Portland - Join the Caravan!

At The Henry Gallery this Fall: Allan Sekula: Waiting for Tear Gas, and Christopher DeLaurenti: N30: Live at the WTO Protest November 30, 1999

....and much more to come - where will you be Nov 27 - Dec 5?!

Details at www.seattlePLUS10.org!


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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Get your SLICE: Strengthening Local Independent Co-ops Everywhere!

October 3rd at the Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

Are you interested in cooperative businesses, food co-ops, cooperation? Want to start your own or co-own one now? Don't know what co-ops are all about and want to hear stories from all kinds of co-ops in the region? We'd love to see you there.

With the region’s best and brightest co-op mentors, including folks from Community Pantry, Equal Exchange, Northwest Cooperative Development Center and Washington Fair Trade Coalition, among other all-stars, participants will gain an understanding of how to start a cooperative, best practices, nitty-gritty details, and inspiration. The highly interactive program will address different co-op models and how to get incorporated; assessing needs and creating community tools to fulfill them; team structure and development; global cooperation; generating capital and equity; and coalition building. In addition to a comprehensive workshop schedule and the chance to network with other cooperators, SLICE goers will enjoy coffee and tea, compliments of Equal Exchange co-op, breakfast and lunch catered by Central Co-op, and beer, courtesy of worker-owned Full Sail Brewery. Visit madisonmarket.coop to learn more, purchase your $30 ticket, sign-up for work-trade, or apply for one of 13 scholarships, made possible by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union and Group Health Credit Union. Buy tickets now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/72001. SLICE is presented by Madison Market and BALLE Seattle. Additional support provided by Group Health Credit Union and YES! Magazine.

Eat Local Now! At Alki Masonic Hall

October 11, 2009, 5-10pm,

Eat Local Now! fundraising dinner in West Seattle promoting and educating about local food systems, featuring local chefs and locally produced food. Eat Local Now! is an ongoing collaboration between associations such as BALLE Seattle, Sustainable Cascadia, Sustainable West Seattle, Sustainable Ballard, CoolMom, and other associations. Our goal is to promote the importance of the local food system in Cascadia and to form the connections needed to take action to strengthen our local food economy.

Dinner • Silent Auction • Exhibitors • Speakers • Live Music • Community

Get Involved. Buy Tickets Today! http://www.eatlocalnow.org/

Food Summit at Town Hall: Good, Clean, Fair Food - Can We Have It All?

October 21, 2009 | 7 - 9pm

Location: Town Hall, Seattle

Our nation's current healthcare debate and growing interest in media are shining a light on our food system like never before. Erika Lesser, executive director of Slow Food USA will lead a lively discussion, "Good, Clean, Fair Food - Can We Have It All?". The true costs of our current food system and its consequences to our health, the environment, food and farm workers and our communities will be examined, and the intricate balance of interests involved in creating a food system that is good, clean, affordable and fairly produced will be explored by Erika, organic orchardist Adolfo Alvarez, PCC nutrition educator Goldie Caughlin, farm labor activist Rosalinda Guillen, and community activist Teresa Mares, co-coordinator of the Food Justice Project of CAGJ. Presented by Slow Food Seattle and the Legal Aid for Washington Fund (LAW Fund). Sponsored by Bon Appétit, the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington and PCC Natural Markets. Proceeds benefit the Laurel Rubin Farm Worker Justice Project. Advance tickets are $10 and are available at www.brownpapertickets.com and 800.838.3006. For more information, call 206.623.5261.

2009 Seattle Race Conference: Where Goes the Neighborhood?
Community Displacement and Equitable Development
Saturday, October 24th, 8am-4:30pm
Location: Jerry Brockey Conference Center, South Seattle Community College(West Seattle). Registration: $15 preregistration, $25 day of registration. Lunch provided.
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and closes Friday, October 16th. No one turned away for lack of funds. To register visit www.seattleraceconference.org
For more information contact [phone] or email: [email protected]

GOOD FOOD on KCTS/9 November 12 at 10 p.m.!

Please spread the word! The TV premier follows screenings in many festivals, some theaters, university classes, and many food and farming activist settings….As we discover how precarious the global food system may be, something remarkable is happening in the fields and orchards of the Pacific Northwest. After leaving the land for 50 years, family farmers are making a comeback. They are growing much healthier food, and more food per acre, while using less energy and water than factory farms. For decades Northwest agriculture has been focused on a few big crops for export. But climate change and end of cheap energy mean that each region needs to produce more of its own food and to grow it more sustainably. GOOD FOOD visits innovative farmers, farmers’ markets, stores, restaurants and public officials who are developing a more sustainable food system for all.



Thank you for reading CAGJ’s newsletter!



