Fair Farm Bill Tour 2011: Stories From the Road

From across the country, stories and pictures have been pouring in. Typically, the cow suits get all the attention, but our organizers are meeting fascinating people who are accomplishing amazing feats in the world of food. Their stories are truly inspiring. Find out what’s happening along the Fair Farm Bill campaign trail. These are just a sample of the conversations we’re having as we continue to cover 20 states in 34 days. Keep checking back with us, and be sure to visit our event page on Facebook and check out our gallery photos.

The Farmers and Eaters of Fresno: September 1

By Noelle Ferdon

It’s early in the morning, temperatures are nearing 90 degrees already, tractors are humming and the view is nothing but vineyards, orchards and some row crops as far as the eye can see. I’m trying to find Whole Farms, the site of our evening event but my nifty GPS is failing me as I meander through the agricultural maze that makes up the outskirts of Fresno county. After a few hours of cleaning and setting up for our evening event of local food and local farmers for the Central Valley stop on the Fair Farm Bill Road Tour, it’ll be out of the fields and into to the air conditioned halls of the Fresno Farm Bureau for the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s first round of 2012 Farm Bill listening sessions. I have a long day ahead but nothing like sitting on a tractor or harvesting grapes in 104 degree heat!

I finally find Whole Farms, I’ve only been there once before, and immediately hustle to knock out some tasks. I quickly check my iPhone to see if any pressing emails have snuck their way into my inbox on this busy day and sure enough I get an update that our event was announced on Fresno’s ABC Morning Live Ag Report. To quote the T.V. announcer, “Local farmers are rallying Monday night, calling for Congressman Costa to support a Fair Farm Bill.” Wow! While Rep. Jim Costa is certainly a key target for us in our campaign to win a Fair Farm Bill for farmers and consumers, we weren’t exactly throwing a rally. But what a great idea! Perhaps our next event here in Fresno should be a rally with we, the eaters, marching with our independent family farmers in the valley as we collectively ask for a farm bill that rebuilds local, regional, healthy food systems while paying farmers a fair price for their products.
Speaking of farmers, we had a great showing of farmers at our event, or rally as you may want to call it. An attendee at the event approached me and said, “Well, you have all the high profile, progressive farmers here tonight. You must have a great program lined up.” Indeed we did.

Farming in the valley is very diverse. An abundance of specialty crop products are grown in the region including everything from figs, peaches and cherries to nuts, vegetables and of course, Thompson Seedless raisins! We also have dairy producers, many of whom are struggling due to unfair price regulations in the marketplace. We need a Fair Farm Bill that will protect our independent farmers and pay them a fair price so we can continue the long tradition of diversified farming here in the valley. If we don’t, we’ll lose even more small farms to consolidation and we, the eaters, will lose access to healthy, locally produced foods.

So, while our evening at Whole Farms was hot, informative and delicious as we enjoyed local peaches, watermelon, farmstead cheese from Fagundes and seasonal veggies from T&D Willey Farms and we heard from speakers including Joaquin Contente of the California Farmers Union and Kyal Hamilton of Whole Farms. I think ABC news was on to something…let’s rally!!

California Dreaming About A Better Food System: August 31

By Adam Scow

There is tons of excitement in the community around food issues San Diego, the country’s 8th largest city. Last Saturday evening, Food & Water Watch teamed up with Slow Food and Live Real for a successful event at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park. Over 100 people attended the California kickoff event, which featured inspiring speakers, great food, and great music. Attendees learned about the growing movement for urban agriculture in San Diego and the need to build political alliances with family farmers in rural parts of California.

On Sunday, we participated in a great event at Community Services Unlimited (CSU), an urban farm located in south central LA. CSU was a recipient of federal farm bill money to expand delivery of local produce to under-served communities and train youth to help enact this mission. We grilled vegetables grown in the garden and had a great time.

On Monday, in light of recent reports that the 2012 Farm Bill may be streamlined in 2011 as part of a deficit reduction committee, I attended a California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Farm Bill hearing in Fresno and asked CDFA secretary Karen Ross to advocate for a full Farm Bill process for 2012.

Secretary Ross also heard testimony from California Farmers Union President Joaquin Contente about the need to create a better safety net for small and mid-sized dairy farmers in California. Both CSU and Food & Water Watch noted our opposition to upcoming legislation known as “Foundation for the Future”, a proposal from corporate processors that would further depress milk prices for small and mid-sized dairy farmers.

Strawberries, Pea Pods and Cow Suits in Oregon: August 31

By Marie Logan

After my packed film screening up in Seattle, I headed south to Portland to join Oregon organizer Julia DeGraw in a whirlwind of events throughout the state. And what a whirlwind it was!

A couple of days before I arrived, Julia had already taken the Gorge Grown Farmers Market by storm, collecting petition signatures to ask Senator Wyden to support the Fair Farm Bill, and talking to patrons of the outdoor market about food access issues.

