But more important, Food Day is poised to inspire hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans to change their diets for the better, and to push for improved food policies.

If you are already planning to participate in a Food Day event, this is what I ask you to do: Please take still photos of your event, tag them with “Food Day” on Flickr and join our Flickr group. And, if you can take a short video of your Food Day event, please upload them to YouTube and tag them with the words “Food Day.” The Food Day staff will favorite these videos so they show up on the Food Day YouTube Channel. You can also collect signatures for the Food Day petition asking Congress for better food policies.

If you haven’t found a Food Day event near you, visit FoodDay.org use the map or type in your zip code. (Be patient as events take time to load in the map—a lot of people are visiting right now!) And of course you can keep up with Food Day by liking it on Facebook, following CSPI on Twitter, or by using the #FoodDay hashtag to participate in the national conversation.

Food Day continues to get great publicity, such as these articles in The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Minneapolis Tribune, and the Portland Oregonian or in the Atlantic. You may have also seen this TV spot-featuring Morgan Spurlock-from our friends at the Cooking Channel, or this one from our friends at the wellness cable channel Veria Living.

National Sustainable Agriculture
Only once every 5 years do you have the opportunity to truly transform our food and farm system through the federal farm bill.

On Monday the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill in 2 weeks from today – yes you heard that right, 2 weeks – this is usually a year plus process and they want to do it in 2 weeks?! This would be the fastest food and farm bill decision-making process in history.

Please act today for a chance you have only once every 5 years to reform our food and farming system and protect our natural resources.

If you care about the health of America’s soil, water, and land; promoting organic practices and conservation; helping a new generation of struggling small and mid-sized farmers get their start; rebuilding local and regional food systems; or developing new markets and healthy food access – now is the time to speak up. If you want to see a healthier, more secure, environmentally sustainable, and prosperous America – now is the time to speak up.

This proposal would wipe out over 40 percent of the funding increases for conservation and environmental initiatives achieved in the 2002 and 2008 food and farm bills, setting the clock back and “un-greening” the farm bill. Moreover, it is unclear what the proposal would do to the fair and healthy farm and food system programs won in 2008 with your help, but in need of being renewed in the new farm bill. It could potentially wipe out all of those gains as well.

It just takes a minute to call:
• First check if your Senator and/or Representative sits on the Senate Agriculture or House Agriculture Committee
• If your Senator or Representative sits on either of these three committees: call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senators’ and Member of Congress’s office: 202-224-3121. Or go to Congress.org and type in your zip code, then click on your Senators and Member of Congress’s name and the contact tab for their phone number.
• If the line is busy, please leave a brief message on the voicemail.

The Message: I am a constituent, calling Senator/Representative _____ to deliver this message (use one or more of these talking points):

• The proposed farm conservation cuts are too big and should be reduced. In particular, the Conservation Stewardship Program funding should be retained and Wetlands Reserve Program funding should be restored.
• Farm commodity program reform should include caps on the amount of subsidy any one farm can receive. Loopholes allowing multiple subsidy payments to single farms should be closed. Conservation requirements should be attached to all forms of revenue and crop insurance subsidies.
• The farm bill must reinvest at least $1 billion a year in innovative, job-creating programs for rural economic development, local and regional food systems, renewable energy, organic farming, and young and beginning farmers.

*According to published accounts, the leaders of the Agriculture Committees are proposing cuts of $6.5 billion to conservation programs, $5 billion to nutrition programs, and $15 billion to commodity subsidy programs. The conservation cuts would be on top of the $2 billion already made by Congress in the appropriations process.

——————–

From Hunger Action Network

Call you Congress member today (202 224-3121) and tell them:

No deficit reduction plan can work if it does not rebuild our economy by protecting Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance and other basic safety net programs. And it must create jobs. Such a plan must have increased revenues from upper-income households and profitable corporations, and savings from cutting unneeded military spending.

The Senate is about to take up a Agriculture Appropriations bill, in which the Republicans will seek to make cuts to the food stamp / SNAP program. Senator Gillibrand, whom we talked to last week, is leading the fight nationally to protect SNAP, so all she needs is a call to thank her (202 224-4451). Sen. Schumer, whose staff we met with this week, says he is also opposed, but a call to him would help convince him to take more of a leadership role. He is not signing onto a letter that Gillibrand is circulating to protect SNAP(202 224-6542)

The tougher fight is expected in the House, where the House leadership supports steep cuts in food stamps and other low-income programs.

You could also include in your message support for a Farm Bill that invests in healthy food, strong conservation programs and family farms, not corporate agribusiness.