Community Alliance for Global Justice | 206-405-4600 | contact_us (at) seattleglobaljustice.org
606 Maynard Ave S #252
Seattle, WA 98104

[eridani]

32. May 2010 calendar

Food Justice Project announces Monthly Teach Outs in 2010!
Teach Out! Engaging our Local Food Cycle: An opportunity to learn about and work for a local community garden/farm/food site, coordinated by the Food Justice Project of CAGJ. In 2010 we are considering visiting the following sites, along with others - 21 Acres, Central Co-ops’s Madison Market, Orca Elementary school garden program, Bullock's Permaculture homestead, Hope Burundi Farm (Burundian and Somali Bantu refugees farm project), and an overnight to Yakima! - stay tuned for more details! Contact [email protected] if you want to help organize!


Standing Together for Working Moms: May 9 Solidarity Action in Seattle! Join United Food and Commercial Workers....This week there will be a series of six events in six different cities with community members and workers standing up together for working moms. Join us. We all know that retail grocery store work is hard and the hours are tough. We also know the CEOs of the big chains made a combined $30 million last year. We don’t expect to get rich at our jobs. But we do expect to be treated with respect. Working moms — and all grocery store workers — are standing up for: A good health plan we can all depend on! Grocery store workers have fought to protect benefits in past negotiations, and we will fight to keep a good plan;A strong pension so that after a lifetime of hard work, we can retire with security! Wage rates and hours that add up to a paycheck that supports our families! Paid sick days so we can take a day off when we are sick! Actions are scheduled in stores across the region from May 4th through May 9th. Click here to see the full list of events and RSVP to Stand UP for Working Moms.

Join CAGJ at the US Social Forum, June 22-26!
Monday May 10, 6:30 – 8:30 CAGJ Social Forum Organizing Meeting
Location: CAGJ Office – 606 Maynard Ave S, Rm 252 Seattle 98104
CAGJ invites you to this community meeting to learn more about the US Social Forum, and how we can go there together! We will share information about the Social Forum and logistics of getting there, places to stay in Detroit, and strategize about fundraising. One great opportunity is to participate in the May 15 Fundraiser – see below! The Social Forum will be an incredible coming together of US Social Movements, including a particular focus on Food Justice and Food Sovereignty. CAGJ’s AGRA Watch campaign hopes to present a workshop with Food First on the green revolution! Please contact us if you want to stay informed of CAGJ’s US Social Forum efforts at [email protected] (we can add you to our listserv). Please also see the list of ongoing community meetings in the Community Calendar below.
Sat. May 15, 11 – 4pm US Social Forum Fundraiser
Help us build the road to Detroit! Rummage sale, Bake sale, Plant sale!
This June, we are planning to send around 50 delegates from organizations in Seattle to the second United States Social Forum.(www.ussf2010.org) in Detroit. You can be a part of this historic moment in building towards our collective liberation. We have something for everyone-Rummage sale, Bake sale, Plant sale (you know you want to start that garden!) We will also sell Lumpia and other delicious treats. We will have games for the kids, music for your social justice loving ears, information about The United States Social Forum in Detroit and Much! Much! More! We welcome your item donations to our sale as they will help raise the money to send out delegates. But more importantly, come be a part of this fun filled day. Location: Community of Christ Church 4820 Morgan St 98118. Directions: Turn East on Morgan, off Rainier and go up the hill. Morgan is one block South of Graham. For more info or to get involved, call Mara, 206/321-9289

Tickets for 4th Annual Dinner go on sale May 15!
Tickets for CAGJ’s August 7th annual dinner and fundraiser, Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere, will go on sale Saturday May 15 here. Prices this year are $35 regular admission and $60 Support a Farmer/Foodworker: buy a ticket for yourself and enable one Farmer or Food worker to attend the dinner as an honored guest! This is CAGJ’s only fundraiser of the year. For this reason, we ask that you consider buying tickets at the higher price! We have also eliminated the lower priced ticket, however volunteers get in for free - Attention all potential Volunteers for August 7: In order to boost the fundraising potential of this year’s dinner, CAGJ has decided to eliminate the $12 ticket. CAGJ strives to make our events accessible, and does so by offering the vast majority of our programs for free all year long. And....SLEE VOLUNTEERS GET IN FOR FREE! In order for the dinner to be successful, we need many people to help the week of the event, in tasks ranging from food prep and pick-ups, to set-up, decorations, and food service. If you are interested in being part of our team, please contact Basil and Michelle at [email protected]. All volunteers at the dinner will enjoy the delicious meal served to our guests together at 9pm (after the program ends). We also have a limited number of Volunteer-ships Available: If you are able to work up to 6 hours before the dinner, you will receive a free ticket to the event, without having to work during the dinner. These will be offered on a first come first serve basis. If you are interested, please contact Michelle at [email protected].

Central Co-op Madison Market’s Annual Meeting: Keynote CAGJ’s Director Heather Day!
Saturday, May 22, Noon - 4:00 p.m. at Central Cinema
As a member-owner and director of one of the Co-op’s Community Partners, Heather Day was invited to give the keynote address at the Annual Meeting of Madison Market! Come celebrate our co-op and the owners who make this venture a reality! Great food, great music, great company! Schedule: Noon Music by Golden Heron Gamelan; 12:45 Keynote address, Heather Day; General manager and board president reports; 1:30 Q & A with new board candidates; 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - music by DJ ValPAk and `knosis.