The following day, Julia and I headed out together to the farmers market in South Park and were blown away by the enthusiasm we found waiting for us. More than 10 of her top activists turned out that morning to support our signature-gathering efforts, some of whom brought along their own cow suits, and one of whom had even sewn her own pea pod costume!

After working together to fill a box with more than 3,000 petition signatures in support of the Fair Farm Bill, we figured it was time for a visit to Senator Wyden’s office. We hopped on the MAX (the downtown public transit rail system) and our hodgepodge group of edible foods and farm animals reveled in the inquisitive looks we received along the way. Finally arriving at the Senator’s office, we were received by their environment staffer and Deputy State Director, Mary Gautreaux, who happily posed for a picture with us as we delivered the box of petitions. We haven’t heard yet from Senator Wyden’s staff about whether they can commit to supporting the campaign. Oregonians, if you didn’t find us at the farmers market – sign here to add your name to the petition. We need your voice, too!

Later that night, we headed to the Lucky Lab Brewing Company for a fun-filled night of food trivia. Some 50 attendees packed the event hall, and teams competed for prizes including Take Back the Tap canteens, a sustainable cookbook, freshly-picked donated goods from the farmers’ market and plenty of fun foodie fare. Attendees also learned about local food issues in a panel featuring Michele Knaus of Friends of Family Farmers, Piper Davis of Grand Central Bakery, and Shari Serkin of Dancing Roots Farm. Then, it was on to Eugene

Arriving in Eugene mid-morning, we stopped by a new farmer’s market that has just opened up this month in Amazon City Park. It was a hot and humid day outside, but the stalls were lined up in the shade, which made for a lazy-casual atmosphere that was perfect for talking to strangers about a Fair Farm Bill. Just about everyone with whom we spoke at the market was on board with our campaign and we amassed a sizable stack of new signatures to deliver to Senator Wyden.

That afternoon, we sat down with the good folks at the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign to fill them in on our nation-wide road trip for the Fair Farm Bill. They are doing great work, Oregonians, so be sure to check out their website!

To wrap up the tour, we headed to the University of Oregon campus for a film screening of “What’s Organic About Organic?” In the dog days of summer on a campus that’s still on summer break, it wasn’t the biggest crowd we’d ever seen, but the attendees were certainly passionate. Julia started off with a brief discussion of the history of the Farm Bill, which segued into the movie, and we wrapped up the evening event with a question-and-answer session that was more like a roundtable conversation; every single attendee had some excellent and thought-provoking comments to share with the audience. Many of the attendees committed to collecting postcards in support of the campaign, and these will surely help us in our push to get Senator Wyden on board.

Many thanks to all the incredible activists we met throughout Oregon! Readers, stay tuned for the final leg of the road trip as we head to California.

The Variations of Minnesota

By Emily Carroll

Thanks to the work of allies like Community Action Duluth - Seeds of Success, a Fair Farm Bill has a future in Minnesota.

Iowa-based organizer Matt Ohloff and I crisscrossed Minnesota, meeting up with our members, activists and allies to answer the question, “What does Minnesota got to do with a Fair Farm Bill? Minnesota is a state with a varied landscape, literally and politically. We can tell you from firsthand experience that the cornfields of Southern Minnesota look nothing like the Iron Range in the northeast corner. Similarly, St. Cloud’s Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, may not have a lot in common with Representative Keith Ellison from the Twin Cities.

But, what we found on our Fair Farm Bill Road Trip, was that people everywhere around the state are excited about fresh, local, sustainable food systems. People are excited to encourage Senator Klobuchar to stand up for a Farm Bill that will deliver those food systems to Minnesota.

In Rochester, one activist drove 50 miles to attend our screening of FRESH and the discussion afterwards about how Southern Minnesotans can push for good food policies at the federal level. In Duluth, over 30 people came out on a Friday night to learn how they can convince Senator Klobuchar to defend the Fair Farm Rules (GIPSA Rules).

As usual, the cows get all the attention.

Thanks to the work of our allies, Community Action Duluth – Seeds of Success and the Duluth Community Garden Program, two television stations covered the event. We combined our policy education with an urban farm tour to see how Farm Bill programs like Community Food Projects Competitive Grants allow organizations like Seeds of Success to perform their critical work.

Activists in the Twin Cities and St. Cloud were enthusiastic and ready to take action—so much, in fact, that one of our supporters came out two days in a row. He did not bat an eyelash when we asked him to put on a cow suit at the Birchwood Cafe and ask people to make calls to Senator Klobuchar in support of the Fair Farm Rules.

A week in Minnesota passed quickly, but we’ll soon be back and Senator Klobuchar can be certain that she’ll be hearing from our activists very soon.

What’s Organic About Seattle?: Monday, August 29

By Marie Logan

What an excellent showing of enthusiasm for food issues in Seattle! More than 60 guests turned out to a film screening of “What’s Organic About Organic” at the Q Cafe, and it was a great way to kick off the Pacific Northwest leg of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip. The crowd was passionate and well-informed, and our panelists from Slow Food Seattle, Community Alliance for Global Justice, the Northwest Farm Bill Action Group, Central Co-Op, and Seattle Tilth brought information about getting involved in food justice and farm bill work to an enthusiastic audience.

