People Putting Food First #124

New at www.foodfirst.org

ACTION ALERT—Tell Obama and Congress
No more corn for fuel

When Fast Food Fights—Whopper vs Big Mac
read more
A Message for Climate Change Negotiators: Small farmers key to combating climate change read more
Territorial restructuring and the grounding of agrarian reform: Indigenous communities, gold mining and the World Bank
read more
Food First Fellow Raj Patel's radio interview on the global food industry
read more
Eric Holt-Giménez talks about Burger King's "Hamburger Virgins ad" on ABC's Good Morning America read more

This issue:
1. Want to see the White House lawn become an example for growing local, organic foods?
2. Change we can believe in!
3. How One Colorado Town is Taking Control of their Economy
4. Argentinean Campesinos Publish Their Own Newspaper

1. Want to see the White House lawn become an example for growing local, organic foods?
Sign the petition.

2. Change we can believe in!
Ask President Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who will implement the change we need to improve the quality of our food and our quality of life. We all eat. Get involved.
Sign here.

Other ways you can spread the message include:
1. Write a message at www.change.gov giving your vision of a better food system.
2. Write to those on your holiday or e-mail list asking them to sign the petition.
3. Ask Obama and Congress for no more corn for fuel. Sign here.

3. How One Colorado Town is Taking Control of their Economy by Jasmine Tilley

Walsh—a tiny town on the southeast corner of Colorado made up of about 700 people—was recently featured in an NPR series entitled “Take me to your Leader.” Included in this segment is the story of how the town’s company-owned grocery store became a co-op owned by the community itself.
About two years ago, the company that owned the store closed down and moved out of Walsh, which would have forced the town residents to drive a half-hour out of town to buy groceries. So some of the residents got together, formed a co-op, and sold $50 shares to people of the community—successfully reopening the grocery store.
One major benefit of the locally-owned store is that it fuels the town’s economy rather than the nearby cities, bringing in more than a million dollars for the town in its first year.

http://www.cfra.org/blog/2008/09/10/part-1-local-grocery-storehttp://www...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93959692

4. Argentinean Campesinos Publish Their Own Newspaper by Alex Perrotti

Small farmers in the region of Santiago del Estero, Argentina have begun publishing a newspaper giving voice to their struggle against the encroachment of large-scale soy agribusiness on their lands. The first printing circulated 4000 issues of “El Ashpulito” (Quechua for “Full of Earth”) and documents the abuses and issues facing the nearly 9000 families who make up the Campesino Movement of Santiago del Estero (MOCASE).

Adolfo Farias, an activist in (MOCASE) explains, "For years, but much more so in recent months, our resistance to an agricultural production model that consists of vast monoculture plantations of soybeans has met with repression by ‘para-police’ groups and arrests ordered with the complicity of the local political and judicial powers-that-be.” According to (MOCASE) the “Para-Police” performing illegal raids and arrests are sent by landowners and agribusiness interests who want control of the campesino families’ land in spite of the legal claims held under Argentine law.

There is hope that this paper, which will be circulated on the internet as well as locally, will expose the realities of the ongoing attacks and intimidation which have been ignored by the mainstream media.

http://www.agenciaelnaciente.com.ar/inicio/
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44644

Please forward this newsletter to friends who share your interest in building a more equitable food system.

This edition of People Putting Food First was written by interns Alex Perrotti and Jasmine Tilley. If you have stories, questions or feedback, please contact us here

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