Join CAGJ to protest Pacific Rim Mining in Seattle at Westlake - Thursday, May 27, 4 p.m.
May 27, 2010: International Day Of Action Against Mining and Free Trade In El Salvador. Stop The Suits! Stop CAFTA! Pacific Rim Mining: Drop The Lawsuit, Leave El Salvador! U.S. Congress: People And The Planet Before Corporate Profit. Trade Policy Reform Now!
Grassroots organizing in El Salvador has stopped North American gold mining companies in their tracks. But now Pacific Rim Mining is using provisions in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars. Pacific Rim argues that El Salvador’s refusal to grant mining permits due to environmental and public health concerns is a violation of CAFTA’s investor rights provisions. Initial proceedings in Pacific Rim’s suit against El Salvador will be heard at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., on May 31 and June 1. Join CISPES and allies across North America on May 27 to insist: 1)Pacific Rim Mining must respect El Salvador’s sovereign decision to prioritize human health and the environment above corporate profits. 2)Pacific Rim: Drop the lawsuit, leave El Salvador! 3)Congress must overhaul our failed trade policy, which allows companies like Pacific Rim to challenge laws and government decisions that limit their ability to make money. For more info, please contact Seattle CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador - www.seattlecispes.org | [email protected] | 206.325.5494

Sat June, 5 - 9pm - AGRA Watch Film Series: “We Feed the World”
In We Feed the World, Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer traces the origins of the food we eat. His journey takes him to France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Brazil and back to Austria. Leading us through the film is an interview with Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. 
 We Feed the World is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers, long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us. Interviewed are not only fishermen, farmers, agronomists, biologists and the UN's Jean Ziegler, but also the director of production at Pioneer, the world's largest seed company, as well as Peter Brabeck, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé International, the largest food company in the world.
FREE & Potluck! Location of all films: Cascade People's Center - 309 Pontius Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109. Please RSVP to [email protected]



CAGJ at the Green Festival: June 5-6
For the third year, CAGJ will share information with the public at the Green Festival about the global movements for food justice and food sovereignty! If you would like to volunteer (and get in for FREE), please contact us - [email protected]. CAGJ will also present: June 5th, 1pm, join us for a talk about the Gates Foundation’s promotion of a new “Green Revolution” in Africa, and sustainable alternatives. Also enjoy the new Local Food and Farming Pavilion to participate in discussions about protecting and expanding local organic farming, increasing urban food production, broadening access to locally grown fruits and vegetables, growing new jobs for youth and women in our local food economy, and much more. Programming over the two days will cover an array of topics, including protecting organic farms, financing the food revolution and identifying pesticide/GMO-free healthy food amid food hype and hysteria. In addition to a health focus, the pavilion focuses on sustainability – one example being the importance of food justice – such as defending the right to clean and accessible water and lifting communities through food, with featured speakers in the thick of making a difference both locally and globally.

REPORTS

CAGJ’s AGRA Watch Campaign gets Boost from Kenyan Leader
At the end of April CAGJ brought Kenyan leader Josphat Ngonyo, director of Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW), to Seattle to strengthen the work of AGRA Watch. He gave three talks in one day - two of the talks were critical of AGRA and the Gates Foundation, and one talk focused on his activism concerning animal welfare and conservation. Thank you to everyone who packed the house for our evening event last Thursday at the UW - more than 150 people came! We are also pleased that your support enabled us to send Josphat back to Kenya with $500 for ANAW's critical organizing. On his last night in Seattle, Josphat met with AGRA Watch members to learn about our work and discuss ways in which we can collaborate to build awareness and resistance to the work of AGRA and the Gates Foundation. Josphat’s organization ANAW is a member of the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition, who is particularly concerned about the introduction of GMO’s into Kenya, and Africa more broadly (see more below in article on Monsanto). We are thankful for Josphat's support and we look forward to building a meaningful relationship with him and ANAW! Links to his talk, which was filmed, as well as a Green Acres Radio interview, are forthcoming (unfortunately the KUOW interview was cancelled at the last minute).

