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Occupy the Food System by Willie Nelson for Reader Supported News hanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement, there's a deeper understanding about the power that corporations wield over the great majority of us. It's not just in the financial sector, but in all facets of our lives. The disparity between the top 1 percent […]

Farmers March with Occupy Wall Street, Sowing the Seeds of Hope and Democracy by Dave Murphy for The Huffington Post [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulLF_njco-0]

Check out the TRAILER for The GMO Film Project - which tells the story of a father’s discovery of GMO’s through the symbolic act of poor Haitian farmers burning seeds in defiance of Monsanto’s gift of 475 tons of hybrid corn and vegetable seeds to Haiti shortly after the devastating earthquake. After a journey to […]

NFU submitted comments last week to the U.S. Department of Labor regarding new proposed child labor safety regulations for agricultural and agriculture-related jobs. NFU policy supports the intent of the new regulations to make workplaces safer for young people, but urges caution in implementing regulations that may discourage children from learning about agriculture. "While farm […]

A great new report from Greenmarket, seems they are throwing down the gauntlet. A hard-hitting look at how market forces are eroding food security for the nation's premier farmers market network. Greenmarket clearly has a dog in this fight, the question is: will they get involved with a revolving loan fund to support farm businesses!?

NRDC Announces Fourth Annual Growing Green Awards to Honor Extraordinary Contributions in Sustainable Food Nominations are due by December 9, 2011 $10,000 cash prize in the Food Producer category $2,500 cash prize in the Food Justice Leader category $2,500 cash prize in the Young Food Leader category   The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announces its fourth annual Growing […]

Food Democracy Now Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots community dedicated to building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families.

TOMORROW in NYC. New York City Public Hearing on Fracking November 30th, New York, NY, 1:00pm-9:00pm Event Location: Tribeca Performing Arts Center 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007 As many of you know, hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a dangerous method of gas extraction from deep shale formations including New York's […]

Center for Rural Affairs Objects to Farm Bill Proposal Lyons, NE - Today the Center for Rural Affairs announced their opposition to the farm bill agreement reached by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to be submitted to the Super Committee - the House and Senate Joint Committee charged with reducing federal budget deficits. “The farm […]

With the Super Committee Failure, Advocates Look Toward the Farm Bill Yesterday, the chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction announced that the panel was unable to reach an agreement on a deficit reduction plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years. In the past few weeks, both the Democrats and […]

via the Center for Rural Affairs: Despite lots of action from folks like you who want farmers to have a fair shot to make a living from raising livestock, Congress this week blocked almost all of the livestock fairness rule, or “GIPSA rule,” from moving forward. This is not what democracy looks like. But we’re […]

The Budget Visualizer is a web-based application that allows visual analysis of Farm Bill spending since 2009. Developed by the Center for a Livable Future in partnership with the Hive Group, the Budget Visualizer uses “treemap” technology, a method of displaying spending data as nested rectangles, which allows you to “see” the proportion of federal funding […]

Just Label It.org, a campaign for food labeling. But also a good place to get the latest data on contamination and gmo situations. Just down in New Mexico, I met some campaigners working on the GMO chile pepper issue. SACRED PLANT! From JustLabelIt.org: A recent study shows that 93% of Americans support mandatory labeling of […]

THE NATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS' COALITION: New Survey of 1,000 Young and Beginning Farmers Reveals What the Next Generation Needs Contact: Lindsey Lusher Shute, 917-318-1488, [email protected] TIVOLI, NY -- The National Young Farmer’s Coalition released a study today showing that the nation’s young and beginning farmers face tremendous barriers in starting a farming career. "Building a Future With Farmers: Challenges Faced by Young, […]

http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_bfroa.html WE need a few policy literate young farmers in each state. Just a few who really take this on. If you are inclined in that direction you can email us asking for help with interpreting this policy platform .

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsMUpkckTaE&feature=youtu.be]

Until everyone is paid a fair wage in Agriculture, all of us will be competing with poverty wages in the marketplace http://foodjustice.org/ Read up. Watch this space.

Greenhorns, weigh in! Online forum a chance for young people to sound off on Farm Bill Here’s a special opportunity for young people to speak out on the 2012 Farm Bill. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has initiated “The Secretary’s Challenge,” an online forum geared toward Future Farmers of America (FFA) members and other […]

In two ways.  First, from the Organic Farming Research Foundation: Please sign our online petition to demand that Congress supports organic agriculture in the 2012 Farm Bill. The Congressional Agriculture Committees will be proposing a 2012 Farm Bill by November 1st! Please sign this petition addressed to the Senate and House Ag Committee Chairs and […]

Only once every 5 years do you have the opportunity to truly transform our food and farm system through the federal farm bill. Last week the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill in 2 weeks  - yes you heard that right, 2 weeks - this is usually a year plus process and they […]

  Please spread the word far and wide to any young entrepreneurs and farmers you know! Register HERE.

