Thanks to Frank Tamborello of Hunger Action Los Angeles for alerting us to an upcoming event.
Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, Safe Food, and What to Eat, will be the principal speaker at the California Endowment's Center Scene Public Program on Food Politics:
When: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 5:30pm
Where: The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities, 1000 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles 90012
Cost: Free of charge, reservations requested
The American food system is set up for mass production and mass consumption, and we are paying the price: Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years, and one in three American children eat fast food every day. How did we get here?
Professor Nestle will answer this question and talk about how to reverse the devastating health effects of a food system that often makes the healthier choices the harder choices. In this food policy primer and the first event in Hungry for Change: Food, Politics and Community Health, a series of Center Scene Public Programs, Nestle will discuss the challenges the public health community faces from the food system and solutions for change.
Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is a member of the Slow Food USA advisory board, and speaks and writes about issues related to food politics, nutrition, and food marketing. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. Professor Nestle's "What to Eat" blog is informative, entertaining, and updated frequently. If you haven't already bookmarked it, you'll find it here.
Laura Avery, supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market and a correspondent for KCRW's "Good Food," will moderate the conversation and lead a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Information and online reservations are available on the California Endowment's website.
Food on Foot has asked us to share a request with Slow Food members and friends:
We need your books, DVDs, and CDs!Please donate your gently used or new books, DVDs, and CDs to Food on Foot. All items will be collected at our serving location at 1625 N. Schrader Avenue in Hollywood between 10:30am and 2:30pm every Sunday in October (7, 14, 21, 28). Tax-deductible receipts will be given.
Money earned from an online sale (more details to follow) will go toward the purchase of food gift cards for workers in the "Work for Food" program.
If you've been thinking of weeding your book and media shelves, this may be a great opportunity to declutter and help a local organization. For more information about Food on Foot, visit their website at www.foodonfoot.org.
Alice Waters contributed her thoughts the subject of the Farm Bill in Sunday's Sacramento Bee: "Farm Bill Should Focus on Healthful Foods":
The farm bill emerged originally to support farmers during the Great Depression. But over time, it has turned into a system of subsidies heavily favoring five crops: corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat. Between 1995 and 2003, farmers who grew these commodity crops received an average of $14.5 billion in subsidies each year, half of which goes to a handful of states. By contrast, the farm bill offers little, if any, support to the California farmers who produce nearly half of our nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutritional guidelines calling for a diet rich in all three. . . .Read the complete piece on the Bee's site, then be sure to voice your concern: a list of resources, including a sample letter and websites on which you can confirm your representatives' contact information, is archived here.Many public school districts operate on a shoestring budget, and the cheaper, unhealthful foods laden with sugar and hydrogenated fats have become staples of school lunch programs. For many low-income children school lunches offer the only meal some kids eat all day. As we know, a diet heavy with saturated fats and refined sugars has helped create a national pandemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. If previous farm bills had been healthful food bills, we would have subsidized nutritious foods instead of junk foods, and made nutritious foods more affordable and more available in schools.
The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to take action on the Farm Bill this week, from July 17-19, so don't delay.
Our colleagues at the California Food Policy Advocates have issued a call to action regarding the Fresh Start Program:
The wildly successful effort to bring more fresh produce to school children is scheduled to perish! For the last two years, the California Fresh Start Program has provided schools with 10 cents to increase fruit and vegetable offerings in the School Breakfast Program. Despite amazing results (confirmed in a recent evaluation commissioned by the legislature), no funding to continue the program is contained in either the Senate or Assembly Budgets. Though the Governor has fought for continued funding for this, his “blue pencil” authority only allows him to take money away in the final budget, not add it. So if the legislature doesn’t act now to include this funding, the program will die. The legislature is working to wrap upFor more about how Fresh Start is caught in the budget squeeze, see our recent post (including a link to the San Francisco Chronicle article on the subject).
the budget right now, so quick action is needed!Please Call These Three Leaders And Tell Them: Do Not Let Fresh Start End!
Budget Conference Chair
John Laird
916.319.2027Senate President
Don Perata
916.651.4009Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nunez
916.319.2046
Update: Thanks to Randy Clemens, who suggested we add the legislators' email addresses, which are:
Assemblymember.Laird@assembly.ca.gov
Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Nunez@assembly.ca.gov
Many of our readers have asked for more information about the 2007 Farm Bill and what Slow Food as an organization is doing.
We're pleased that Slow Food USA has issued a position statement and plan of action and are now able to share them with with members and friends of the Los Angeles convivium.
Slow Food's Position Statement:
Recognizing that Slow Food USA seeks to offer the nation an antidote to industrialization's destruction of diversity in ecology, culture, and cuisine; that its members are guided by the vision of an ecologically healthy, culturally and gastronomically rich, and humane world; and that we seek a food system that is Good, Clean, and Fair, Slow Food USA is joining with other organizations and communities in the nation who seek a Food and Farm Bill that provides a healthier balance of interests and wider distribution of the benefits that accrue as a result of our nation’s defining farm and food policy. Click here for a .pdf of the complete Position Statement.Slow Food's Plan of Action:
Slow Food has signed on, as an organization, to a document called “Seeking Balance,” a statement of values and principles that was published and distributed by the Farm and Food Project, a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Initiative. Read the document in its entirety at the Farm and Food Project website.(See below for links to find contact information for your representatives and senators, and other elected officials.)Slow Food USA encourages all members (indeed, all citizens) to write their Congressional representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate, their governor, and their mayor asking these elected officials to support the Seeking Balance statement.
We will post more information, but in the meantime encourage you to visit the following sites for more information about the Farm Bill and related issues:
Food & Water Watch: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/u-s-farm-bill/farm-bill-faq
Farm Perspectives:
National Farmers Union: http://www.nfu.org/wp-content/2007-sob_farm-bill.pdfFood Security Perspective:American Farmland Trust:
http://www.farmland.org/programs/campaign/Recommendations/top_ recommendations.aspThe Northeast Farm Bill Agenda: facilitated by the Northeast Ag Works! Project. http://www.northeastagworks.org/
Food Research and Action Center:Government Updates:
http://www.frac.org/Legislative/farmBill2007/06.23.05.html
The Department of Agriculture 2007 Farm Bill Website:Voice your concern:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdafarmbill?navtype=SU&navid=FARM _BILL_FORUMSHow your Representatives feel about the Farm Bill:
http://thehill.com/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=200&search word =SPECIAL+REPORT%3A+FARM&submit=Search&searchphrase= exact& ordering=newest
To find your representatives, go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep/A list of members of the House Agricultural Committee:
http://www.agriculture.house.gov/inside/members.htmlTo find your senators and representatives (and contact information), you can also do a search based on your address (English and Spanish-language).
Although the Farm Bill is not subject to state ratification, you can also share your concern with the Governor's Office (California). As many of the above resources note, California's large agricultural economy and network of farms may be seriously affected by provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Slow Food USA has also suggested a sample letter to send to representatives.
, which provides a thorough and engaging overview of the Farm Bill.
Dan Imhoff was one of the participants in the recent "teach-in" at the University of California Berkeley campus. The webcast of that event is available online, and we encourage you to view it for Imhoff's comments as well as the input from Michael Pollan, George Naylor (a corn farmer and president of the National Family Farms Coalition), Ann Cooper (Director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley school system), and others who are attempting to reform federal agricultural policies.
Evan Kleiman talked with Dan Imhoff on the April 21st edition of KCRW's "Good Food" broadcast. Listen to the show online or as a podcast.
From the April 17, 2007 New York Times:
Steaks, pork chops, milk and other products from cloned livestock would have to be clearly labeled on grocers' shelves under a bill pending in the California Legislature.Complete article here.If passed, the requirement could be more stringent than federal rules. The Food and Drug Administration is poised to give final approval for manufacturers to sell meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs, and goats without any special labeling, although a bill introduced in Congress would require it.
Sen. Carole Migden, the San Francisco Democrat who authored the bill, said consumers deserve to know what they're buying and to be able to decide if they want to eat food from cloned animals. That is especially true because cloning isn't perfected and the long-term consequences of eating artificially produced animals cannot yet be studied, she said.
For information on SB 63 and Senator Migden's position, visit the senator's website or the bill information page for the California State Senate.