Rep. McDermott-Where is Your Leadership on Trade Justice? By Kristen Beifus, WA Fair Trade Coalition
'Nobody in Congress doubts that I support everything in this bill' (TRADE Act HR 3012), Rep McDermott explained during our meeting at his Seattle office last Friday, April 30. Yet despite the tens of thousands of people, unions, social justice, environmental and faith based groups in his district and throughout WA State calling for him to co-sponsor the TRADE Act through hundreds of postcards, letters, phone calls and in-person meetings, Rep. McDermott still has not co-sponsored the TRADE Act. That is why members of WA State Labor Council, Machinists, SEIU Local 6, SPEEA, IBEW Local 46, Sierra Club, Seattle CISPES, Temple Beth Am and the Washington Fair Trade Coalition had come to ask Rep. McDermott to make public his support for trade reform. Rep. McDermott agreed with everyone at the meeting that current trade policy is broken, and that trade policy and immigration reform, economic recovery and job creation are intertwined. However the 20 year veteran of the US Congress, who is not facing a difficult re-election this year, who could use his power to inspire voters throughout the state of WA and ensure that future trade will not be on the backs of workers, farmers, human rights and the environment, Rep. McDermott is instead taking a 'wait and see approach.' Wait and see...while Pacific Rim sues the country of El Salvador under Chapter 10 of CAFTA. Wait and see…while manufacturing jobs continue to be outsourced. Wait and see...while thousands of workers from Mexico and Central America are forced to migrate to the US in search of work. Wait and see... while the people of Peru are losing their land. Wait and see...while the Obama Administration moves forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, embarked on by former President Bush, involving countries with little or no rights for workers, environmental protections, or respect for human rights.

During the meeting Rep. McDermott spoke more about political maneuvering than showing the way to real trade reform. He claimed to not want to be seen as too radical on this issue, even though he would be in the company of 137 of his colleagues, the majority of his party, including those on his own committee, Ways and Means. The simple message that we brought to the meeting with Rep. McDermott, was that he is elected by the people of his district to represent their interests, and at the moment he is not doing that and we do not understand why. We walked out of the meeting with this question unanswered. After 15years of fall-out from NAFTA, on the brink of the trade negotiations between the US and almost all of the countries that make up the Pacific Rim, with a faltering economy that is pitting foreign born and US workers for a limited pool of work-Trade Reform can not wait any longer. We will continue our efforts to 'make' Representative McDermott be the leader that he says that he is on trade reform by co-sponsoring the TRADE Act, to enable the promise of prosperity through trade to benefit everyone in WA State and throughout the world.


Community Alliance for Global Justice
206-405-4600
contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
606 Maynard Ave S #252
Seattle, WA 98104

[eridani]

33. 2010 summer events

Saturday, August 7, 2010 - Save the Date!
St. Demetrios Church, 2100 Boyer Avenue East, in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle

Join Community Alliance for Global Justice and over 400 local advocates, farmers, food workers, and allied organizations at our 4th annual Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere! Dinner to raise awareness about pressing social, economic, and environmental justice issues—as well as to celebrate our own vast pool of resources locally to create lasting change! This year, we are thrilled that Ben Burkett will join us as keynote speaker, on the topic “Globalize Hope! Globalize Struggle! Connecting US and African Farmers for Food Sovereignty”. Burkett is a 4th generation Mississippi farmer, President of National Family Farm Coalition and active in La Via Campesina, the international movement of peasants struggling for food sovereignty.

Program: Happy Hour 4:30-6:00: Enjoy libations, live music, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a Silent Auction, and the opportunity to acquaint yourself with featured food justice organizations and groups promoting community development, food sovereignty and Fair Trade in Africa. Dinner 6:00-9:00: Dinner features a variety of scrumptious dishes prepared by Seattle’s best chefs with locally-sourced and select Fair Trade ingredients. Dancing 9:00 – 11:00 Celebrate the global food revolution with African music and dancing!

Tickets: $35 Regular Price, $60 “Support a Farmer/Food Worker”: Gives you entry and also ensures that a local farmer or food worker can be one of our honored guests at the event! $10 Kids. Purchase tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets. Volunteerships also available – work trade for the dinner! Please email us if interested! volunteer {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

Upcoming Events
Rummage sale, Bake sale, Plant sale...US Social Forum Fundraiser: Help CAGJ send a contingent!

Sat. May 15, 11 – 4pm Location: Community of Christ Church 4820 Morgan St 98118. Directions: Turn East on Morgan, off Rainier and go up the hill. Morgan is one block South of Graham. Help build the road to Detroit! This June, CAGJ and many others are planning to send 50 delegates from organizations in Seattle to the second United States Social Forum in Detroit. You can be a part of this historic moment in building towards our collective liberation! We have something for everyone - Rummage sale, Bake sale, Plant sale (you know you want to start that garden!) We will also sell Lumpia and other delicious treats. We will have games for the kids, music for your social justice loving ears, information about the US Social Forum in Detroit and Much! Much! More!


Central Co-op Madison Market’s Annual Meeting: Keynote CAGJ’s Director Heather Day! Saturday, May 22, Noon - 4:00 p.m. at Central Cinema
As a member-owner and director of one of the Co-op’s Community Partners, Heather Day was invited to give the keynote address at the Annual Meeting of Madison Market! Come celebrate our co-op and the owners who make this venture a reality! Great food, great music, great company! Schedule: Noon Music by Golden Heron Gamelan; 12:45 Keynote address; General manager and board president reports; 1:30 Q & A with new board candidates; 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - music by DJ ValPAk and `knosis.

