Sustainable Food Systems
Recent News and Events
Bridging borders towards food security
October 7-11, 2006
Vancouver, BC. Conference hosted by Food Secure Canada and Community Food
Security Coalition. Call for workshop and presentation proposals, deadline
April 7. Details.
Southern Agenda for Change
May 18, 2006
Atlanta, Georgia. World Hunger Year (WHY), in partnership with Atlanta Community Food Bank, is proud to sponsor "Southern Agenda for Change." The all-day conference will feature innovative model organizations from throughout the Southeast, break-out sessions to address community challenges, and trainings on community organizing and advocacy techniques. For more information: call 212-629-8850 x16 or email RIA@worldhungeryear.org .
This Land is Their Land
April 15, 2006
Evaggelos Vallianatos, long-time CitNet member and former US Environmental Protection Agency analyst, has just published his book This Land is Their Land : How Corporate Farms Threaten the World (Common Courage Press, 2006).
"This book brilliantly uncovers what has gone wrong in rural America and in a 'fast food,' globalized world. Vallianatos combines years of historical scholarship, a trying but useful career at EPA, and poignant childhood memories of family farming in his native Greece to produce a critical essay on the fate of American agriculture and democracy. Deeply disturbing, This Land is Their Land, is also an inspiring call for citizen action and social transformation." - Jefferson Boyer, professor of anthropology and founder, Goodnight Family Sustainable Program, Appalachian State University
News and resources from the field
January 31, 2006
Check out the most recent electronic newsletter from the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. Details.
Farm and food policy project
June/July 2005
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) made four grants totaling $4.675 million to American Farmland Trust, the Community Food Security Coalition, Environmental Defense, and the Northeast-Midwest Institute "to work collaboratively to advance four interlocking policy initiatives that will unite diverse constituencies and help to build a more sustainable agriculture and food system in the United States." Details.
IATP: US Food aid needs major reform
July 2005
A new
report by the Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy, titled "US
Food Aid: Time to get it right" finds that U.S. food aid programs
are plagued by inefficiency and are not addressing the long-term causes
of hunger and food insecurity in the developing world. The report points
out that the main beneficiaries of the U.S. food aid system are agribusiness
companies bidding on food aid contracts, U.S. shipping companies that
transport the food internationally, and private voluntary organizations
(PVOs) that rely on sales of food aid in developing countries to generate
funds for their other aid work.
Unfair competition and increasing consolidation in agriculture
July 2005
More than 200 organizations representing farmer, consumer, labor,
religious, environmental, and wildlife concerns sent a letter to Congress
decrying unfair competition and increasing consolidation in agriculture.
 The letter asks Congress to pass needed legislation and to enforce
existing anti-trust laws to deal with this crisis. "A small handful
of corporations overwhelmingly dominate the nation's food supply"
says the letter.
Read
press release
UPCOMING: 2005 Women in sustainable agriculture conference
The Women's Agriculture Network will be organizing the Women
in Sustainable Agriculture Conference 2005 in Burlington, VT from
October 21 - 23 2005.
US Labeling law for genetically modified food passed in Alaska
June 2005
The Center for Food Safety announced that the first labeling legislation
for genetically engineered food in the US is poised to become law in
Alaska after being passed unanimously by both the state Senate and House.
In a move widely seen as a bellwether for similar legislation across
the country, the Alaska House approved Senate Bill No. 25 requiring
that genetically engineered fish be "conspicuously labeled to identify
the fish or fish product as a genetically modified fish or fish product,"
whether packaged or unpackaged.
Press
release
CFS
letter of support to Alaskan Senator Kim Elton in regards to his efforts
to push for mandatory labeling of GE fish
Bill
passed May 2005 requiring mandatory labeling of GE fish in Alaska
November 6:
Tufts Conference on Greening our Food
The Week in Massachusetts: Conference
on Ecolabels & The Greening of the Food Market
Upcoming Conferences Related to Sustainable Agriculture, Pesticides, and Health 2002-2003 [PDF]
October 8
”UN is slipping
modified food into aid”
NEW SCIENTIST (Thursday, 19 September 2002)
Eating Locally, Thinking Globally
The sixth annual Community
Food Security Conference in Seattle was held October 5-7.
Sept. 20
The editors of a recent book, Fatal Harvest (review), summarize The Seven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture in "Myth One - Industrial Agriculture Will Feed the World " on AlterNet. The full essay for Myth Two, "Industrial Food is Safe, Healthy, and Nutritious" [PDF], is available on the book's website.
Dec. 3
- The US Farm Bill is currently going through Congress, and a vote
is imminent. This bill will greatly impact the level and type of subsidies
provided to corporate agribusiness and small farmer alike for the
next five years, and the House bill has a number of unsustainable,
pro-corporate concessions in it. Senators Leahy and Reid have proposed
more responsible amendments in their version of a Farm Bill that are
very favorable to sustainable agriculture and our ecosystems.
- The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture has been very active, and succeeded, in getting many good provisions added to the bill. A summary of their successes while the bill was in committee is on their website.
- Environmental Defense has an overview of the CARE bill as well as talking points for contacting your Congressperson about their support.
- The Environmental
Working Group's latest updates on farm subsidies (also has
links to newspaper editorials on the Farm Bill)
- USDA held two events on Wednesday, Dec 5 in DC:
Oct. 25
- The World Food Summit: Five Years Later will be held Nov. 5-9 in
Rome. For details, see http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/.
Sept. 1
- The Sustainable Food Systems Working Group will be hosting a planning meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 11, (Cancelled) to share information and recent developments in preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the World Food Summit +5, building on the previous consultation.
June 25
- Multistakeholder
Consultation on Food, Agriculture and Land Resources for the 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held on July 18.
Location: Humane Society, Washington, DC