“What’s Organic About Organic,” is an in-depth exploration of modern sustainable farming methods in our country, and the movement is portrayed in the film as a response to increasingly industrialized production on factory farms. It’s an upbeat film that makes you want to kneel down in the earth and get dirt under your fingernails while planting. Yet, when the credits roll, you’re left a little disheartened after learning that one of the primary farming families interviewed in the film is ultimately forced to close its doors due to the financial pressures of trying to compete in a corporate-dominated market.

How can we help our small and medium-sized organic farmers compete in a market of ever-cheaper commodity production? The Farm Bill!

Afterwards, we hosted a discussion session to discuss the film’s probing questions. Can mega-farms pushing industrial-scale production be fairly classified as organic? More importantly, how can we help our small and medium-sized organic farmers compete with their quality goods, in a market of ever-cheaper commodity production?

The way I see it, voting with our forks is an important first step, but it’s definitely not enough. Almost all of those in the Seattle audience raised their hands when we asked if they preferred to purchase organic and local products, and a sizable number said they order a farm box through community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs in Washington.

These things are important first steps, but many people don’t even have these choices available to them, whether because they live in an urban food desert or because they simply can’t afford to select quality products for their families when there are cheaper, “edible food-like substances” on the shelves at artificially low prices.

We’re not going to change our food system by shopping our way out of the problem. For this problem, we need to take action!

Stay tuned for a blog from me in a few days as I head south to join Julia DeGraw for the continuation of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip in Oregon!

Making a Difference in the High and Low Country of Colorado: August 28

By Sam Schabacker

The Colorado leg of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip began with a victory:  Senator Bennet sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to move forward with the Fair Farm Rules! This outcome was thanks to the thousands of folks from all across Colorado who contacted Senator Bennet for six months leading up to the road trip with petitions, phone calls, and coalition sign-ons. It was an incredible feeling to see that we are creating change from the bottom up, and that Coloradoans are leading the way.

As such, the Road Trip was celebratory in Colorado. Everyone was energized to see that we can make a difference and they seemed ready to take it to the next level!

On the night of first event in Fort Collins—a film screening of What’s Organic About Organic with Grant Family Farms and Be Local Northern Colorado—we had a great conversation with a mix of students and community members.  The students were particularly inspiring, as many of them are enrolled in organic farming classes at Colorado State University.  They’re the future of our food system.

We cruised up to the high country in Colorado, making stops in Frisco to spend time with High Country Conservation Center, discussing the Farm Bill next to their new greenhouse. Then all the way up to 10,200 feet above sea level and the rarefied air of Leadville, where you can indeed grow food, we were treated to a backyard garden tour. I’m amazed at the care and effort folks in Leadville put into growing the spinach, red peppers, and tomatoes that were thriving in a town that is surrounded by mountains still bearing snow in August. Finally that evening, a gathering of over 100 residents in Salida watched the uplifting film, the Greenhorns after sampling tasty, locally grown h’orderves from Chaffee County’s farms. A big thanks to Chaffee Citizens for Sustainability and Guidestone for making that event in Salida such a success!

We headed down from the mountains to the plains and the heart of our industrialized food industry: Greeley and Longmont.  Despite hosting a JBS meatpacking facility, Greeley has a dedicated group of citizens standing up and working for a more sustainable, just food system.  The Food & Water Watch local coordinator in Greeley recruited over 30 Greeley residents to come to watch FOODSTAMPED.  Simultaneously, folks in Longmont had a spectacular potluck and discussion that included, among other novelties fried cucumbers (think fried green tomatoes).

Food & Water Watch tabled at Green Route Festival in Denver.  Despite the heat, the cowsuit was taken out and used to attract huge amounts of interested attendees who signed postcards to Senator Bennet—calling for a Fair Farm Bill.

The last stop of the tour was a time to be both uplifted and reflective.  We went on a food justice tour in Denver. First, we visited two urban farming projects that are expanding access to food within areas of Denver—predominately low-income and communities of color—who don’t have access to healthy, fresh food.  Big ups to Greenleaf and Revision International for the work they are doing.  Following these inspiring examples of food justice work, we went to visit a nearby Walmart and juxtapose this urban farming model with Walmart’s big box model.  Needless to say, the difference is stark.  An ally from FRESC explained to us at the Walmart how good jobs and good food are intertwined, and how people have to be able to make a dignified living in order to pay for good food in this country.  FRESC is working hard to make that happen, and we are looking forward to supporting them as they move forward with these efforts.

So, the final take away?  It was a whirlwind trip: 8 events over 5 days.  None of it would have been possible without the incredible effort of our local coordinators in Colorado, countless volunteers, and our ally organizations.  It’s clear we are making a difference, and we can keep building our power in the state to make sure our elected officials support a sustainable, just food system.

