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Summer 2003 Newsletter
Message
from the Steering Committee
There has been a great deal of activity in the last few months
as the California Food and Justice Coalition launches itself
into the work of increasing awareness of food security issues
in California among the public and legislators.
The Coalition Steering Committee, a group of representatives
from a wide range of organizations that came together after
the June 2002 Food Security Summit in Oakland, has now been
working together for almost one year. We are very excited to
communicate with you some of the results of that work and the
discussions that have taken place.
The Steering Committee has developed a policy platform based
on discussions from the Oakland Summit. Entitled Food and Justice:
Policy Initiatives for Community Food Security in California,
this newly printed document will be used to educate legislators
and provide direction in California's maturing food security
movement.
We are also planning a fall series of strategy sessions in three
California cities, providing a vehicle for continuing discussions
and plans towards furthering the agenda of food and justice
in the state. We invite and encourage you to attend any of these
that you can!
It is with a great deal of enthusiasm and commitment that we
anticipate our second year as a Coalition, and we look forward
to strengthening communication within this evolving network!
Sincerely,
CFJC Steering Committee Members
Steering Committee Members
Tracey Brieger, Californians for Pesticide Reform • tracey@igc.org
Renata Brillinger, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center •
renata@oaec.org
Frank Buck, CA Nutrition Network, Cancer Prevention and Nutrition
Section, CA Dept. of Health Services (DHS) • fbuck@dhs.ca.gov
Stacie Clary, California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
(SAWG) • stacie@calsawg.org
Kate Clayton, Berkeley Public Health • kclayton@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Melissa Guajardo, Health Education Council • melissa@healthedcouncil.org
Dana Harvey, Environmental Science Institute • envsciinst@earthlink.net
Paula Jones, San Francisco Food Systems Council • pkjsf@aol.com
Anupama Joshi, Center for Food and Justice, Urban and Environmental
Policy Institute (UEPI), Occidental College • ajoshi@oxy.edu
Neelam Sharma, New Panther Vanguard Movement • neelam@globalpanther.com
Susan Stansbury, Foundation for Global Community • sstansbury@globalcommunity.org
Karrie Stevens, Community Alliance with Family Farmers •
karrie@caff.org
Announcing California Organizer
I am pleased to announce that Heather Fenney joined the Community
Food Security Coalition staff on July 7th as California Organizer.
Heather comes to us from the Rural Coalition in Washington,
DC where for the last three years she has been deeply engaged
in organizing minority farmers and farmworkers around equity
issues in agriculture. She also played a key role in strategizing
and advocating for the Rural Coalition's Farm Bill initiative,
A Campaign for a Just Food and Farm Policy.
Heather will be a valuable asset as we move forward in developing
and implementing our California policy and media campaigns,
as well as for her experience and connections in conducting
outreach to diverse communities and constituencies. She will
also be an important complement to our policy program, and will
play a key role in organizing support for our Child Nutrition
and Transportation policy initiatives.
Heather will work closely with the California Food and Justice
Coalition steering committee, and will work out of the Coalition's
main office in Los Angeles. We hope you will join us in welcoming
her.
--Andy Fisher
Message from California Organizer Heather
Fenney:
Greetings members of the California Food and Justice Coalition:
I excited to join forces with all of you and be a part of the
powerful work you are doing in California. I am originally from
CA and am eager to put the skills and resources I gained in
DC to work in my home state. I look forward to getting to know
you and your organizations and working with CFJC to build a
dynamic and effective food security campaign. I can be reached
at the CFSC LA office at 310-822-5410 or by email at Heather@foodsecurity.org.
-- Heather
HOT OFF THE PRESS!
California Food and Justice Coalition Policy
Platform
Based on input and recommendations from your organizations
during listening sessions and at the California Food Security
summit held in Oakland in June 2002, the CFJC steering committee
recently completed and printed Food
and Justice: Policy Initiatives for Community Food Security
in California. Together with Weaving
the Food Web: Community Food Security in California,
which was published earlier this year, these documents create
a map toward a food secure California, with specific policy
recommendations aimed at strengthening food security in the
state.
You will soon be receiving both of these publications in the
mail along with additional information about joining the CFJC
and participating in Fall 2003 campaign building events in your
area. You can also download both of these in the Publications
section of the CFJC website.
Become a member of the CFJC
This summer the CFJC pledge was mailed to organizations that
attended the June 2002 California Food Security Summit in Oakland.
If you have not yet returned your pledge and become a formal
member of the CFJC we invite you to do so Today! A copy will
also be included with the policy platform mailing that you should
soon receive. If you want to make sure you on your mailing list
email: Heather@foodsecurity.org.
The coalition is planning events for this fall to begin building
a statewide campaign to implement recommendations contained
in the policy platform. We believe that by coordinating our
efforts we can create food secure California and hope that you
will join us in this effort!