For updates and news releases from the FDA, visit their site.
Farm Bill Forum: Ventura
For Slow Food members and friends in the Ventura area, the CFJC has announced a Farm Bill forum in Ventura on Thursday, March 29, 2007 from 1:00-4:00pm.
The event will be held at the office of the Ventura Unified School District at 255 West Stanley Avenue, Ventura, CA 93001. Attendees are welcome to arrive early (by 12:30pm) and and enjoy a farm fresh salad bar lunch for $4.50. In addition to your RSVP for the Forum, please call 641-5000 ext 1301 to reserve lunch.
To reserve, please email Dulanie [at] sbcglobal [dot] net or call 310.822.5410.
This forum is for anyone who is committed to better food, farm and nutrition policy that protects our environment and farmlands, provides opportunities for small farmers and ensures access to healthy, affordable and locally grown food. Community food issues addressed through the farm bill include: access to farmers markets, preserving local farms, hunger and food stamps, nutrition education and obesity prevention, farm-to-school and farm-to-institution programs, environmental stewardship, conservation funding. This event will be cohosted by CFJC, Ventura AG Futures Alliance, Food for Thought Ojai, CA Women for Agriculture, VEP Healthy Schools Collaborative.
Also... Opportunities with the CFJC
Positions are available for both a part-time organizer (may become full time) and interns.
CFJC is currently hiring for a part-time organizer position that may grow into a full-time position with in the next six months. The organizer will work with the CFJC program director, CFJC steering committee, and the CFSC executive director to organize campaigns and programs that further the coalitions mission. The CJFC is looking for someone with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for food justice advocacy work who has combination of experiences in program development, outreach, community organizing, and public speaking. Fluency in Spanish a plus. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply.
Location: The organizer will work from the CFSC office in Los Angeles.
Compensation: Half-time position with the possibility of becoming full-time. Pay range is $35,000-$42,000 for full time position. Benefits include medical and dental insurance, vacation, sick-leave, major holidays, flexible spending account, and retirement plan. Salary and benefits will be pro-rated depending on total hours.
Download a full job description at http://www.CAFoodJustice.org.
Deadline: March 23, 2007
Cover letter, resume and references can be submitted by mail, email or fax to: California Food and Justice Coalition (c/o CFSC), PO Box 209, Venice, CA 90294, Fax: 310.822.1440, info [at] CAFoodJustice [dot] org.
Internship Announcement
The California Food and Justice Coalition is seeking interns to assist with a variety of coalition support activities in the areas of advocacy & organizing, communications and general organizational support. Internships are unpaid. We are seeking at least one individual to be based in our Los Angeles office, additional interns can be located any where in the state of California. You can download a full description of the internship opportunities at: http://www.CAFoodJustice.org. Please send a one-page letter stating your interest and availability, along with a sample of your own writing to info@CAFoodJustice.org or fax to: 310.822.1400.
In the coming weeks, Slow Food Los Angeles will be sharing more information with our members and friends about the Farm Bill. In the meantime, please note the following event in Berkeley, which will also be webcast (details below):
Michael Pollan will moderate a panel discussion of the 2007 farm bill, now being debated in Congress, with guests Ken Cook, director, Environmental Working Group; Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley school system; Dan Imhoff, the author of Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill; Carlos Marentes, Director of Sin Fronteras Organizing Project; and George Naylor, Iowa corn farmer and president of the National Family Farms Coalition.
Later this year, the President will sign an obscure piece of legislation that will determine what happens on a couple of hundred million acres of private land in America, what sort of food Americans eat (and how much it costs) and, directly as a result, the health of our population. That piece of legislation is the Farm Bill, which, every five years, determines the rules by which the American food system operates, rules that end up affecting not only all of us who eat in the U.S., but people all over the developing world.
Typically, the Farm Bill is written with virtually no input from anyone beyond a handful of farm-state legislators. Not so this year. A coalition of public health, environmental, family farmer, community food security, development and immigration groups is weighing in. Few things could do more to reform the American food system--and by doing so improve the condition of America's environment and public health, as well as the prosperity of farmers throughout the developing world--than if the rest of us were to start paying attention to the Farm Bill. Here's your chance to get up to speed.
In addition to the panel, a wide variety of food-related groups will be on hand to pass out pamphlets, answer questions, and provide ways for citizens to take direct action on this year’s Farm Bill.
When: March 21, 2007, from 7:00pm-9:00pm
Where: Wheeler Auditorium, University of California Berkeley
Cost (for in-person attendance): $5.00 via the Zellerbach Ticket Office (510.642.9988); U Cal Berkeley students free with ID.
For those who will not be in Berkeley on the 21st--and that's most of slowfoodla.com's readership--the event will be webcast live and archived within a few days of the event at http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events.php. There is no charge to access the webcast other than your own internet connection costs.
This event is being sponsored by the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism.
We've just received late notice that the Los Angeles session of Roots of Change's initial series of meetings will be held this coming Monday.
When: Monday, February 26, 2007 from 1:00pm-4:00pm
Where: Center for Healthy Communities, The California Endowment, 1000 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles
Cost: Free, but advance registration is requested. Contact Nicole Mason by email or by phone to 415.391.0545.
The goal of Roots of Change (ROC) is to achieve sustainable food and farming systems in California by the year 2030. As stated by ROC:
Bound by a common vision, producers, NGOs, businesses, government agencies, foundations and others will work together to plan and support existing and new projects to reach a sustainable food system in one generation. This system-oriented effort will seek to improve the health of our communities, enact sound agricultural and food policy, create viable jobs, increase market opportunities, and effect positive change in the environment in California.
The meeting will address proposed initiatives to achieve a sustainable food system; how attendees can help shape plans and implementation of projects; ROC’s role and proposed services; how to secure ROC’s requests for grant proposals; and how to apply for a 2007 ROC Planning Fellowship.
Also note:
ROC plans to utilize web-based communication and networking tools at the meeting. If you plan to attend, add yourself to "attendr", a social-networking application, prior to the event. Share a little information about you and your interests and help us learn about the group as a whole. Attendr is incredibly informative, useful and a lot of fun. You will be sent a link to attendr in the confirmation of your RSVP. We recommend those with laptops bring them to the meeting.For more information about Roots of Change, visit their web site.
For our readers outside the Los Angeles metropolitan area, please note that other meetings are scheduled:
In Ventura: Tuesday, February 27, 2007, 12:30pm-3:30pm, Pierpont Inn, Anacapa/Marine Room, 550 Sanjon Road, Ventura
In Fresno: Wednesday, February 28, 2007, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Ramada University, Room Shaw A, 324 East Shaw Avenue, Fresno
In Modesto: Thursday, March 1, 2007, 1:00pm-4:00pm, The Red Lion Hotel, Vineyard Room, 1612 Sisk Road, Modesto (Co-host: Great Valley Center)
In San Francisco: Friday, March 2, 2007, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Nextcourse, One Fort Mason, San Francisco (Co-host: San Francisco Food Systems)
In Chico: Monday, March 12, 2007, 1:00pm-4:00pm, California State University, Chico, Bidwell Park Room, Chico (RSVP by March 2nd)
In Davis: Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 1:00pm-4:00pm, UC Davis; Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, AGR Room, Davis (Co-hosts: UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and UC Davis Agriculture Sustainability Institute) (RSVP by March 6th)
Beginning with a screening today and continuing through late March, the American Cinematheque is presenting Our Daily Bread.
As noted in Manohla Dargis's review in The New York Times:
Late in his indispensable book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Michael Pollan suggests that one way to change America’s lamentable eating habits is to build slaughterhouses and egg factories with glass walls. “If there’s any new right we need to establish,” he writes, “maybe this is the one: The right, I mean, to look.”Directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter and filmed in several locations throughout Europe, Our Daily Bread does just that. It gives us a look into the places where much of our daily food is produced: amidst surreal landscapes plasticized and optimized for tractors and agricultural machinery, in clean rooms in cool industrial buildings designed to ensure logistic efficiency, and by machines that require uniform materials for smooth processing. Our Daily Bread shows the industrial production of food as a reflection of our society's values: plenty of everything, made quickly and simply by a specialized few.