It’s Not All Hogs in North Carolina: Friday, August 20

By Jorge Aguilar

Dairyland Road in Hillsborough got its name from the dozens of dairy farms that surrounded this rural area outside of Chapel Hill. Sadly, only a few farms remain there today, a trend reflected across the country where over 135,000 dairy farms have disappeared. On our third day in North Carolina, our friends from the Carolina Concerned Citizens joined us for a visit to one of the few medium-sized dairy farms that still remain in the state: the Maple View Dairy Farm. Owner Bob Nutter is a fifth generation farmer who moved the farm from Maine in the 1960s and built a successful business that is unique in many ways. As we rode throughout the farm on a tractor-pulled wagon, we learned about the 130 Holstein dairy cows that get milked twice every day, rain or shine. I was most surprised to learn that dairy cows give milk for five solid years and have three calves on average during that time.

An employee of Maple View Dairy Farm in Hillsborough, NC, talks about how to care for 130 Holstein cows.

Maple View Farm is distinct from most conventional farms in that it grows all of its fodder of corn, wheat, barley and other crops on its own 400 acres of land. It also doesn’t rely on the big companies that now control most of the dairy system. Maple View homogenizes, pasteurizes and bottles its own milk on site, and then sells its products at several places like Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. In fact, a few hundred yards away, Maple View has one of the most delicious ice cream stores in the state. We thanked Farmer Bob for his hospitality and promised we’d be back very soon for more chocolate ice cream!

As usual, Bessie the Cow is a huge hit at farmers markets.

Not that it came as a surprise, but Bessie the Cow was a huge hit at the Atherton Mills Market in Charlotte. This farmers market in Charlotte sources locally grown produce, meat and baked breads, and has been developing a loyal following over the last year and a half. We talked to hundreds of people about the good food movement in North Carolina and learned a lot more about Charlotte’s food scene. Though the city is known most for its financial district, the folks who stopped by our booth told us that Charlotte is becoming more conscientious of how its food is produced.  We were assured that Luna’s Living Kitchen, a small restaurant close by, is showing that people will support local organic food.  I can tell you from experience that their “Biblical Breakfast” was delightful!

Madge and Jane host herb cooking classes regularly at their Mills Herb Garden in Statesville, which focus on teaching more people about the value of medicinal herbs in our food.  After a tour of the acre of herbs that the sisters have cultivated over a decade, we began to talk about the Farm Bill over gazpacho, watermelon juice and eggplant salad.

The conversation turned lively when a couple of concerned parents talked about the difficult choices that have to be made when they want to buy healthy, nutritious food but don’t always having enough money to buy it. This led to some more misgivings about how the price of food is not reflective of how much food costs because Big Ag is often manipulating the price of food at the expense of farmers and consumers. One of the Parent Teacher Organization members asked, “What do we do then?”

At Mills Herb Garden, they teach people about the value of medicinal herbs in food.

The truth is that it is going to take building up regional food systems that provide consumers access to quality food items at a price that is fair to both farmers and consumers.  All of that is going to take a real grassroots movement that busts up the monopolies that currently control most of our food system and vehemently oppose many of the steps that will lead to a more sustainable system. It’s going to take some time but, as our trip to North Carolina showed, a lot of people are already doing it!

The Great Lakes State: Thursday, August 18

By Lynna Kaucheck

At the turn of the last century, Mayor Hazen Pingree, of Detroit, proposed cultivating the City’s vacant lots and hiring the unemployed to grow vegetables as a way to alleviate the hardships created by the depression. Pingree was largely criticized for his “potato patch plan,” but the program was largely successful and provided healthy vegetables to hundreds of families suffering from the economic downturn.

Driving through Detroit today, I think Mayor Pingree would be proud. The urban agriculture movement is alive and well and prospering today in Detroit. The Garden Resource Program has over 1,300 networked urban gardens in the City of Detroit providing healthy fruits and vegetables to thousands of Detroiters while teaching folks how to produce their own healthy produce, and that’s just one program.

We met with 12 Detroit-area activists to discuss the Farm Bill and strategized about how to fight for programs that support urban agriculture, local infrastructure and nutrition programs (to name a few) in the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill.

Michigan’s history is rooted in agriculture, and the state’s economy is dependent on the small and medium-sized family farmers here. Agriculture is the state’s second largest industry and may soon take over manufacturing in the amount of jobs it provides. Michigan is also the second most diverse state as far as the amount of fruits and vegetables it produces. And it is home of the country’s first land grant university, Michigan State University (Go Spartans!).

On Monday, Alex, Mark and I joined our partners from MOFFA, Michigan Farmer’s Union, National Farmers Organization, Beginning Farmers and Great Grand Rapids Food Systems Council for a meeting with Senator Stabenow’s staff in East Lansing. As Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Stabenow is in a unique position to fight for Michigan small and medium-sized farmers. Stabenow comes from a farming background and as a fellow Spartan understands the importance of funding for sustainable agriculture research at our esteemed land grant university (Go Green! Go White!). However, Senator Stabenow has yet to publicly support the proposed GIPSA, or Fair Farm, Rules that Michigan’s small and medium-sized livestock producers so desperately need in order to get a fair price in the market place.