Join CAGJ to protest Pacific Rim Mining in Seattle: Thursday May 27, 4 p.m. - Westlake
May 27, 2010: International Day Of Action Against Mining and Free Trade In El Salvador. Stop The Suits! Stop CAFTA! Pacific Rim Mining: Drop The Lawsuit, Leave El Salvador! U.S. Congress: People And The Planet Before Corporate Profit. Trade Policy Reform Now!
Grassroots organizing in El Salvador has stopped North American gold mining companies in their tracks. But now Pacific Rim Mining is using provisions in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars. Pacific Rim argues that El Salvador’s refusal to grant mining permits due to environmental and public health concerns is a violation of CAFTA’s investor rights provisions. Initial proceedings in Pacific Rim’s suit against El Salvador will be heard at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., on May 31 and June 1. Join CISPES and allies across North America on May 27 to protest Pacific Rim Mining and call on Congress to overhaul our failed trade policy! For more info, please contact Seattle CISPES, seacispes {at} igc.org, 206.325.5494

UW Student Food Cooperative Fundraiser: 6:00 PM Saturday May 29
Location: OmCulture: 2210 N Pacific St, Seattle, WA (near Gasworks Park). Admission: $9 (student) & $20 (general public) in advance through Brown Paper Tickets, or $12 (student) & $25 (general public) at the door. Join the UW Student Food Cooperative for a night of delicious local food, drinks, live music, and dance performances! We will be hosting a small silent auction along with a live dessert auction. Help us kick-start this amazing student run, community supported project! And help us raise some seed money to purchase a food cart! We are building a student food cooperative whose purpose is to achieve food sovereignty on the UW campus and address food justice issues through affordable provisions of healthy and organic prepared foods. We hope to source from the expanding UW Farm and other local farmers & artisans. The UW Food Cooperative is in rapid development and is actively seeking community support and input! Co-sponsored by CAGJ. Visit our website for more information: www.uwsfc.com


Sat June 5th, 5 - 9pm - AGRA Watch Film Series: “We Feed the World”
In We Feed the World, Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer traces the origins of the food we eat. His journey takes him to France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Brazil and back to Austria. Leading us through the film is an interview with Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. 
 We Feed the World is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers, long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us. Interviewed are not only fishermen, farmers, agronomists, biologists and the UN's Jean Ziegler, but also the director of production at Pioneer, the world's largest seed company, as well as Peter Brabeck, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé International, the largest food company in the world.
FREE & Potluck! Location of all films: Cascade People's Center - 309 Pontius Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109. Please RSVP to agrawatch {at} seattleglobaljustice.org



CAGJ at the Green Festival: June 5-6
For the third year, CAGJ will share information with the public at the Green Festival about the global movements for food justice and food sovereignty! If you would like to volunteer (and get in for FREE), please contact us - volunteer {at} seattleglobaljustice.org. CAGJ will also present: June 5th, 1pm, join us for a talk about the Gates Foundation’s promotion of a new “Green Revolution” in Africa, and sustainable alternatives. Also enjoy the new Local Food and Farming Pavilion to participate in discussions about protecting and expanding local organic farming, increasing urban food production, broadening access to locally grown fruits and vegetables, growing new jobs for youth and women in our local food economy, and much more. Programming over the two days will cover an array of topics, including protecting organic farms, financing the food revolution and identifying pesticide/GMO-free healthy food amid food hype and hysteria. In addition to a health focus, the pavilion focuses on sustainability – one example being the importance of food justice – such as defending the right to clean and accessible water and lifting communities through food, with featured speakers in the thick of making a difference both locally and globally.

Thanks for reading CAGJ's May Update!

Community Alliance for Global Justice | 206-405-4600 | contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
606 Maynard Ave S #252
Seattle, WA 98104

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Saturday August 7: Only one month left until our 4th Annual Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere Dinner!

Highlights of this joyful community gathering will include: An amazing Silent Auction! Live music with Seattle Fandango Project 4:30 - 6pm, and 9 - 11pm dancing to the tunes of West Guinean musician and griot, Naby Camara and his band Lagni Sussu! A special, all locally sourced and fair trade meal featuring ikura, goat and lots of fresh produce! Surprise theater performance! And an inspiring call to action from Farmer Ben Burkett, "Globalize Hope! Globalize Struggle! Connecting US and African Farmers for Food Sovereignty".