Without commentary or explanatory interviews the film unfolds on the screen like a disturbing dream. It's a detailed feast of images, an insistent gaze, accompanied only by the whirring, clattering, booming, and slurping of machinery. The film's duration is 92 minutes. It was originally released in 2005 (First Run/Icarus Films).
Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Avenue (at 14th Street), Santa Monica
When: Several dates, beginning today:
Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 7:30pm
Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 5:00pm
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 4, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 11, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 5:00pm
Critics around the country have been raving about the film:
"Superb! The film's formal elegance, moral underpinning and intellectually stimulating point of view also make it essential. Takes us inside worlds of wonder and of terror." -- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times [full review here]
"Devastating! A Must-See!" --The New York Times
"Outstanding! Provocative! Eccentrically lovely and frequently horrifying." --Premiere
"The '2001: A Space Odyssey' of modern food production." --Stuart Klawans, The Nation
"An invigoratingly subtle form of political cinema." --Richard Porton, Cinema Scope
Update, 2:56pm: Also note the review by Kenneth Turan in today's Los Angeles Times, available here.
Our Social Action committee has learned of a screening of Black Gold, a documentary that examines the global coffee industry:
When: Friday, February 23, 2006 at 7:00pm
Where: Ten Thousand Villages, 496 South Lake Avenue, Pasadena. Discussion about the movie will follow at the Magnolia Urban Lounge next door.
Cost: Free, but seating is limited.
From the movie's promotional materials:
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.
For more information about the movie, visit its web site. For more information about Ten Thousand Villages and their fair trade initiatives, visit their web site.
Worse Than You Think
As many of you are aware, the recent freezing temperatures damaged crops across the state as thermometers plummeted to below normal readings for what one farmer described as, “The third once-in-a-lifetime freeze I’ve experienced in the last 19 years.” Particularly hard hit was the California citrus industry, including many of the local citrus farmers we encounter in our regional farmers' markets. For them, this freeze was a triple-whammy.Citrus Crop FailureUnlike leafy winter vegetables, such as broccoli and lettuce that have a 90-day replanting cycle, citrus damaged by frost can take many years to recover. The economic impact reaches far beyond the farmers themselves, causing catastrophic damage to the communities whose livelihoods depend on the citrus industry. In the cities lining the Central Valley, places like Lindsey, Exeter, Visalia, and Lemon Cove, the effects of the 1990 freeze are still being felt. Banks and car dealerships closed, businesses shut their doors, and even the repo men are out of jobs because no one can afford to buy the repossessed goods. Today, in the smaller communities, half the businesses on downtown streets remain closed, and the recent cold temperatures have made things worse.
Citrus trees experience crop damage at temperatures below freezing and fail entirely at 26 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. This year the Central Valley has already seen 27 days below 32 degrees with 18 of them below 26 degrees. The lowest temperature was 19.2 degrees! One citrus farmer at the Hollywood market salvaged only 13,000 lbs of oranges from a crop production normally over 600,000 lbs, a 98% loss!How You Can Help
Hardest hit are the surrounding communities. Seven out of ten pickers and packers in these communities are now out of a job, with more joining the ranks in the coming months as clean up and pruning work is completed. On the front line, delivering direct assistance to these communities, is the Salvation Army and the Community Food Bank, providing disaster relief services to those in need. By identifying your contribution as “Freeze Relief Central Valley”, you can provide direct assistance to those hardest hit by the freeze.The following organizations have set up direct aid relief funds in the Central Valley and participated in the recent Orange Aid: Valley Freeze Relief Telethon broadcast by KSEE Channel 24 Central Valley News:
Salvation ArmyBe sure to indicate the money is for the “Freeze Relief Central Valley.” For more information, call the Salvation Army at 559.233.0139 or visit the online "Fresno Freeze" donation page of the Salvation Army.
1914 Fulton Street
Fresno, CA 93721-1017
Community Food BankBe sure to indicate the money is for the “Freeze Relief Central Valley.” For more information call the Community Food Bank at 559.237.3663 or make a donation to the Community Food Bank through their site.
210 North Thorne Avenue
Fresno, CA 93706
Farm Labor Policy
Ironically, much of this disaster could have been avoided. Some citrus intended for direct consumption can be harvested and processed into juice, assuming the labor is available to pick it. Perhaps as much as 60% of the losses could have been averted if a labor force had been mobilized to pick the crop on short notice. A coherent farm labor policy, one that allows for sufficient quantities of documented farm laborers to travel into California on short notice in advance of a freeze of this nature, is one option in the public debate that addresses this issue. Keep yourself informed as this important issue is addressed on a local, state, and national level and make your voice heard!
Join the Social Action Committee of Slow Food Los Angeles for an afternoon discussion about food politics and sustainable solutions for community food security at the Edible Estates Headquarters & Workshop. Speakers will include Fritz Haeg, founder of Edible Estates; Mike Foti, owner of an Edible Estate in Lakewood; Evan Kleiman, chef, host of KCRW's "Good Food," and longtime supporter of local farmers and sustainable agricultural projects, who will speak about the Slow Food movement; and Jordan Vannini, chairman of the Slow Food Los Angeles Farm Committee, who will talk about the Farm Committee's activities and goals.
After the discussion, we're pleased to present a screening of The Future of Food for those who wish to see Deborah Koons Garcia's documentary about the current landscape of food politics. Called "the Fahrenheit 9/11 of the genetically engineered food battle," The Future of Food is a provocative call to action and an excellent introduction to the issues surrounding the use of genetically modified food products.
When: Sunday, October 15, 2006 from 2:00pm-4:00pm
Where: Machine Project, 1200 D North Alvarado Street (Echo Park), Los Angeles
Cost: Free of charge, but please RSVP by October 14 to snailwrangler [at] slowfoodla [dot] com
Street parking available. Seating will be limited, so plan to come early if you want a good seat.
For more information and further reading, please see the following:
++ More information on Machine Project at their site;
++ More information on Edible Estates at their site; read a recent New York Times article about Fritz Haeg and the Edible Estates project at the Foti residence in Lakewood; or read "Green House Effect" in the Los Angeles Alternative weekly.
++ Learn about the development of the Foti Farm at the Foti Farm blog;
++ The Future of Food web site;
++ "GMO-Food Foes Turn to Film" in Wired magazine;
++ An article from the San Francisco Gate, "Fighting for the Future of Food"; and
++ Information about Evan Kleiman is available here.
We hope you'll join us for what promises to be an interesting and lively afternoon!
For those interested in the debate over school lunch programs, the Center for Ecoliteracy has posted a series of essays, "Thinking Outside the Lunchbox." Worthwhile reading about the social, political, economic, agricultural, and health issues related to school lunch programs and education for sustainable living.
Also, a view of school lunch programs from those charged with planning and executing such programs appeared in the August 20, 2006 New York Times Magazine and is available online or here, as a .pdf.
From EarthWorks Enterprises, an announcement for those who may be attending this weekend's American Community Garden Association conference:
EarthWorks Enterprises is planning to host American Community Gardening Association visitors from 11:00am to 2:30pm on Saturday, August 12, at the EarthWorks Urban farm in the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. We will be providing chips, salsa (made from farm ingredients), guacamole and bottled water and a nice shaded area where they can eat their box lunch. A cooking demo by Bon Appetit of Whittier College, using our farm ingredients, will take place during lunch. (Bon Appetit is a first-rate restaurant, so the samples are sure to please!) Following lunch, our program youth will conduct farm tours and talk about our program. Attendees can then chose to help us prepare beds for our future Native Plant Education Garden, turn compost, or, for those less physically inclined, weed our vegetable rows using a hula hoe or peel garlic. All the activities will take place with our program youth, staff and volunteers. Community members are welcome to join. For more information please call 562.968.1935 or email info@ewent.org.
The American Community Garden Association is holding their 27th annual conference from August 10-13, 2006, at UCLA.
The conference promises to be a great opportunity for those interested in planning, managing, and promoting community gardens. It will include hands-on workshops, keynote speakers, a film festival, and visits to parks, school gardens, community gardens, and other green spaces in the Los Angeles area.
For registration details, the calendar of events, and more information about pre- and post-meeting tours, visit the conference site. Although early registration has ended, there is still a benefit to registering before July 15.
Individual event charges and information about accommodation arrangements are also available on the site, so if you aren't able to attend the entire conference you may wish to consider particular events or tours that correspond to your interests.