———————–

The Farm Bill Is a Food Bill

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rajiv-narayan/the-farm-bill-is-a-food-b_b_1020469.html

Where the farm bill allocates resources to funding food stamps on one hand, it also incentivizes the purchase of unhealthy foods. In the most recent farm bill updates, it appears as though the back-room appropriations are moving in the favor of subsidies. While both direct payment programs and nutrition programs are looking at cuts, a mechanism for replacing subsidy cuts with a new funding regime has already surfaced. Unfortunately for the food side of the farm bill, it’s become increasingly difficult to advocate for change. In the past, the farm bill has been traditionally held to industry interests. Now, the super committee process may shut out democratic input altogether if the bill is written in the coming weeks by a handful of legislators for the purpose of bypassing floor debate.

Because the farm bill is so rarely written, it becomes important to reclaim its status as a food bill. Even if parts of the package are at odds with the part of the bill that works to create a healthy food system, the latter still comprises 70 percent of the legislation. It remains to be seen whether the super committee process will allow some food for thought.

——————————————————–

Farm Bill Battle Heats Up

http://www.kfgo.com/agri-business-news.php?ID=9424

WASHINGTON (DTN) – Fights began breaking out Tuesday among agriculture interests over what the super committee might do with the farm bill, even though no one knows how the leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees are planning to move ahead with the proposal that they sent to the super committee on Monday.

One of the fights over super committee ag cuts and farm bill plans is whether to cut spending on food programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Senate Agriculture ranking member Pat Roberts, R-Kans., House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and House Agriculture ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., sent the super committee a letter Monday saying they would agree to up to $23 billion in farm program cuts over 10 years, and that they will send the super committee a more detailed proposal by Nov. 1 on what they are seeking.

———————–

Key farm groups back revenue plan

DANIEL LOOKER 10/19/2011 @ 4:58pm Business Editor

http://www.agriculture.com/news/policy/key-farm-groups-back-revenue-pl_4-ar20037

Three influential farm groups Wednesday urged the House and Senate agriculture committees to replace the main existing commodity programs with a revenue-based risk management plan that would pay for some losses not covered by crop insurance.

Today’s letter to the chairs and ranking minority members of the ag committees was signed by the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association and National Farmers Union.

All three have their own farm bill proposals but they’ve united behind the idea of replacing existing farm programs, including the often criticized direct payments, with a program helps farmers only when they have losses in revenue.

The groups said that federal budget realities “make it imperative to find a viable risk management approach that can replace several existing programs, including Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, SURE, and the ACRE program.”

“…under a revenue-based program, compensation for losses that exceed a certain threshold would only be made as they are incurred, on all production, and only on a portion of the loss,” the groups point out. “This stands in contrast with the current Direct Payment program under which farmers receive payments regardless of whether they produce a crop or incur a loss. Also, many producers participate in the crop insurance program at levels that require losses of 30 percent or more before they are compensated. With the elimination of other elements of the farm safety net, a program is needed to offset part of these losses should they occur.”

They also voiced “strong support” for keeping the existing crop insurance program. Any revenue program “should be designed to complement rather than overlap or replace this key part of the farm program safety net,” they said.

It was energizing for me to hear from Dan Levinson about all the great initiatives underway there — from school and community gardens to community-supported agriculture farms, to a network of restaurants who support area farmers. I also got to meet one of the forces behind the exceptional new organization Wholesome Wave and see my all-time farmer hero, Annie Farrell–plus I was generously given two loaves of the best bread I’ve ever tasted. Not a bad deal!

Michel Nischan (Wholesome Wave), Abhaya Kaufman, Anna Lappe,
Dan Levinson (Green Village Initiative)

“Seeing such continued strong growth in the number of U.S. farmers markets indicates that regional food systems can provide great economic, social and health benefits to communities across the country,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Farmers markets provide fresh, local products to communities across the country while offering economic opportunities for many producers of all sizes.”

To find a market in your area, click here.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an amazing community-based group that fights for farmworkers, has put together a Modern-Day Slavery Museum exhibit to call attention to this issue.

The centerpiece of the museum exhibit is a box truck outfitted as a replica of the trucks used to enslave tomato pickers in a brutal case (prosecuted in federal court in 2008). The truck was developed in consultation with workers who have escaped from slavery operations, as well as leading academic authorities on labor history and the subject of forced labor. The CIW has aided the DOJ in the prosecution of 6 farmworker slavery operations, leading to the liberation of well over 1,000 workers. A federal indictment for the 8th case of farmworker slavery to happen since 1997 was just unsealed this month.