We delivered a powerful message to Senator Stabenow in the way of nearly 3,000 petitions and postcards. Michiganders want Senator Stabenow to pressure the Obama administration to implement the Fair Farm Rules and to support programs that support Michigan’s small and medium-sized farmers in the 2012 budget fight.

We spent four days traveling across the Great Lake State, making stops in Ferndale, Detroit, Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Lansing and Grand Rapids, and we met hundreds of wonderful people along the way that are joining our fight for a Fair Farm Bill in 2012. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but our thousands of dedicated supporters have sent a message loud and clear: protect Michigan’s small and medium-sized family farmers!

Neil Young Wants a Fair Farm Bill Too: Tuesday, August 16

By Matt Ohloff

My portion of the fair Farm Bill Road Trip started off with a bang. On Friday morning, I left the Food & Water Watch office in Iowa City and headed for Kansas City, where Farm Aid 2011 was being held. Farm Aid is an annual music festival headlined by the likes of Willie Nelson (founder of Farm Aid), Neil Young, John Cougar Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, along with many other musicians standing up for family farmers. Food & Water Watch had a table in the Homegrown Village outside of the stadium, along with dozens of other organizations and businesses working for a better, healthier, more sustainable food system that supports family farmers.

While we met hundreds of amazing people and were introduced to many amazing organizations and businesses, we were more than pleased when Neil Young stopped by our table and took a photo petition for a Fair Farm Bill. The concert was great, and we were able to engage many of the concertgoers on the importance of a Fair Farm Bill for a better food system.

We then headed to Omaha on Sunday for an activist meet-up at the W. Dale Clark Main Library. We had a great discussion with fresh faced food advocates who are excited about spreading the word for a Fair Farm Bill in the Omaha area. We talked about fair treatment for farmers, equal access to local food, vermiculture and even analyzed how the food system got to its current state of corporate control. We also planned future events in the Omaha area to get more people involved. We look forward to continuing to build the movement for a Fair Farm Bill and better food system.

On Monday morning, we joined the Nebraska Farmers Union to meet with staff from Senator Ben Nelson’s Lincoln office to talk about the need for Fair Farm Rules to be implemented, for a Fair Farm Bill and policies that protect independent family farmers from the abuses of the meat packing industry, and the need to continue to stand in opposition to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, among other important issues.

While my portion of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip started off on a high note at Farm Aid 2011, it continues to be just as fun, exciting and inspiring!

 

John Steinbeck and Our Food System: Friday, August 12

By Alex Beauchamp
Before I embarked on my own road trip for a fair farm bill this August I read Travels With Charley: In Search of America, John Steinbeck’s classic travelogue of his road trip across the United States. Driving across the top of Ohio, I couldn’t help but wonder what Steinbeck would think of America today, fifty-one years after his trip. If you’ve read the book (and you definitely should), perhaps you were struck by Steinbeck’s fear of the homogenization of America. Over and over again he worries that America is smoothing out the regional differences ¬– in speech patterns, habits and even food.

Fair food has Ohio history in its corner with the notable exception of I-90.

On my own drive this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d make of our current food system. With only a handful of companies controlling virtually all the food we eat, he’d likely be upset at the sameness of it all. As a lover of good food, he’d certainly be just as dismayed as I was at my breakfast choices along I-90 today. Exit after exit featured huge signs for the same fast food chains. That, combined with the fact that I saw exactly two different crops growing between Cleveland and Toledo was enough for me to have the discouraging thought that Steinbeck’s fears about the future from over fifty years ago may have already come true.

But, as so often was the case when Steinbeck became depressed during his trek across America, my faith was restored when I arrived in Toledo and met some of the great folks that are working hard to change the food system. Lynna, our organizer in Detroit, met me in Toledo and we petitioned for a few hours in Perrysburg.

Person after person spoke of their own concerns with the food system. Few things are as empowering as hearing the stories of folks like Vickie Askins from Cygnet, OH. Vickie has been fighting against water pollution from factory farms in Western Ohio for years. While there is plenty of work left to do, she’s shown no sign of giving up.

Vickie and so many others like her that I’ve met on this trip are proof that there is plenty of reason for hope. Steinbeck always believed in the indomitable spirit, and I think he’d be thrilled that so many are working so hard to make a better world.

 

Local Food is Elitist? Tell that to Cleveland: Thursday, August 11

By Alex Beauchamp

I knew before this road trip that Cleveland was doing some great innovative things with urban agriculture, but I’ve been blown away by how many smart, passionate people I’ve talked to over the past two days here. It started Tuesday when over thirty folks came out to the Cleveland Food Policy Summit, hosted by Food & Water Watch and Community Greenhouse Partners. At the event we heard from all levels of the local food system, from urban farmers, to distributors, to eaters, and even a hoophouse company.