Slow Food members have often cooperated with and contributed to the California Food & Justice Coalition's efforts to sponsor, support, or defeat legislation that will affect the quality of food, access to food, and land use regulations. Although they are not actively sponsoring legislation this year, they do ask us to remind you that the following bills are being discussed in our legislature.
AB 1112, formerly AB 1790, written and sponsored by Assembly member Rebecca Cohn:
This bill would replace the word “nutritious? with “fresh? in the California Fresh Start Program. Current regulations allow funds to be used for purchasing “nutritious? fruits and vegetables, which include fresh, frozen, canned, and dried. Changing the language back to fresh will reward schools who make the extra effort to serve fresh produce in school breakfast. AB 1112 is being held up in the Senate Rules committee and has not yet been referred to any Senate issue committees. The CHJC will send updates and alerts as they have them; in the meantime, those interested should contact Assembly member Cohn’s office for more information (visit Rebecca Cohn's web site)
The “Healthy Purchase" pilot program would provide funding and guidance for small neighborhood grocery stores and corner stores in targeted low-income communities to purchase, store, and market fresh healthy foods. It would also offer food stamp recipients financial incentives for purchasing fruits and vegetables in the pilot communities. It passed both the Assembly and the Senate Health Committee, and is now headed to Senate Appropriations. This bill is sponsored by California Food Policy Advocates: visit their site for more information.
This bill creates a program to give financial incentives to supermarkets to locate in underserved neighborhoods. CFJC is supporting this bill with the hope that efforts will be made to direct funding to independent and regional chain grocers. It passed the Senate and is now being reviewed by the Assembly Rules Committee. This bill is sponsored by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy: visit their site for more information.
This bill would have establish the “Farm Fresh Schools? program to promote partnerships between school districts and local farmers to establish and expand Farm to School programs. It also promotes partnerships between schools, nonprofit organizations, and public and private agencies to provide related school activities that promote a comprehensive approach to nutrition and wellness. This bill was held up in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and considered dead for this legislative session. It was sponsored by California Alliance with Family Farmers: visit their site for more information.
This bill would prohibit local governments from enacting local ordinances to restrict GMO use. It is currently in the Assembly, and has already passed the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Californians for GE-Free Agriculture is organizing opposition to this bill: visit their site for more information.
Sadly, it appears that the two sides in the dispute over the future of the South Central community garden have not been able to come to an agreement that would allow the farm to remain intact.
The local ABC affiliate web site has preliminary details regarding the eviction, which began this morning.
The South Central Farm site is also posting updates regarding the sheriff's action and their continued opposition.
We'll post links to more information as it becomes available.
UPDATE: A summary of the day's events, with photos and video, has been posted to the Los Angeles Times site.
The South Central Farm site continues to be updated with information about the aftermath of the eviction action and the farmers plans.
The South Central Farm and the Trust for Public Land fell short of their fundraising goal, and the South Central Farm is faced with the imminent possibility of eviction.
According to the South Central Farm web site, many farmers, their legal counsel, and supporters (including several celebrities such as Joan Baez, Julia Butterfly Hill, Ben Harper, and Daryl Hannah) have set up camp at the community garden and are hoping to draw media attention and to resist the eviction action. Several local news outlets have noted the turn of events: to get a flavor of the coverage, see the story in the Los Angeles Times (registration required, but also available on KTLA's web site) and from the local ABC affiliate's web site (KABC).
For the most up-to-date information, visit the South Central Farm site for news, events, and requests for assistance.
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Hill's Kosmonaut Photo Blog.
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has secured an opportunity to save the South Central Farm, but community help is needed.
The 14-acre South Central Farm, located at 41st and Alameda Streets in South Los Angeles, is thought to be the largest community garden in the United States. After a contentious three-year land use battle that made news around the world, the TPL has secured an opportunity to save the Farm. Within the confines of a tentative purchase agreement, TPL hopes to help unify stakeholders and different sectors of Los Angeles to raise the money necessary to purchase the land.
The community goal is to raise $1 million in less than 30 days, for this the TPL needs your help, and is asking for Los Angeles to step up to the plate and help save this land. They have the opportunity to eliminate park poverty in this highly urbanized and semi-industrial neighborhood, and to make permanent and public the community and cultural benefits of the green oasis created by 360 families as they continue to grow healthy fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants to supplement their food budgets.
Without the help of donors—both major and modest—the fate of the South Central Farm remains in doubt. TPL asks for help in saving this important community asset and transforming it into a true multi-cultural regional resource built on the unique relationship between people and the land.
If you would like more information about the project, fundraising or Parks for People-LA, please call Bob Reid at 213.380.4233 x14 or email at bob.reid [at] tpl [dot] org or Alina Bokde at 213.380.4233 x27.
Donations made by check can also be sent. Checks should be made payable to “The Trust for Public Land?, and please write “South Central Farm? in the memo line of your check. Include the tear off portion of this flyer with your check.
All donations are tax deductible; TPL is a 501(3)c non-profit organization.
For more information, visit the Parks for People website.
Planners Network Los Angeles has organized a tour of the South Central Farm this weekend. Slow Food LA members and friends are invited to attend and learn more about the community garden.
When: Sunday, April 2, 2006 from 11:00am-noon
Where: 41st & Alameda, Los Angeles (Meet at the entrance on Long Beach Avenue at 11:00am for the tour.)
Cost: The tour is free; lunch or purchases, if you choose, at your own expense
Please RSVP for the tour: onetburn@csupomona.edu
South Central Farm is the USA's largest urban garden. Tilled by over 350 families, this 14-acre oasis provides food and green space for a self-sustaining community. As many of you have heard and read, the farm is at risk, as farmers face eviction threats. See it for yourself…come tour the farm and meet the people who have grown it. Stay for lunch from the farmer’s market stands.
Also at the farm on Sunday: Manifesto Workshop, $10. Write your own Manifesto! A fundraiser for the farm, with Haruko Tanaka & Matt Dunnerstick, beginning at 12:30pm.
For more information on the South Central Farmers, visit their site.
Metro: Blue Line at Vernon Station
Parking: Park on 41st or another block south
Photographer Kathryn Hill has posted a series of photographs from her visit to the South Central Farm. View these, and read her impressions of the community garden, on her web site, the Kosmonaut Photo Blog.
If you haven't visited the South Central Farm, Kathryn's text and photos convey a sense of the community this type of garden fosters.
Our friends at the California Food and Justice Coalition have shared the following information with us regarding the efforts this week to save the South Central Community Garden.
Below is a schedule of actions taking place this week to try to save the 14-acre farm in South Central Los Angeles. If you are in LA and able to attend the events please come and show your solidarity with the farmers. If you are not in LA please support the farmers with your calls and letters to the Mayor’s office (details below).------ Forwarded Message ------
“Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos!? with the South Central Farmers Support Coalition
Schedule of Actions for the week of 3/5/06-3/11/06EVICTION NOTICE POSTED!! A revised eviction notice was posted on the gates of the South Central Farm by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department March 2, 2006. According to the notice the 14 acre farm (the largest urban farm in the nation) needs to be vacated by Tuesday March 7, 2006. Until the end of that day, it will still be legal for the farmers to remain on the land. The farmers are undertaking the necessary process to halt this eviction through legal appeals. To our knowledge, we can only be guaranteed to stall the eviction for days. This week will be critical in the history and fate of the farm. The farmers have been keeping up this fight for three years, but its victory is in the hands of the people. We’re asking everyone to participate in these actions organized for the week:
ALL WEEK:
Flood the offices of the Mayor and Council Representative Jan Perry via telephone, email & fax. Demand a town hall meeting, to intervene with the eviction and to be responsible to their community!!!