Join over 400 food justice advocates for a delicious meal, conversation, and inspiration. Buy your tickets today on Brown Paper Tickets - click here - they are going fast!! We may not have tickets available at the door! Want to get in for free? Volunteer for part of the day or evening! Contact us - volunteer {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

Sunday August 8: Announcing....Farm Bill Campaign Kick-Off! 4-6:30 p.m. Potluck following, Location TBA
You are invited to join CAGJ to kick off our campaign to make the 2012 US Farm Bill work for all of us! In this workshop, Mississippi Farmer Ben Burkett will help us understand Farm Bill strategy and participants will work together to create a plan for revolutionizing the Food Bill! Ben is the President of the National Family Farm Coalition and involved in La Via Campesina, who have long advocated strongly for a reformed Farm Bill. Workshop Co-Sponsors: Creatives 4 Community/Ground up, Spring Into Bed/Cascadian Edible Landscapes, Seattle Farm Co-op, Witness for Peace, WA Fair Trade Coalition, and others.

Other CAGJ Happenings

Sat July 10: AGRA Watch Film Night: "Sweet Crude"
"The documentary film Sweet Crude tells the story of Nigeria's Niger Delta. In a small corner of the most populous country in Africa, billions of dollars of crude oil flow under the feet of a desperate people. Immense wealth and abject poverty stand in stark contrast. The environment is decimated. The issues are complex, the answers elusive. But in this moment, there's an opportunity to find solutions. What is the world paid attention before it was too late?" Please join us for this film, by Seattle filmmakers Sandy Cioffi and Jill Friedberg. Location: Bobby Righi's house 6002 Fremont Ave. N Seattle 98103, 5-8 pm. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to agrawatch {at} seattleglobaljustice.org, or call CAGJ at 206-405-4600. Please also bring a dish or beverage to share, if you can! This event is free, donations appreciated. Hope to see you there!

Tues July 13: Teresa Mares presents, We are Made of Our Food: Latino/a Immigration and the Practices and Politics of Eating
Join us for CAGJ's Food Justice Project Meeting Tuesday July 13 to hear Teresa Mares, outgoing co-coordinator for the Food Justice Project, who will be sharing results from her recently completed dissertation We are Made of Our Food: Latino/a Immigration and the Practices and Politics of Eating. This dissertation is the result of four years of ongoing ethnographic fieldwork to better understand the issues of food security and hunger that confront Latino/a immigrants living in Seattle, and how those working in the food system are responding to the needs of this diverse and growing community. Teresa will highlight some of the challenges that food justice advocates and activists face in building a transformed food system that meets the needs of all residents, and some of the exciting opportunities for enacting change. 6:30-8:30pm at Heather Day's house: please contact fjp {at} seattleglobaljustice.org for more info!

Summer Teach-Outs! Engaging our Local Food Cycle, Coordinated by the Food Justice Project
Saturday July 31: Food Justice Project Teach-Out with Refugee Farming Project - please read more about the project, and their call for support below!
Sunday August 22nd - Laughing Crow Farm on Bainbridge Island, in conjunction with Friends of the Farms (formerly the Trust for Working Landscapes), followed by a potluck!

Sept (dates TBD) - Overnight to Yakima to visit with RicOrganics Growers Cooperative, and other farms and food sites!
Please note, space is limited for all Teach-Outs, so RSVP's are required. To RSVP, or for more information, please email Molly at mollyjade {at} gmail.com. We will send you directions and bike route details upon receiving your RSVP, as well as information about what to wear and bring. All activities will be appropriate for children and we can work out disability accommodations if needed.

Call for Support for Refugee Farming Project
This spring, a small group of East African refugees from Somalia and Burundi began a project that gave them hope in their new country, the Refugee Farming Project. With the support of the non-profit Burst for Prosperity, 10 acres were leased and equipment and seeds purchased to begin a leadership development project that offers a means to develop financial security, skill development, and an opportunity to network and connect with their new community. This spring has been a cold and challenging one for all farmers, but the farm has been doing very well and many lessons are learned everyday as they are beginning to harvest and be present at local markets. Amidst all of this, the farm experienced a major set-back this last week, when the farmers found that their farm stand had been broken into and many valuable objects stolen. The loss includes important equipment such as two rototillers, a new water pump, work boots, hoes, shovels, and seed with an estimated total loss around $5750. This is a major blow to the farmers as their resources were already limited, so we are reaching out to our community for help. We are asking for donations of equipment and monetary donations so that we can purchase some of the larger lost farm equipment. For more information, you can visit our blog at http://burstfarmers.wordpress.com or email Jennifer Thacker at jenniferT {at} chs-wa.org. Thank you for your support and care!

Wed August 25: CAGJ Report-back from Detroit & the US Social Forum!
CAGJ activists who had the privilege of travelling to Detroit in late June to participate in the 2nd US Social Forum will report-back about what we learned about social movement organizing in Detroit, all over the US and the world in the areas of food justice, food sovereignty, media justice, global justice, and more! We will share photos, stories and inspiration! Wed August 25th at Hidmo Eritrean Restaurant, 6:30 - 9pm. Dinner and drinks available! Location: 20th & Jackson in Central District, 2000 S Jackson St. Seattle, 98144

Want to read about the US Social Forum? Read CAGJ's blogs! Find them on our website here....and read the US Social Forum Food Sovereignty Declaration here!