Tim Smith, executive director of Community Greenhouse Partners in Cleveland, Ohio, brings fair food to people who normally wouldn't be able to afford it.

Our hosts at Community Greenhouse Partners are in the process of creating an urban farm at the lot of an abandoned church on the east side of Cleveland and they gave a great tour of the place. The project is only a few months old, but they’re already growing food both outdoors and in the hoop house. They’re also planting a food forest at the front of their lot and have big plans for what to do with the church building. Most interestingly, Executive Director Tim Smith and the other CGP folks want their place to serve as a space for urban agriculture pioneers to gather, talk, work and share best practices. I can’t really do justice to the place in such a small space, but check out their website. And if you’re in Cleveland, definitely give them a call and stop by.

There were lots of other great folks at the Food Policy Summit, but one of the coolest projects I’ve learned about while here is called City Fresh. Roger Himmelright, one of City Fresh’s many volunteers (they have only 2 staff) told me about this great project. These folks run a huge community supported agriculture project that brings fresh food to over 9,000 different shareholders every week. I know, I know, you’ve heard of CSA’s before, but this one is quite a bit different.

For starters, customers pay weekly rather than monthly, making the program far more affordable. And it is affordable. City Fresh has a sliding scale, but shares can be as low as $9 per week for those with low incomes. What’s even better is all the food comes from within 75 miles of the fresh stop (there are several around the area), from where customers pick up their food. This is exactly the kind of innovative distribution system that we need in so many places across the country that lack access to good fresh food. City Fresh and Cleveland are finding out that creating local food systems is an engine for economic growth. Now what we need are policies to help foster the movement, but that’s a whole other blog post.

Big agribusiness often scoffs at the local food movement, but maybe some of those folks should come to Cleveland. There’s nothing elitist or expensive about bringing fresh local produce from the area to residents for a low cost.

Crossing Into Carolina: Wednesday, August 10

North Carolina State's Agro-ecology Garden plans to become an organic farm in the near future, but the school currently uses the garden to teach students about sustainable farming.

By Jorge Aguilar

After our stop in Charlottesville, Kim Huynh, Mark Schlosberg and I continued our road trip by crossing into North Carolina, a state with a real and palpable food movement. In fact, the folks in Charlottesville had praised many of the state’s sustainable food programs and were mimicking events like the sustainable farm tours organized by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, one of which will be held Sept. 17.

As always, we found good folks and good food in Raleigh at the year-old Downtown Raleigh Farmer’s Market in City Plaza, our first stop. We spent a few hours chatting with visitors to our kiosk about fixing North Carolina’s skewed farm policy towards factory hog and chicken farms, a reality with which many city residents who care about sustainable food are still not familiar.

Later on, we saw just how close conventional farms and diversified farms can be when we visited the Agro-ecology Garden, a piece of land that North Carolina State University has designated for a future organic farm. It was not too far from a conventional turkey house used for research by the university. The garden is currently being tilled by students to learn about sustainable farming and sourced by our friends at the Green Planet Catering, a small business that sources most of its food locally. Daniel, the manager, is in the garden almost every day planting, harvesting and hand-watering the crops while “enjoying wonderful sunsets not many people get to ever appreciate.”

About 20 people showed up to enjoy food from the garden, see the watermelons and eggplants sprouting in summer and talk about the real obstacles in the farm bill that prevent more gardens like these from being more common.  We also talked about the good local programs that Farm Bill funding should support, like CEFA’s “10 %” campaign that encourages municipalities to source 10 percent of their produce from local farms.

Senator Kay Hagan was instrumental in adding a key exemption for small farmers as part of last year’s FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, so we thought our trip would be a good chance to meet with her office again to ask for her support on new farming rules meant to protect farmers and to oppose drastic budget cuts to essential food programs. We brought 2,500 petition signatures and letters signed by 40 North Carolina groups and 192 national groups, asking her to show leadership on these two issues. Unfortunately, Hagan’s office did not commit to any one particular position on the farming rules or the budget cuts, so we promised to follow up with her very soon.

After this meeting, we headed to the inspirational town of Tillery, a 1930s African American resettlement in the northeast part of the state, built on a former slave plantation. Gary Grant, the director of the Concerned Citizens of Tillery (CCT), took about twenty of us on a tour of a community-funded history museum of the New Deal resettlement. We then got on a shuttle and drove around Tillery while we learned about the struggles and triumphs the community has faced over the last 80 years.

Gathering support for a Fair Farm Bill at the Raleigh Farmers Market.

It was obvious that many of the decisions related to land ownership, farming prices, school systems and daily life in Tillery were based on race, and the discriminatory practices of those in power sadly continues to be an everyday reality. Many of the original resettlers and current residents, for instance, have not been able to keep their land because of the inability to access credit for their homes or their farms.  As such, the predominantly African American culture in the town is always under threat, particularly from industrial scale agriculture.