Mayor Villaraigosa: Email: mayor@lacity.org Phone: (213) 978-0600
Council Representative Jan Perry: councilmember.perry@lacity.org Phone: (213) 473-7009Tuesday, March 7:
Art Party/ Paper Mache mask making 7pm @ the Farm
Wednesday, March 8: Attend City Council Public Comments. 9am @ Los Angeles City Hall. Wear Green!“Mr. Horowitz, Do the Right Thing!? Candlelight Vigil in support of the Farmers at 7pm. Intersection of: N. Woodburn Drive and W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Thursday, March 9:
USC, the Planners Network, hosting a screening of the 10-minute "South Central Farmers" documentary w/Fernando and Alberto of the SCF. @ 7PM. Doheny Library (2nd floor) @ USCDrum Circle at the Mayor’s House; 7pm, The Getty House @ Windsor Square, 605 S. Irving blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90005. 8 blocks west of Western (off Wilshire). http://www.metro.net for public transport to area
Friday, March 10:
Community Support Demonstration and Community Voicing during City Council meeting’s public comments.Los Angeles City Hall 9am, 200 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012Saturday/Sunday:
Concerts at the Farm!! Details TBA.For info regarding the scheduled events, please contact Rosa @ (310) 867-0696
Interested in camping at the farm with the campesinos? Contact Brenda at brendaealvarez@msn.com to coordinate days & times.
The farmers are continuing their 24 hour vigil to protect the farm which started in July of 2006. Please bring supplies of food, water, flashlights, batteries, firewood, sleeping bags, blankets, tarps, tents and anything else we may need in the days to come.
For information on the South Central Farmers visit www.southcentralfarmers.com. You may contact us through our website or contact Fernando @ (909) 605-3136 southcentralfarmers@yahoo.com
Food on Foot has sent us the following urgent request for assistance with their Thanksgiving Day plans:
We need volunteers for our BIG Thanksgiving Day feeding on Thursday November 24th from 2:30pm until 4:30pm at our regular Hollywood location. We will distribute food and back packs to all of the homeless and poor and there will be a special work for food award ceremony after the feeding. The cost per individual is $40 (payable in advance by credit card only) but $84 club members can attend free of charge.To sign up please visit our website: http://www.foodonfoot.org. We are limiting the number of volunteers this year so that everyone will stay busy for the enire two hours so please register as soon as possible.
Thanks for your continued support.
Further to our post about the conversion of the community garden is an article in today's Los Angeles Times about the ongoing protests and efforts to retain the land for the community.
Those interested in supporting the community garden may contact Fernando Flores by email at emonandoflo@yahoo.com or nandodesigns@hotmail.com or by phone at 909.605.3136. The South Central Farmers web site also features a copy of the Times piece and additional information about the garden.
News and calls to action from Slow Food LA's Social Action Committee and our friends in the community:
++ AB 826 is now awaiting Governor Schwarzenegger's signature. The California Food and Justice Coalition is urging members and friends to contact the Governor's office with a request that he sign the legislation, and the CFJC has provided sample language and contact information for this purpose. See our previous post for more details. Action is needed soon: AB 826 must be signed or vetoed by October 9. For a recent look at AB 826, see Heather Hacking's piece in the Chico Enterprise record.
++ Food on Foot has asked us to remind Slow Food members that it is celebrating its 500th week of service to our community. They still have many volunteer opportunities for their anniversary event this Sunday, October 9, and encourage you to go to their website for more information on their mission, on their anniversary event, and how to volunteer.
++ The South Central Farmers continue their fight to keep their community garden, which has been a source of pride and nourishment for the community since 1992. The Los Angeles Urban Garden at 41st and Alameda provides approximately 360 plots and is believed to be one of the largest urban gardens in the country. Without intervention, the garden will be closed at the end of the year. For more information or to sign their online petition, go to the South Central Farmers web site.
News from Nancy Goslee Power regardng the Garden School Foundation:
The Garden School Foundation's mission is to provide a natural environment in elementary schools where children can discover the joys of planting, harvesting, and preparing their own food while enjoying a garden-enriched curriculum.We are manning our first Garden School Foundation stand in this Saturday's Santa Monica Market from 9:00am-1:00pm at the Santa Monica Airport. Come by for your veggies and see us. We are promoting our first project at the 24th Street Elementary School in the historic Adams district. The school made the "worst schools" honor roll this week. There was also an article on children's asthma and the relationship between being near a freeway. This school backs up to the 10 Freeway with not even a bush or tree let alone a sound wall to block the sound or air from the freeway. Hopefully we will have a row of Canary Island Pines there in the new year!
We have built a preliminary garden with the children and have huge pumpkins right now, planted in the spring. We will have a new 1/3 acre garden after the asphalt is taken up in January, hopefully to be followed by a kitchen lab, sponsored by La Brea Bakerey. [This is the first school in Los Angeles with our program in it. We have been endorsed by the LAUSD, and many others.]
We are also in the Wednesday Santa Monica Market at LaBrea Bakery's stand. Please join us and support us any way you can!!
Our friends at the California Food and Justice Coalition have sent us the following news regarding AB 826, the farm-to-school legislation, and have asked for our support in the next phase. Please read on:
AB 826 has passed the California Assembly and has now been sent to Governor Schwarzenegger to be signed into law. By signing this bill he will help California farmers and schools connect so our kids can be eating the healthiest and best tasting local fruits and vegetables available. But we're not sure which way the Governor will go. We need a strong advocacy effort to influence his decision.Your visits, calls, and letters have been the force behind the bill coming this far. WE NEED YOUR HELP to show Governor Schwarzenegger how much support there is for farm to school.
Please send a letter to the Governor telling him to sign AB 826. View a sample letter at: http://www.foodsecurity.org/california/CA_actionalert.html. Please personalize our sample letter to highlight why farm to school is important to you and how it benefits your school and your community. Get background on the bill at: http://www.foodsecurity.org/california/CA_Issues.html.
Deadline: The Governor has until October 9th to sign or veto the bill. We don’t know when he will act. So we need as many letters as possible to start arriving in his office as soon as possible.
With so many nutrition and school food related bills this year it's important that we keep voicing our support for farm to school so family farmers don’t get left behind. Let the Governor know that farmers, schools, parents, and nutrition advocates want farmers and their communities to be part of the effort to get more healthy and fresh foods into our schools.
In addition to sending letters from your organization, personal letters from farmers, parents, representatives from schools, and STUDENTS! are as important. If your school is not able to write a letter, send one yourself and be sure to mention your involvement with farm to school. A hand-written letter to the Governor is very powerful. If you are part of a committee or task force that is organizing a local farm to school program or is interested in one have everyone at your next meeting write and send their own letter. We need to make sure the Governor hears how much support there is for “healthy kids & healthy farms.?SAMPLE LETTER
Place on your organization’s letterhead or send a personal letter (fax to 916.445.4633 or email via the Governor's email web site: http://www.govmail.ca.gov).DATE
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814RE: Support for AB 826 (Nava)
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
On behalf of [your organization's name] here I am writing to express our support for AB 826, the California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act. We hope that you will support this innovative approach to improving school nutrition and supporting California’s farmers.
We/I support farm to school because … [choose one or more of the following points]:
++ Name your own reason
++ Farm school programs are a win-win for schools and farmers alike. They put the freshest and healthiest fruits and vegetables in our kids school meals, and create a stable market for farmers that are struggling to find markets where they can get a fair price.
++ When schools purchase fruits and vegetables directly from local farms not only do students benefit, but so do farm families, their communities, and the local economy.
++ Connecting with farms allows schools to serve more, tastier fresh fruits and vegetables and creates opportunities for hands-on nutrition education, such as farm and farmers' market tours, gardening and composting programs, and taste testing and cooking demonstrations.
[Highlight one or more of the following points:]
++ AB 826 complements other nutrition bills that you are supporting that get the bad food out of schools (SB 12 and SB 965) and gives them money to purchase fruits and vegetables (SB 281). AB 826 creates opportunities for school food dollars to be spent on fruits and vegetables from local farmers. These bills can work together to create a healthful school food environment for California's children.
Farm to School programs offer kids fresh, ripe, seasonal fruits and vegetables that are bursting with flavor so they learn to like fresh foods at a time when they are developing life-long eating habits.[Share an experience from your community]
AB 826 provides new opportunities by implementing the Department of Defense (DoD) Farm to School program, which allows schools to purchase local and California grown produce through existing channels. Our hope is that the lessons learned from the farm to school program can be translated to other institutions, such as universities, hospitals, and correctional facilities, all of which purchase through the DoD, in order to increase demand for California produce within the state, and income for our farmers.
Please sign AB 826 into law and support California's farmers feeding California's children.
Sincerely,
[Your Name and Signature]
cc: Assembly Member Pedro Nava, 916.319.2135
California Food and Justice Coalition, 310.822.1440
[Please send a copy to CFJC so we track our support. Fax to 310.822.1440 or email to Heather@foodsecurity.org.]