UNITE HERE, the largest worker organization representing food service workers, has launched a new initiative and website bringing the perspectives of food workers to the discussion about sustainable food.  We are also doing a series of events around Food Day connecting food workers with students, faculty, and food organizations.  You can find out what we are up to at www.realfoodrealjobs.org.

this is the cluster of bills I keep talking about. Young would-be farmers have a tough row to hoe by By GABRIEL SILVERMAN in the News Observer ASHINGTON -- The average age of the American farmer has been rising for decades and now is edging toward 60, as rural youth traded work in soil for […]

From Food & Water Watch: Genetically engineered Monsanto sweet corn is approved and could be on your plate next year. Genetically engineered sweet corn, the first Monsanto crop designed to be consumed by people, is genetically engineered to produce pesticides and resist herbicides. Sign the petition to make sure your grocery store doesn't sell you […]

Here's a quick press release about a relief fund for farmers.  If you know farmers who need help, or if you want to help, read on! FarmieMarket and All Good Bakers have teamed up with the Regional Farm and Food Project to raise money to assist farmers in the Tropical Storm Irene recovery effort. In […]

don't leave it to folks in the back of a supermarket. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/canteloupe-outbreak-more   stay alive yo better yet, grow your own damn food

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwWInp75ua0] http://www.occupytogether.org/ twitter and facebook are both blocking news of the protests. THANK GOODNESS wordpress is on the side of free communications

your choice. but do something... Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future By David Graeber in The Guardian  

Arcadia Farms, a program under the DC non-profit Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, has entered to win a $65,000 grant through Nature's Path Organic "Gardens for Good" contest. Three winning farms will be selected from the top ten finalists, so please vote for us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arcadiacenter A "Gardens for Good" grant would […]

View the press release HERE First New Yorker To Serve On Senate Agriculture Committee In Nearly 40 Years – Held Listening Sessions With Local Farmers Across NYS September 20, 2011 Washington, D.C. – As Congress prepares to write and debate the next Farm Bill, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s first member of the Senate Agriculture […]

OCT 1, NYC is Right2Know March's first stop! A group of concerned citizens, supported by a coalition of food advocacy organizatons and food companies and a series of speakers, will be marching to the White House on World Food Day to demand labeling of gentically modified foods--GMOs.  The march sets off from New York on October 1st.  We'll rally at Grand Army […]

Next week, NYFC will testify at a USDA listening session on organic agriculture and we need your input on what to tell agency officials. We need to know about your experiences with the National Organic Program and conservation programs like EQIP, as well as the challenges that you may be facing as an organic producer and ideas […]

Fracking: Time To Slow Down? Ball was head of an August 22 hearing to assess high-pressure hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the natural-gas industry’s technology for freeing gas from shale. Senator Greg Ball (R-Putnam and Eastern Dutchess) said, “We’re on the precipice of a multibillion-dollar industry coming into our state.” However, he added he had questions. […]

Here is an impassioned note from Sophie, a Vermonter who's been digging in to help out the farmers, and others, in the flooded valleys and devastated bottomlands of Vermont. We stand in solidarity with those of you who have been affected in VT and northern NY.  If you know of any other ways that folks […]

A Commitment to Environmental Justice August 8th, 2011 Posted by Tracy Russo All Americans deserve to be protected from environmental health hazards. That is why last week, the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality announced an agreement and signed a “Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice […]

you'd want to be involved with these folks:  Trees for the Future Since 1989, Trees for the Future has been helping communities around the world plant trees. Through seed distribution, agroforestry training, and our country programs, we have empowered rural groups to restore tree cover to their lands. Planting trees protects the environment and helps […]

The Department of Labor & Industries needs your help to determine the level of interest in expanding a program that allows small farms to hire interns legally and get Workers Compensation for them.  This is the only program of its kind in the US, and is a great opportunity to affect decision-making in Olympia.  Please […]

  http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2079542,00.html When conditions are so bad that only the most desperate will take the work, and then the state starts cracking down on illegals-- crops wither on the vine. We take issue with the thinking that is in power, and with the injustice that these farmworkers face.

rockstar farmer and co-founder of the national young farmer coalition, Benjamin Shute, weighs in on farm labor issues in the NY times: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/17/could-farms-survive-without-illegal-labor/we-need-a-new-generation-of-american-farmers