Reports & Analysis
The SweatFree WA Campaign celebrates the adoption of a SweatFree Purchasing Policy for the City of Seattle!
Seattle will begin using a Sweatfree Uniform Purchasing Policy, joining nine states, 40 cities, 15 counties, and 118 school districts with sweatfree policies! The new policy requires sweat-free labor standards and a Code of Conduct for all bidders on City uniform contracts and makes a commitment to protections against slave labor, forced labor, forced overtime, excessive hours, child labor, below-poverty wages, discrimination, harassment, and other types of unfair labor practices. The new policy will be integrated into bid and contract materials and used as contracts come up for new bid. Every year Washington suffers the loss of several thousand trade-related manufacturing jobs. About the new policy Councilmember Licata said, "When incentives exist for fair business practices, the competitive ability of companies with fair labor practices can increase and this can also level the playing field for regional manufacturers, helping our local Seattle economy retain manufacturing jobs."

The U.S. Department of Labor cites over 50 percent of the sewing shops in the United States as sweatshops violating labor, environmental, and human rights laws and standards. The U.S. federal, state, and local governments spend approximately more than $10 billion annually on apparel procurement. The City currently spends approximately $1.3 million on uniforms for City employees. As a result of the City Council's unanimous request in 2009, the policy was developed by the Department of Executive Administration in collaboration with the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, the King County Labor Council, the Seattle Women's Commission, and the Seattle Office for Civil Rights. It was presented to Councilmember Licata's Housing, Human Services, Health, and Culture Committee last week.

Click here for a copy of the policy.

Green Festival-goers Speak Out! Rep. Inslee Can You Hear Them? It was the weekend of June 5-6, and thousands of people came to the WA Convention Center to promote environmental awareness, to share what they are doing and to learn what more has to be done. The WFTC and our coalition member Community Alliance for Global Justice and fair trade partners Equal Exchange and Ukush Fair Trade, used the opportunity of the Green Festival to not only educate on the TRADE Act but to engage people in immediate action. Close to 200 people signed a petition to Rep. Jay Inslee calling on him to continue to be a leader on the environment by recognizing that trade has an enormous impact on the environment and our trade policies need to support the environmental protections of the US and countries throughout the world. Rep. Inslee has been relentless in his support of climate change legislation, green job development and the preservation of natural spaces in WA State. He is a natural leader on trade reform that includes enforceable environmental regulations. Are you in Rep. Inslee's District? Give him a call and ask him to co-sponsor the TRADE Act (HR 3012). His district number is [phone].

The Coup Is Not Over: Marking a Year of Resistance in Honduras, by Joseph Shansky, Upside Down World
At one point during the military coup in Honduras last year, a US representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) joked that Hondurans were living in a state of "magical realism", a folkloric literary genre blurring reality and the surreal, often in the historical or political context of Latin America. He wasn't far off, despite the bizarre comparison: A democratically-elected president is overthrown by an elite conspiring against him, forced out of the country, the military takes over, the people revolt in massive opposition, while governments across the world refuse to recognize the new regime and withdraw their ambassadors. Only the United States, the most powerful of all countries, remains on the fence, then hops off onto the side of the golpistas (coup-makers) while presenting a straight face of diplomacy. Yes, the story of how elected president Manuel Zelaya was violently removed from power under the guise of legal proceedings would make great fiction, but sadly remains the true story of the first successful Latin American military coup in decades....To this day, no U.S. State Dept. spokesperson has acknowledged the thousands of human rights violations committed under the Micheletti and Lobo governments. The US continues to maintain the absurd claim that reconciliation has come to the country, recently seen in Hillary Clinton's efforts to persuade the OAS to re-admit Honduras. Read the rest of the article here.


Calendar of Events
Film: "Visions Of Utopia: Experiments In Sustainable Culture"
Friday, July 9, 2010, 6:30-9:30 PM
Location: Keystone Congregational Church ,5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle. Transition Friday! ...a Transition focus on housing & community. Visions of Utopia (Geoph Kozeny, 2009) is an 11 year study of intentional communities, from communes to cohousing, including a short history of 25,000 years of shared living. Profiles of contemporary communities, a look at housing & urban development, the small house movement and new urbanism. Come join us for an evening focused on positive solutions at a local level! A number of short features, and a look at housing & community through the lens of the Transition Movement. With Transition Seattle, and Sustainable Wallingford. "Transition Friday!" - every second Friday of the month. Event is FREE and open to the public! ...but Donations are kindly accepted.