For those of you with an interest in numbers...the LAsupportsLA event was a real success. Nearly 1,000 paying guests attended the event, and nearly $200,000 was raised for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. During these times, which are so desperate for so many people who were in the path of the hurricane, your contribution to the event sends a powerful message and a helping hand. Thank you.
Another event is being planned for December. For those of you who attended last Friday's event, we hope you'll continue to support this effort. And for those of you who couldn't or didn't attend, please consider attending the next event. Watch this site for save-the-date information and other news about LAsupportsLA events and others that are coordinated by Slow Food or brought to our attention.
Please take the time to read the following letter from Erika Lesser, head of Slow Food USA, regarding how Slow Food can best respond to the misery surrounding Katrina.
Also, those of you who either volunteered or bought tickets to the LA supports LA event already made a difference. We've heard from Alex Brennan Martin...read his message to everyone who worked on LA supports LA right here:
I am overwhelmed and only wish I could shake each person's hand but you will have to settle for an email hug! We begin the process of distributing grants next week and I am working directly with the mayor and pairing the grants with jobs we have around the country through www.cirajobs.com. This will change peoples' lives starting next week and you all are a huge part of this. If that doesn't light your fire...well, then...your wood's wet!And now from Erika:Thank you all from all of us here more than we will ever be able to say,
Alex
Alex Brennan Martin
Brennan's of Houston
As the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina unfolds across the South, many of you have begun asking the national office and fellow convivium leaders what Slow Food can to do to help. We have been doing a lot of brainstorming over the past few days, and talking with our friends in New Orleans, specifically via Poppy Tooker, founder of the New Orleans convivium.We'll post more news from our national and international Slow Food colleagues as it becomes available.Poppy and her family are safe and have re-located to Baton Rouge for the time being, where she is actively working with the Red Stick Farmer's Market and by phone with Richard McCarthy of the Crescent City Farmer's Market to identify the immediate and individual needs of both producers and their market outlets.
One thing is clear: there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small farmers, fishermen and artisan food producers whose livelihoods have been endangered or even wiped out by the effects of Hurricane Katrina. There are also countless numbers of individuals whose displacement across the US has cut them off from their families, friends and work, not to mention the flavors of home.
The challenge that Slow Food faces is: how can we, as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense of biodiversity and the celebration of food culture, mobilize the resources we already possess to contribute meaningfully to the relief efforts? What can we do in the face of this agricultural and gastronomic diaspora of the deep South?
In an ideal world, the infrastructure and resources would already be there. But the reality of our situation requires a human response that provides both immediate relief and more long-term strategies that empower individuals--both those who are in need and those who can help.
We believe that the answer lies with our grassroots network of Convivia and Terra Madre, and in the form of three distinct strategies:
1. “Red Beans and Ricely Yours? at local farmers markets;
2. In-kind assistance to farmers via the networks of Terra Madre and Convivia;
3. A new SFUSA Terra Madre Fund to direct funds to specific Slow-oriented hurricane relief projects identified by SF New Orleans.
We hope that every Convivium of Slow Food USA will find a way to participate.
Today's New York Times addresses the damage wrought by Hurrican Katrina on one segment of New Orleans society : its culinary culture.
Hurricane Katrina has devastated one of the nation's most distinctive culinary cultures.As restaurateurs and diners around the country worked to organize fund-raisers and find jobs for industry refugees, the people who ran many of the best-known restaurants in the United States struggled to find out what, if anything, was left of the vibrant New Orleans restaurant scene.
Nearly 10 percent of the New Orleans' labor force, about 55,000 people, worked in the city's estimated 3,400 restaurants.
Read the article on the Times' site, or here, if the link has expired.
Dine for America is one effort by restaurants across the country to assist the relief effort. On October 5, 2005, proceeds from a country-wide "dine for America" day will contribute to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Dine for America web site will be up and running on September 8. Check it out.
Food on Foot has sent us the following urgent request for assistance:
We really, really, really, need your help!!On Saturday, October 15th, we will celebrate our 500th consecutive week of service to our community through our food and work programs. The BIG event will be a HUGE garage sale held in Culver City but we don't have enough volunteers to help us.....We are having two planning meetings in Hollywood (must attend one meeting) on Sunday September 11th and Sunday September 18th at 5pm. PLEASE help us and attend one of these meetings so we can celebrate our 500th anniversary!! When you send an e-mail to info@foodonfoot.org we will send the exact location and further details.
Thanks for your continued support!!!!
Slow Food members have alerted us to several opportunities to provide financial aid and other assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
LearnAboutWine is coordinating a Hurricane Relief Effort event on September 9, 2005. LAsupportsLA will be hosted by Harry Shearer (of The Simpsons, Spinal Tap and KCRW fame).
The location is to be announced; check the LAsupportsLA web site for information and developments, or to purchase a ticket.
The ticket price will be $100.00, and all proceeds will go to charity. In addition to celebrity and musical guests, LAsupportsLA will feature 50 restaurants and 100 wineries, and silent auctions with the goal of raising $1 million for the relief fund.
The Restaurant Short List includes Grace, Table Eight, RockBar, BOA, Sushi Roku, Spago, R23, Akwa, Le Dome, Josie, Cinch, Campanile, Ocean Avenue, Yi Cuisine, and many more to announce. To add your restaurant to this list contact Tim Smith at winesurfer [at] hotmail [dot] com.
The Winery Short List includes Moet, Qupe, Summerland, Torbreck, Iron Horse, Stoller, Coppola, Diamond Oaks, Bonny Doon, Joseph Phelps, Andiamo, St. Supery … Just to get started.... to add your winery to this event - contact Diane [at] LearnAboutWine [dot] com.
To give, sponsor or donate to this event, call Douglas Allan at 310-351-4280 or email Douglas [at] LearnAboutWine [dot] com.
To volunteer, email April [at] LearnAboutWine [dot] com.
For PR-related inquiries, please email Libby Gluck.
In addition, the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness suggests the the following organizations:
Our friends at the California Food and Justice Coalition have sent us an update regarding AB 826, The California Farm to School Child Nutrition Act:
As we enter the final stretch of this years legislative session I wanted to share an update on AB 826--the CA Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act. The bill is currently in the Senate appropriations committee and will next go to the Senate floor for a vote. We expect this vote to take place at the end of August. The bill will then go the Assembly to be voted on again (it passed the Assembly floor 77 to 2 on June 1st) and then be sent to the Governor to be signed.We'll post additional information to slowfoodla.com as it becomes available. In the meantime, note that today's New York Times includes an article about the Farm to School movement, "Fresh Gets Invited to the Cool Table" by Marian Burros. (Or you can find it here, as a pdf.)In the next few weeks we will be sending out alerts and information on how you can support the bill through calls to your Senators and with letters to the Governor. Please stay posted for these alerts.
In the mean time you can check the status of AB 826 and view the bill language. For additional information on AB 826 and farm to school issues, you can also visit the Community Food Security Coalition site.
Are you a baseball fan? Do you know a boy or girl (6-14 years old) that would love to spend the evening of August 11 as the honorary Dodger bat boy/girl for the game against Philadelphia?
Food on Foot has alerted us that for just $50 you can enter a drawing where the winner will take the field with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, August 11, 2005 at 6pm. The Dodgers have generously arranged with Foot on Foot for this opportunity--an exciting one for a young baseball fan, and a great fundraiser for a worthy cause.
For an entry form please visit their website. The deadline for entry is Friday, July 29. Good luck!
As noted here several weeks ago, several L.A. farmers' markets are threatened by the imposition of permit fees that had previously been waived year-round.
The matter remains unresolved; city council action is scheduled for June 8. In the meantime, friends of the L.A. markets have been trying to spread the word and alert market patrons of the need to contact members of the city council and share their support for continued fee waivers. UCLA students have been among those protesting the fees at the Westwood market, which is a resource for many students who live in the neighborhood surrounding the UCLA campus.
For a sample letter and council contact information, please see our original post. It's not too late to make your voice heard and to support the markets.
The California Food and Justice Coalition has asked for our help as AB 826 moves toward a vote. Details below:
Please Call Your Assembly Member By May 31st!