One of the most appalling aspects of North Carolina’s factory hog farms today is that it has largely taken root in low-income and African American communities. Unfortunately, these communities have had to bear a disproportionate amount of the public health and environmental issues associated with industrial agriculture.

We were glad to hear, however, that Tillery has been one of the few areas to successfully keep factory hog farming out.  The CCT was instrumental in organizing civic, business, social justice, and environmental groups in the 1990s to stop the hogs from coming into Halifax County.

 

Pennsylvania Could be the Keystone to a Fair Farm Bill: Wednesday, August 10

By Karina Wilkinson and Rich Bindell

Pennsylvania is a state (technically a commonwealth) of many firsts, including the first hospital, library, zoo, newspaper, all motion-picture theater, television broadcast, radio broadcast, educational public-television station, paper mill, locomotive, high-speed multi-lane highway, commercial use of computer, cable television and — perhaps most importantly — the Banana Split. With 55,000 farms covering 9,000,000 acres, producing mushrooms, apples, tobacco, grapes, peaches and dairy products to the tune of $3,500,000,000 per year in agricultural sales, it’s no wonder that Pennsylvania is the Keystone State. With the largest rural population in the United States — and the most licensed bakeries — perhaps it can serve as the keystone to our campaign by becoming the first state to officially get behind a Fair Farm Bill.

Workers at Greensgrow in Philadelphia want you to support urban farms and tell your representatives and senators to support a Fair Farm Bill.

The Pennsylvania leg of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip kicked off in the Lehigh Valley, its third-largest metropolitan area. We hosted a capacity crowd for a screening of the film FRESH, followed by a discussion with Lehigh University Political Science Professor Dawn King. Food & Water Watch partnered with Alliance for Sustainable Communities, Berks Gas Truth, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection, Lehigh Green Action, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), Rodale Institute, and Southside Film Institute to put this event together and help inform the community about the serious problems and solutions to fix our food system.

We met with Senator Casey’s staff in Philadelphia and delivered petition signatures from 2,100 Pennsylvania constituents who made their voices heard in support of a Fair Farm Bill. Six coalition partners, including Professor King, joined us for the meeting. After speaking with Senator Casey’s staff, it was clear that he is on our side, but we need to continue to show him that fair food is a priority for voters in PA.

Senator Casey’s staff indicated that Senator Casey will hold the line on budget cuts to programs that are important to us and that he wants to see the USDA implement the fair livestock marketing rules and “see the process through.” As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, his leadership will be crucial to fixing our food system, so we’re going to keep the pressure on.

Thursday evening, we gathered under the moon and stars for a screening of “What’s Organic about Organic?” at the Greensgrow Farm in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philly. Dave Prendegast and all the staff at this urban farm are doing incredible work to revitalize and engage the neighborhood, and recover a former brownfield. Our partners from Protecting Our Waters and Delaware Riverkeeper Network came out to show their support at this unique film screening and activist meet-up.

Our final stops were Harrisburg, outside the Broad Street Market — the oldest continuously operating indoor market in the country — and across the street at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. Dan Morton, a fracking activist whom we met in Bethlehem earlier in the week, jumped at the opportunity to join us on the road, and he ended up volunteering with us at the market. With his help, over 30 people made phone calls and over 40 people signed petitions for a Fair Farm Bill to Rep. Tim Holden, who is on the House Agriculture Committee. Midtown Scholar owner Eric Papenfuse made a call and then posed with DC organizer Katy Kiefer in a cow suit. He was showing off his organic milk that comes in those bottles that they used to use back in the days when they delivered milk to people’s home.

Food & Water Watch organizer Katy Kiefer (in cow suit) and Midtown Scholar Bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse teamed up to call Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Holden to ask for an improved Farm Bill.

Theresa Barton Sabatini, our volunteer from the East End Food Co-op in Pittsburgh, worked with co-op general manager Rob Baran to co-host another screening of “What’s Organic About Organic” over the weekend. We had 25 people and a lot of discussion both before and after the film. Attendees were happy and ready to take action in any way that they can. There was even a couple there from Farmington, PA, an hour and a half away, who drove in just for the movie. They live amidst several farmers planting GMOs and they wanted to learn more about organics.

All-in all it was a great couple of days fighting for fair food. Thanks Pennsylvania!

 

 

The Fair Food Movement is Alive and Well in Salisbury, MD: Tuesday, August 9

By Kim Huynh

We kicked off the Maryland leg of the Fair Farm Bill Road Trip today from the District of Columbia to Salisbury on the Eastern Shore of Maryland—from one belly of the beast to another. Salisbury is the heart of chicken country, as it’s the home base of Perdue and host to other chicken mega-companies like Mountaire Farms, Allen Farms and Tyson Foods.

It was very exciting for us to be back on the Shore. Last year, Food & Water Watch ran a campaign to enact a statewide ban on arsenic in chicken in Maryland, the 7th largest chicken producing state in the country. For the past 50 or so years, the chicken industry has been putting an arsenic-based additive into chicken feed as a growth promoter and cosmetic additive.