Campaign Building & Strategy Sessions for
Increasing Community Food Security in California
September 16th - Sacramento
September 23rd - Los Angeles
September 30th - Fresno
This fall the CFJC will sponsor three meetings across the state
to discuss the policy needs and options for increasing food
security in California.
At the meeting we will present our recently published policy
platform and continue the discussion we began last year at the
California Food Security Summit in Oakland on building an effective
2004 statewide campaign around food security. Participants will
have the opportunity to comment on the CFJC policy platform,
set campaign priorities, and develop action items to build a
food secure California.
So, save the date for the meeting in your area! Invitations
with more information will be going out in August. If you are
not on the CFJC mailing list, please contact Heather@foodsecurity.org
directly to receive an invitation.
California Food and Justice Coalition Web-site
The CFJC web-site is frequently being updated with coalition
documents and news. Be sure to check it out.
Steering Committee Welcomes and Farewells
***The CFJC steering committee extends a warm welcome to our
newest member, Ricky Mantley, from Los Angeles Community
Action Network. Ricky is an organizer/advocate for L.A.CAN working
on issues of homelessness and poverty, primarily with African-American
and Mexican homeless people. Ricky has been on the California
Hunger Action steering committee for four years, where he has
worked to organize educational seminars and forums, and developed
relationships with other state and local networks, legislators
and the media. We are excited to have his experience and knowledge,
and representation of the communities he works with on the committee.
Prior to joining LA-CAN, Ricky was a member of the homeless
writers coalition and worked on the service side of the food
industry at LA Trade Tech and as a cafeteria worker at LAUSD.
***The CFJC steering committee extends a heartfelt farewell
and note of gratitude to Renata Brillinger from the Occidental
Arts and Ecology Center for serving on the steering committee
in a myriad of ways this past year. Renata brought a wonderful
combination of intelligence, compassion and hard work to the
steering committee. She was key in working out the details of
the committee's structure and in forming our new identity platform.
Fortunately, she is not going far. Renata is stepping down to
coordinate a statewide coalition called "Californians for GE-Free
Agriculture", working to prevent the further commercialization
of genetically engineered food crops in the state. In this way
and others, she will remain involved in the work of creating
sustainable food systems in California.
ACTION ALERT!!
Urge your Representative to Co-Sponsor the Upton-Kind "Farm
to Cafeteria Projects Act" HR 2626
As of August 1st, HR 2626, the "Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act
of 2003" introduced by Representatives Kind (D-WI) and Upton
(R-MI) had 20 sponsors. These 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats
are a wonderful bipartisan beginning for Farm to Cafeteria in
the House of Representatives. There are four California Representatives
on the House Workforce and Education Committee, which will be
responsible for approving this legislation - However, AS
of TODAY there are still NO CALIFORNIA SPONSORS to
this bill! This bill supports California farmers and kids and
includes innovative nutrition education.
ACT TODAY! Urge your CA Representative to co-sponsor the
Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria bill, HR 2626 TODAY! It is especially
important if your Representative is on this committee (see below)
TAKING ACTION IS EASY!
Make a telephone call to your Representative. Visit them in
their office, in the community, or invite them out to visit
your program site. Submit op-eds and articles to your local
media. You can find all the information you will need to be
an effective advocate for this legislation at: http://www.foodsecurity.org/action_alert.html.
Detailed background information, talking points, sample op-eds,
sample letters...it's all there!
When you call ask to speak to the legislative assistant who
handles child nutrition. Tell them you want your Representative
to "co-sponsor HR 2626, the Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria Bill."
Target all CA Representatives, especially those from the House
Workforce and Education committee, as well as those on the Agriculture
committee and members with farm to school programs in their
district.
CA members of the House Education and Workforce committee
are:
-- Susan Davis D-53rd
-- George Miller - D-7th
-- Lynn Woolsey D-6th
-- Howard McKeon, R-25th
Also on the web-site is a sign-on letter from 170 organizations
urging co-sponsorship. 23 CA organizations are signed onto this
letter. This letter was delivered Monday, July 28th, and will
continue to be circulated until this bill is passed. If you
haven't signed on yet - do it today! (please ignore the July
16th cut off)
Help keep up the pressure! We want at least 10% of Congress
(44 members) to be co-sponsors. We are close to half way there.
We want a fully bipartisan coalition for Farm to Cafeteria in
both the House and the Senate. With at least all the states
that have Farm to School projects right now, we will reach this
goal!
For more information Call the CFSC Policy Office at 202-543-8602
or visit http://www.foodsecurity.org/action_alert.html
•
• • • •
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
310-822-5410, FAX 310-822-1440
http://www.foodsecurity.org/california
Heather@foodsecurity.org
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