Thanks to so much support from CFJC’s members and friends the California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act (AB 826) was passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 25th. The bill has received broad and bi-partisan support so far and is now headed to the Assembly Floor for a vote next week. This critical vote by every member of the Assembly will determine if the Senate will hear AB 826. Please speak up to support farm to school in California!
Call your Assembly Member and ask them to vote YES on AB 826. Find your Assembly member and their phone number here.
Learn more about Farm to School, CFJC and AB 826.
Call Script: “My name is ________ and I am from your district. I am calling to ask that Assembly Member __________ VOTE YES on AB 826 – the California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act - when it comes to the floor. Farm to School programs are a win-win for farmers and schools alike because they increase access to fruits and vegetables, while increasing farmer income at the same time. AB 826 supports farmers and schools looking to make these innovative connections.?
Path to Freedom has alerted us to several events on their June calendar which may be of interest:
Sunday, June 5, 2005: Cob Oven Building Workshop
Fun with mud! Sunday, June 5, 2005 from 10:00am until 6:00pm. The cost is $65.00. Space is limited, so reservation and registration is required. (Register by May 31 and save $15.00.) Reservations can be made on the PTF event page.Learn how to build a simple fully functioning sculpted bread oven from cob in one day. This earthen sculpture will be built using inexpensive materials: sand, clay, straw, and water. (See additional details by clicking on the "continue reading" link, below.)
Tuesday, June 14, 2005: Knit-Together (Crochet, too!)
Cast-away with yarn enthusiasts on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm. The event is free for knitters and crochetters and includes a potluck, so please snacks or drink to share."Creativity, spirituality and meditation are all linked." ~ Peg Butler ~
Join us for our monthly knitting circle gathering. It's the perfect way to relax, meet others, practice your technique and skills, share favorite patterns or show off your latest creations.Sunday, June 26 2005: Bike Summer @ Path to Freedom: The Arroyo Seco Eco Ride
Cities, community coalitions ,groups and individuals are working hard to make Los Angeles and surrounding cities more livable and sustainable places. On this ride, 7 miles, Class C, we will travel from North East Los Angeles to Pasadena. Cost is a suggested donation of $5.00-$10.00, and $1.00 for the Audobon Center. (See additional details by clicking on the "continue reading" link, below.)Sunday, June 26, 2005: Screening of The Future of Food
Join Path to Freedom for a screening of The Future of Food with their special guest, Deborah Koons Garcia, widow of Jerry Garcia and the director, writer, and producer of this provocative documentary.
"My goal was to make a film that gave the average person a clear understanding of how genetic engineering works, from the cellular level to the global level. I'm hoping this film can be a combination of SILENT SPRING, and THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS. Once you see it you'll feel compelled to act, even if that means just changing the the kind of food you eat." ~ Deborah Koons Garcia ~
The screening will be held on Sunday, June 26, 2005 from 4:00pm until 9:00pm. The cost is $15.00 (or $5.00 for the 7:30pm discussion). Space is limited, so please reserve at the PTF event page to ensure your seat.Vegan/Vegetarian food will be provided (some from our organic garden!). To make this a "green event," please bring your own plates, cups and utensils if possible. (See additional details by clicking on the "continue reading" link, below.)
Many thanks to our friends at Path to Freedom for sharing their calendar with us.
More information about the Cob Oven Building Workshop:
You will learn about materials selection and evaluation, mixing and cobbing techniques, and designing. Cob has been used for millennia. With recent rises in the price of lumber and increasing interest in natural and environmentally safe building practices, cob is enjoying a renaissance. This ancient technology doesn't contribute to deforestation, pollution or mining nor depend on manufactured materials or power tools. Earth is nontoxic and completely recyclable.
The workshop will be a mix of hands-on (and feet in!). Please wear clothes that you wouldn't mind gettting dirty. Plan to use muscles you haven't flexed in a while.
BRING: A hat, suntan lotion, towel, slip-ons, perhaps a change of clothes. Also bring your own bag lunches and beverages. We will provide light snacks and water.
INSTRUCTOR: Ray Cirino, of Cobanation, is an experienced and innovative cobber. He will share his love and enthusiasm of cob, demonstrating his own unique and whimsical design.
More information on Bike Summer:
We will meet at the Heritage Square/Arroyo Gold Line station (3545 Pasadena Ave. Los Angeles 90031). A short ride to the base of Flat Top for an overview of open space issues with the North East Los Angeles Open Space Coalition. We will continue to the one of the greenest buildings in the nation, the Audubon Center at Debs Park. Riding up the Arroyo Seco Bike Path, we will head to a location where the City of Pasadena is conducting stream restoration activities. We will ride to Path To Freedom, an urban homestead, located in Pasadena. This will be the final stop, where we will take a tour and have a chance to have lunch (Please bring a lunch). We will meet at the Heritage Square/Arroyo Gold Line station (3545 Pasadena Ave. Los Angeles 90031). Ending at Path To Freedom (631 Cypress Ave, Pasadena 91103).
This easy ride will be about 7 miles from end to finish. We will ride at a moderate pace, and stopping along the way (Class C). We will ride on streets, bike paths and bike lanes. Please bring a lock, as we will walk to the Arroyo Seco restoration site.
Although this is a free ride, the Audubon Center and Path To Freedom do rely on donations to keep going, so feel free to bring some money along to give to these causes. Suggested donation to Audubon Center is $1. Suggested donation to Path To Freedom is $5-10 for the tour.
For more info visit the Bike Summer web site or contact Jeffrey Chapman at corvus6775 [at] hotmail [dot] com.
More information about The Future of Food screening
The film screening will be followed by a short discussion with guest speakers Deborah Koons Garcia (Lily Film); a representative of the Organic Consumer's Association, and Jules Dervaes (Path to Freedom).
FILM DESCRIPTION: There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America--a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. For more information visit the film's web site.
EVENT SCHEDULE:
4:00pm: Welcome
4:30pm: Film, The Future of Food
6:30pm: Food & Entertainment (vegan/vegetarian faire will be provided)
7:30pm: Guest Speakers, featuring Deborah Koons Garcia
9:00pm: End
SPECIAL GUEST: Deborah Koons Garcia fell in love with filmmaking when she first picked up a Bolex while a student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1970. She was the instigator and chief Creative Consultant for Grateful Dawg, a documentary about the musical friendship between her husband Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Grateful Dawg premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and went on to a lively run in film festivals, in theaters and on television. The Future of Food was shown over a dozen times as a work in progress in Mendocino County, California before the March 2004 election and was the primary element in passing Measure H which bans the planting of genetically engineered crops in the county. It is the first time U.S. citizens have voted on this very important issue. All the people who worked on The Future of Food are proud that our efforts have had a real impact in the real world.
If you haven't taken action on the Los Angeles City Counsel Special Events Ordinance that is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, April 19, please do so this weekend. Under the terms of the new ordinance, many farmers' markets may face closure due to the imposition of weekly permit fees that have historically been waived.
For more information, please see the previous posting on this matter, which includes a downloadable letter and list of city council members.
Slow Food USA has emailed members regarding Fertile Ground: A Benefit for Slow Food in Schools, and invites members and friends to support Slow Food in Schools by donating an item to the online auction, which will run from May 13-22. Your generosity will allow Slow Food to help these existing programs grow and to expand the project's reach into new communities.
Auction items are already being donated by restaurants, wineries, kitchen equipment manufacturers, travel companies, and more. The fundraiser will culminate with a live auction and gala event in New York on May 25. Alice Waters, executive chef of Chez Panisse, will host this benefit honoring the work of pioneering school nutrition consultant and chef Ann Cooper, author of Bitter Harvest and In Mother's Kitchen. Full tables and individual tickets will be available for purchase for the gala.
A growing program comprising more than 20 garden to table projects across the country, Slow Food in Schools helps children develop an appreciation for real, wholesome food and an understanding of sustainable food practices. Not only are these projects teaching valuable lessons about nutrition, personal and environmental well-being, and an appreciation of the pleasures of the table, they are also instilling the values of leadership, community and responsibility.
Please consider donating an item to the Fertile Ground Auction in support of these and other amazing Slow Food in Schools projects. Merchandise, gift certificates, services and special tours and tickets all make wonderful items. For more information about the online auction, the Fertile Ground gala event, or to donate an auction item, please call Sara or Ragan 718.260.8000 or email membership [at] slowfoodusa [dot] org.