Lou and Barb Rimbach often promote the benefits of buying fair trade coffee and chocolate.

Arsenic is a well-known rat poison and carcinogen, and has been linked to bladder, kidney, lung and colon cancer, as well as cognitive problems in children. As the base of operations for industrial poultry, Eastern Shore communities are bearing the brunt of Big Ag’s pollution of their soil, water and air.

When heading into factory farm territory, one may be tempted to make assumptions about the state of the food movement there. Yet, take a deeper look and you’ll realize that the Eastern Shore is much more than the miles of the large-scale industrial chicken facilities that line its fields. It’s also home to a burgeoning network of farmers’ markets and CSA’s, small-scale organic farmers and producers, sustainably minded local businesses, and a dedicated base of food activists.

We were met with nothing but genuine energy and enthusiasm from the small crowd that gathered in the basement of the Wicomico Public Library this afternoon for a screening of FRESH and a Farm Bill workshop. These activists and concerned citizens were quick to assure us that the movement for a healthier, more just and sustainable food system is alive and well on the Shore.

Here, folks are taking it upon themselves to broaden the dialogue about what good food means to the Eastern Shore. For example, Lou and Barb Rimbach have set up a table at their local farmers’ market for the past couple years to educate and inform their fellow community members about the benefits of buying fair trade coffee and chocolate.

 

Maine Seems to be Doing it Right: Monday, August 8

By Meredith Begin

Local Sprouts, Urban Farm Fermentory, Winter Cache Project, Village Farm, Belfast Co-op… the list goes on and on. People in Maine understand the need for food sovereignty — autonomy from the industrial model — and they’re lucky to have maintained the rural infrastructure necessary for a thriving local food economy. It is fitting that we started the Fair Farm Road Trip in Maine because it seems to be an example of what we’re doing right when it comes to growing food. Maine provides evidence that we already do have the tools to feed the world. And I got to see it first hand with my colleague, Food & Water Watch organizer Nisha Swinton, who is also a resident of Maine.

Village Farm apprentices pack up for a delivery to CSA shareholders in Belfast, ME.

I saw and learned much during the road trip. I learned how to can vegetables, how to recognize and pull weeds, and even discovered that flowers like calendulas are delicious and nutritious. I met farmers and food activists, chaga gatherers, and kombucha and cider fermenters. I saw maps that show where a restaurant’s food is from, a butcher where local farmers can bring their livestock and a working Recirculating Aquaculture System! I got to hear about transition initiatives and a grassroots growing movement called permablitz. And I even got to witness the packing up of organic vegetables to deliver to Belfast CSA customers.

New York is the Beginning: Friday, August 5

By Eric Weltman

Victor Perez had never done petitioning before in his life. But the father of two from Long Island, NY, braved the fierce heat last Saturday so he could join us at a Brooklyn farmers market. With his natural exuberance, he helped us gather over 300 signatures in support of a Fair Farm Bill.

Victor, along with some of our other volunteers, tapped into a vivid awareness of the problems with our food system – problems experienced in the daily lives of New Yorkers, such as the difficulty of finding or affording fresh fruits and vegetables, the challenges associated with diabetes and excessive weight, and a recognition that corporations are playing too great a role in determining their food options.

On Tuesday evening, we held a screening of Fresh produced by local filmmaker Ana Sofia Joanes. Fresh is a powerful indictment of the food system, including memorable scenes of factory farms and chicken growers describing the extraordinary extent to which processors dictate what they do. There were scenes, too, of alternative visions – small-scale growers, organic farms and local buying cooperatives.

Victor Perez, a Food & Water Watch volunteer, helped garner hundreds of signatures on postcards to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in support of a Fair Farm Bill!

Of course, the question after seeing such a film is: What do we do now?

At one point in the film, someone talked about food movement members changing the system by voting with their dollars. But what about those who don’t have many dollars? How could we possibly amass enough dollars to go up against some of the wealthiest corporations in the world? How do we go beyond placing responsibility on individual purchasing habits for changing such a massive system defended by well-entrenched powerful interests?

The answer, of course, is the Farm Bill, federal legislation that constitutes the single greatest influence on our food system, and the possibilities it offers us for reforming this system — possibilities that can only be achieved if we work together. So as people left the screening on Tuesday, they filled out forms indicating how they’d like to get involved in this important effort – from hosting their own film screenings to joining us on other petition drives.

The following morning, we met with a staffer from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. New Yorkers are in an extraordinary position of influence because our own Senator Gillibrand serves on the Agriculture Committee, which drafts the Farm Bill. Food & Water Watch was joined at the meeting by community and labor activists, and we received a sympathetic hearing to our vision, principles, and priorities for a Fair Farm Bill.

This Farm Bill Tour is just a beginning, not an end, and we know that an incredible amount of work lies ahead to ensure that the Farm Bill addresses the needs of farmers, workers, and consumers. But like Victor, we are discovering the joys of making the connections with people that is the heart of this work.