Don't miss it!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Community Alliance for Global Justice presents 4th Annual
STRENGTHENING LOCAL ECONOMIES EVERYWHERE! DINNER
St. Demetrios Church, 2100 Boyer Avenue East, in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle

Happy Hour 4:30-6:00 / Dinner 6:00-9:00 / Dancing 9:00 - 11:00...Join Community Alliance for Global Justice and over 400 local advocates, farmers, food workers, and allied organizations at our 4th annual Strengthening Local Economies, Everywhere! Dinner to raise awareness about pressing social, economic, and environmental justice issues-as well as to celebrate our own vast pool of resources locally to create lasting change! This year, we are thrilled that Ben Burkett will join us as keynote speaker, on the topic "Globalize Hope! Globalize Struggle! Connecting US and African Farmers for Food Sovereignty". Burkett is a 4th generation Mississippi farmer, President of National Family Farm Coalition and active in La Via Campesina, the international movement of peasants struggling for food sovereignty.

Tickets: $35 Regular Price; $60 "Support a Farmer/Food Worker": Gives you entry and also ensures a local farmer or food worker can be one of our honored guests at the event! $10 Kids. Buy tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107571

For more information, or to get involved with organizing, please contact CAGJ: 206-405-4600, contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org

8th Annual Seattle Race Conference: Racism and Health Inequities: Eliminating Barriers and Healing Our Communities
Saturday, August 28th, 2010, 8:00am-4:30pm, South Seattle Community College, Brockey Conference Center, 6000 16th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98106. Keynotes: Spero Manson, PhD, (Pembina Chippewa), Distinguished Professor, directs the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health in the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver. Ben Danielson, MD, Medical Director, Odessa Brown Children's Clinic, Seattle. Performances by spoken word artists Laura Piece Kelley. Featured Exhibit: South Park PhotoVoice. Workshops include: When the Bough Breaks: A Dialogue About Racism's Effects on Birth Outcomes, Real Talk: The health care law and you, Envisioning Environmental Justice, Keeping It Real: Pulling All the Work together in a "High Risk" Neighborhood, Community Action Teams: Organizing for healthy communities in the High Point and Greenbridge neighborhoods, What's Race got to do with Port Trucks?, Youth in Action! A Policy Forum, Asthma management disparities: Why our institutions are failing African American youth and how we can fight back, How racism is embodied: A new social determinants of health curriculum, Proactive Influence : Health at the Policy Level for Immigrant and Refugee Communities, Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, The Role of Listening and Emotional Healing in Building Healthy Communities and an Equitable Healthcare System, Community Acupuncture - Breaking Down Barriers of Access in Health Care. Register Online at www.seattleraceconference.org. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and will close Friday, August 13th. $20 pre-registration, lunch will be provided/$30 at door, lunch not guaranteed for those who register at the door. Scholarships available: To request a scholarship please email eleta.wright {at} gmail.com. For more information visit www.seattleraceconference.org

Film Screening: ‘The Greenhorns',
Monday October 4, Vashon Grange Hall
Join us this fall on Vashon Island as we congregate & celebrate a great season & the growing movement of young farmers across this nation. The Greenhorns (http://www.thegreenhorns.net) is going on tour & coming to our neck of the woods. Look forward to delicious food from NW farms, flowing drink from the tanks & vines of the NW brewers & winemakers, a screening of ‘The Greenhorns', & dancing to some great live music! The Greenhorns documentary film, now in post-production, explores the lives of America's young farming community - its spirit, practices, and needs. It is the filmmaker's hope that by broadcasting the stories and voices of these young farmers, we can build the case for those considering a career in agriculture - to embolden them, to entice them, and to recruit them into farming.The production of The Greenhorns is part of our grassroots nonprofit's larger campaign for agricultural reform. We are an activist organization that does much else besides. Please take a look around our website, watch the trailer, visit our blog, tune in to our radio show, come to an event, and get in touch. To find out more, contact: Chandler Briggs, Island Meadow Farm, chandler {at} riseup.net

Food, Culture & Justice: The Gumbo That Unites Us All, 14th Annual Community Food Security Conference Conference, New Orleans, LA, October 17 - 19, 2010 - http://www.communityfoodconference.org

SLICE - Save the Date: October 23rd at Seattle Central Community College
SLICE (Strengthening Local Independent Cooperatives Everywhere) is our region's 2nd annual cooperative business conference. If you're currently part of a co-op business, are starting one, or just want to learn more about how the co-op business model can help build an economy that is more just and economically sustainable, this conference is for you! Co-presented by Central Co-op's Madison Market and Seattle Good Business Network, the conference will feature national and regional speakers, workshops, and great food! Look for details in upcoming announcements.

May 24, 2011 Wendell Berry comes to Seattle! Kentucky Farmer and influencial writer. Co-presented by North Cascades Institute and Seattle Arts and Lectures. More info: www.lectures.org, 206-621-2230

September 2011: CAGJ Food Sovereignty Delegation to Oaxaca, Mexico! Stay tuned to the Delegations page (click here) on CAGJ's website for more information about our upcoming delegation, organized jointly by CAGJ and Witness for Peace!

Thank you for reading CAGJ's newsletter!


Community Alliance for Global Justice
206-405-4600
contact_us {at} seattleglobaljustice.org
606 Maynard Ave S #252
Seattle, WA 98104