For more information on how transformative these programs can be, visit The Edible Schoolyard or read Alice Waters' statement, "Slow Food, Slow Schools: Transforming Education Through a School Lunch Curriculum." (And thanks to The Edible Schoolyard site for the lovely carrot illustration.)
Path to Freedom is an organization that "strives to inspire individuals to 'think globally, act locally' by motivating them to live a simpler and more fulfilling life." Their objective is "to live as sustainably as possible in an urban environment." With that in mind we thought Slow Food members might be interested in learning more about Path to Freedom and about several events in which they'll participate:
++ Earth Day LA at Promenade Santa Monica on Saturday, April 16, 2005 from 10:00am-7:00pm
++ Earth Day Celebration at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena on Sunday, April 17, 2005 from 8:00am-12:45pm
++ Greening the Earth Day at Memorial Park, Pasadena on Saturday, April 23, 2005 from 11:00am-3:00pm (Their biodiesel suburban will be on display at this event)
++ Earth Day Comes Alive at Audubon Center at Debs Park on Saturday, Aprili 23, 2005 from 9:00am-4:00pm
Pompea Smith, Executive Director of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (the operator of the Hollywood Farmers' Market, Hollywood-Sears Farmers' Market, and Central Avenue Farmers' Market) has alerted us to this troubling development. THE MARKETS NEED OUR HELP: Please continue reading and contact your City Council representative this week. Also, please circulate this notice.
Thank you for your support on the L.A. City Special Events Ordinance last June where we successfully appealed to the Budget & Finance Committee of the City Council to recommend a waiver of all fees and charges for certified farmers' markets. Unfortunately, this issue still has not been completely resolved. The Ordinance was recently returned to the Budget & Finance Committee from the City Attorney's Office and has been passed on to the full Council without the recommended changes.Farmers' markets are currently granted street closure permits including a waiver of all fees through council motions. Under this new ordinance, council motions would be eliminated and all certified farmers' markets that take place on L.A. City streets and parking lots would be required to pay a weekly permit fee of $528. Markets operated by nonprofit organizations can apply to have fees waived for only two weeks out of the entire year. This would still total over $26,000 in fees per year per market and would result in the closure of a majority of the affected markets. It would subsequently have a detrimental effect on food assistance programs based at farmers' markets such as the Food Stamp Program and Women, Infants & Children (WIC) and Seniors Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs. This new policy would also have regional ramifications, setting a precedent for all neighboring cities.
We are asking the City Council to recognize the importance of farmers' markets in our communities and to include additional language in the ordinance waiving all weekly permit fees for farmers' markets.
We are asking you to help L.A. farmers' markets by writing a letter of support of farmers' markets to your local City Council person and/or all City Councilmembers. Attached is a sample letter for your use as well as contact information for all Council Districts. [Please click on the links to download Word documents.]
The Council will most likely vote on this ordinance NEXT TUESDAY, APRIL 19TH. Please contact your council person by MONDAY (April 18). We may also be looking for supporters to testify at the City Council Meeting next Tuesday. We will send out more details about this as they become available.
Thank you in advance for your support.
AB 826 (Nava) has been referred to both the Assembly Education and Agriculture committees. The California Food and Justice Coalition has asked for Slow Food member support as they expect that the bill will be heard in the Education committee on Monday, April 18th, and in the Agriculture committee on Wednesday, April 20th. Letters of support on this bill are urgently needed by Monday, April 11th and should be faxed this weekend.
A sample letter can be downloaded from the CFJC's site. Fax your letter to:
Assemblymember Pedro Nava at 916.319.2135
Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, Chair, Education Committee 916.319.2145
Assemblymember Barbara Matthews, Chair, Agriculture Committee 916.319.2184
California Food and Justice Coalition 310.822.1440
and YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER
If you are able to attend the hearings on April 18th or 20th in Sacramento, please contact Heather Fenney at heather@foodsecurity.org or 310.822.5410.
Call your Representative and ask them to attend the Assembly Agriculture Committee Informational Hearing on Farm to School AND . . . Vote YES on AB 826!
Your call is especially important if your representative is on the assembly agriculture or education committees (members listed below). The members of these committees will be voting on AB 826 in the next two weeks. The hearing is an opportunity for them learn what farm to school is all about. A call script is below. (Find out who your representative is here.)
CALL SCRIPT:
“My name is ________ and I am from your district. I am calling to ask that __________ (your Assembly member or Senator) attend an informational hearing on Farm to School being held by the Assembly agriculture committee on Wednesday, April 13th. The hearing will focus on how schools can get more fruits and vegetables to kids by linking with California farmers, and be an opportunity to hear about AB 826 - The California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act. The bill promotes linking schools and farms together to improve student health and increase farmer income. I hope that Assemlymember/Senator ________ will vote YES on AB 826.?
Assembly Agriculture Committee
Barbara S. Matthews, Chair, Dem-17 916.319.2017
Bill Maze, Vice Chair, Rep-34, 916.319.2034
Sam Blakeslee, Rep–33, 916.319.2033
Joseph Canciamilla, Dem-11, 916.319.2011
Dave Cogdill, Rep-25, 916.319.2025
Nicole Parra, Dem-30, 916-319-2030
Simon Salinas, Dem-28, 916-319-2028
Juan Vargas, Dem-79, 916-319-2079
Assembly Education Committee
Jackie Goldberg, Chair, Dem-45, 916.319.2045
Mark Wyland, Vice Chair, Rep-74, 916.319.2074
Juan Arambula, Dem-31, 916.319.2031
Joe Coto, Dem-23, 916.319.2023
Loni Hancock, Dem-14, 916.319.2014
Bob Huff, Rep-60, 916.319.2060
Carol Liu, Dem-44, 916.319.2044
Gene Mullin, Dem-19, 916.319.2019
Fran Pavley, Dem-41, 916.319.2041
BACKGROUND: Assemblymember Barbara Matthews, chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, is hosting an informational hearing on Farm to School on Wednesday, April 13th, at 2:00 PM Rm. 4202 of the state capitol. This is a public hearing to educate committee members, and others in the legislature, about the benefits of farm to school programs for schools and farmers. This is an important chance to build support among legislators for farm to school before they have to vote on AB 826 – the California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement Act (more details here). Able to attend the hearing in Sacramento? Contact Heather Fenney by email or at 310.822.5410.
The California Food and Justice Coalition is a statewide membership coalition committed to the basic human right to healthy food while advancing social, agricultural and environmental justice. We are partners of the national Community Food Security Coalition, and collaborate with community-based efforts in California working to create a socially just, ecologically and economically sustainable food supply. We envision a California food system in which all activities, from farm to table, are equitable, healthful, sustainable, and community-driven.
California Food and Justice Coalition c/o CFSC
P.O. Box 209
Venice, CA 90294
Phone: 310.822.5410
Fax: 310.822.1440
http://www.foodsecurity.org/california
email: heather [at] foodsecurity [dot] org
As previously noted, the Social Action Committee of Slow Food Los Angeles is organizing a tour of Fairview Gardens in Goleta.
Where: Fairview Gardens, 598 North Fairview Avenue, Goleta 93117. (Directions here.)
When: Saturday, April 16, 2005 at 10:00am
Cost: $25 for Slow Food members; $35 for nonmembers
RSVP: by April 12 to the Social Action Committee Update: Please send checks payable to SLOW LA to:Angeli Caffe
Attn: Fairview Gardens Tour
P.O. Box 360769
Los Angeles, CA 90036
The event will include a tour (approximately two hours) to learn about community-supported agriculture, lunch, and a screening of the film The Future of Food for those who want to see it. There will also be an opportunity to purchase produce from the farm stand.
Other Slow convivia members from Southern and Central California are also invited, so this will be a chance to meet other Slows from different parts of our state. We hope you'll join us!
For additional information or to reserve your place, please email the Social Action Committee.
Food on Foot has sent us the following request for assistance:
We need volunteers for our April Sunday feedings in Hollywood! It only takes a little over an hour of your time and is an incredible experience for young and old. You will participate in serving a hot meal to over 250 homeless and poor and then witness an incredible awards ceremony for our Work for Food crew. To sign up please visit our website.