Issues and Policy
CFJC Policy Platform
FOOD & JUSTICE:
Policy Initiatives for Community Food Security in California (pdf)
CFJC's 2006 Activities (pdf)
CFJC Campaigns and Issue Areas
GROW LOCAL
The goal of the Grow Local campaign is to increase access to land and resources (such as processing and distribution infrastructure, education programs, and markets), for local food production and consumption, by empowering low-income communities, and their grassroots leaders, to influence relevant policy. Increased access to land and resources will enable our communities to rebuild local food systems that are just, and environmentally and economically sound.
Our member organizations, and the communities in which they work, have developed innovative and effective solutions to the food crisis in the form of community gardens, farmers markets, education, backyard gardening, gleaning programs, and much more. These models have been successful in addressing the broken food system by increasing healthy food access in low-income areas, reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to food miles, strengthening local economies, and creating green collar jobs. The Grow Local campaign will work with these groups to advocate for local policy that supports these solutions and enables communities to replicate and scale up these efforts.
Over the next 3 years, CFJC will provide trainings that build the skills and capacity of community leaders and food system organizers to understand how policy affects all aspects of food systems work, and gain the skills to carry out successful policy campaigns. CFJC will then seek to build partnerships with local-level groups to create policy change through policy campaigns and community organizing.
Download the campaign launch announcement [PDF]
FEDERAL FARM BILL
For over seventy years the U.S. Farm Bill has set the country's agricultural policies
while doubling as a poor substitute for a national food policy. Historically, the
Bill subsidizes large-scale production and processing of grains for export, while
paying scant attention to ensuring access to healthy, sustainably-produced
food - particularly fresh fruits and vegetables. With 12 million food insecure
households, and 3.8 million families currently experiencing hunger in the U.S., food
and farm activists across the country are keenly aware that the food needs of
low-income, immigrants and many communities of color are simply not being met. Neither
are smallholders, organic farmers, or farmland conservation adequately served by the
nation's current agricultural policies.
In May of 2008, the Farm Bill was renewed with important new funding for nutrition, beginning and minority farmer, sustainable agriculture and local food system programs. Unfortunately, it also included a continuation of commodity programs that subsidize the production of a few crops (mostly corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice) to the benefit of mega-farms and corporate agri-business, and at the greater expense of public health, the environment, farming communities worldwide.
CFJC is dedicated to educating the public about how the Farm Bill can be just for everyone involved in the food system and how to get involved in the debate about how the new Farm Bill is implemented at the Federal level, state level, and local levels.
Learn about our Farm Bill Campaign:
ACCESS TO LAND FOR FOOD PRODUCTION
In order to build a sustainable food system, growing food must be recognized
as a valuable and important use for land in rural and urban areas. CFJC is
working to develop a campaign that will preserve land for food production and
ensure that beginning, small, new immigrant, and urban farmers have access to
farmland. Our Land Access Membership Action Team (LAMAT)* guides CFJC's work
in this area.
Resources and Links (in pdf format)
HEALTHY FARMS, HEALTHY SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN
CFJC's Healthy Farms/Healthy Students campaign aims to improve public health,
reduce obesity, and preserve small-scale agriculture through the promotion of
farm to institution programs. This campaign is focused on increasing public
awareness and support for farm-to-institution initiatives through policy adoption
and public investment. The Farm to School Membership Action Team provides
direction for this campaign.
Resources and Links (in pdf format)
* What is a Membership Action Team? CFJC members participate in
developing and carrying out the Coalition's campaigns through our Membership
Action Teams. All CFJC members are welcome to participate in the MATs and
contribute to the Coalition's success. Contact us for more information and to
get involved ().
Issue Papers
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