The truck and the accompanying multimedia exhibit look at the history of forced labor, why it continues to occur, and the solution that is being forged to pull slavery up by its roots.

The exhibit is traveling throughout the northeast and is here in New York City this week:

Monday, August 2
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave.
10am – 9pm

Tuesday, August 3
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
10am – 9pm

Wednesday, August 4
Middle Collegiate Church
50 E. 7th Street
10am – 9pm

I found the other “experts” posts interesting and the commentary sharp. Was surprised to read Joel Salatin say this, though:

5. All of the negatives associated with meat, dairy, and poultry consumption stem from non-pastured production models and/or monospeciation. This includes both nutritional problems (i.e. colon cancer from red meat) to environmental considerations (i.e. irrigation water required to grow grain). This also includes humane farming considerations. In addition, far more herbivores (bison) existed in the Americas 600 years ago than exist today: The notion that methane from burping herbivores causes climate change is both unscientific and ridiculous.

Take a look at the rebuttal over at the Center for a Livable Future.

Rogers film, What’s “Organic” About Organic?, takes the camera behind the scenes on to the farms of organic farmers and into the convention halls of the organic food industry. Along the way, Rogers explores what it means to be “organic” and how it makes a difference.

Order a copy today for your summer reading list!

Up first, tips for climate friendly eating, The Problem with Palm Oil - an issue I wrote about in Diet for a Hot Planet – and Babies, Bananas and the Importance of Going Organic.

Thanks for all who joined. You can check it out here.

“When large-scale institutions like the Aon Center and the Illinois Tollway Authority begin to work with us to expand CSA drop-off locations into high-traffic locations, it is a sign that this movement is expanding into the mainstream,” said Jim Slama, executive director of FamilyFarmed.org.

Great news for local farmers, and for eaters!

The community-based cooperative, called FutureFarms, was the brainchild of Nick Snelgar who organized the first village meeting in 2003. Today, FutureFarms grows 45 types of vegetables and raises free-range animals and is well on the way to helping the village be completely self-sufficient in food.

Makes you realize the power that people have at the grassroots level to make real changes to the food system.

- Kate

Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle City Councilmembers just announced a campaign to promote urban agriculture and increase community access to locally grown food.

Dubbed “The Year of Urban Agriculture,” the initiative comes with it’s own nifty web portal, chock full of information and resources and events going on throughout the year.

This campaign comes out of efforts around Seattle City Council Resolution 31019–the Local Food Action Initiative–which was passed in April 2008 and outlined actions to promote local and regional food sustainability and security.

We’re excited that Anna is headed to Seattle for a stop on the DHP book tour. We look forward to meeting the folks behind the policies and no doubt it will be inspiring to be on the ground in a place where so much exciting work is taking place.

–Kate

Researchers looked at 10 counties in southwest Iowa and found that increasing fruit and vegetable production could bring “an additional $2.67 million in labor income and the equivalent of 45 farm-level jobs to the region” during Iowa’s typical growing season. Pretty impressive.

This is the kind of research the sustainable, local food movement really needs to push new policies and initiatives forward.

– Kate

I had a great time participating in the film—talking with the girls in front of the camera and hanging out behind the camera on the advisory team—and can’t wait to watch the national screening on Sunday, February 7th.

Check it out and join us in the “What’s on Your Plate?” Family Cook-In! to accompany the screening.

Here’s a great toolkit to help you plan a screening and cook-in event:

CookInToolkit

Veteran NPR journalist Daniel Zwerdling gives a brief history of the Green Revolution, which encouraged Indian farmers in the ’60’s and ’70’s to abandon traditional farming methods in favor of input-responsive seeds, that were high-yielding when combined with high levels of chemical use and heavy water irrigation.

According to Zwerdling, “Government studies show that farmers have pumped so much groundwater to irrigate their crops that the water table is dropping dramatically, as much as 3 feet every year… [So farmers] keep hiring the drilling company to come back to their fields, to bore the wells ever deeper…” The soil is being gradually destroyed by the drilling and salt levels. The costs of drilling, and remedying the damage that’s been done, is incredibly expensive– prohibitive, in fact, for many Indian farmers, who are already overwhelmed by their debt and are struggling to support their families.

Read the article and share your thoughts. You can find more resources in the Oakland Institute’s Voices from Africa report or in Vandana Shiva’s writings– both share examples for how we can build solutions in the wake of the Green Revolution.

–Deepa