For details go to www.ussf2010.org

Slow Food Bay Area will host a panel on how to make good, clean and fair food accessible to everyone.

Panelists will include Martin Bourque of the Ecology Center, Annie Shattuck of Food First, Bruce McKinney of Glide, Nikki Henderson of People’s Grocery, Paul Ash of SF Food Bank, and Josh Viertel of Slow Food USA.

For more information, see: http://slowfoodpanel031110.eventbrite.com/

Workshops to be Held in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin. The Department of Justice has not issued any document to comment on. They are simply soliciting the input of farmers and consumers on the impact of corporate consolidation in the food system.

The March 12 workshop in Ankeny, IA will focus on Issues of Concern to Farmers. This event will serve as an introduction to the series of workshops, but also will focus specifically on issues facing crop farmers. Specific areas of focus may include seed technology, vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the dates and locations of joint public workshops that will explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The workshops, which were first announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Aug. 5, 2009, are the first joint Department of Justice/USDA workshops ever to be held to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The all-day workshops, which will begin in March 2010, will be held in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.

The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

The current schedule for the workshops is as follows:

March 12, 2010 – Issues of Concern to Farmers – Ankeny, Iowa

This event will serve as an introduction to the series of workshops, but
also will focus specifically on issues facing crop farmers. Specific areas of
focus may include seed technology, vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power.

FFA Enrichment Center
1055 Southwest Prairie Trail Parkway
Ankeny, Iowa
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May 21, 2010 – Poultry Industry – Normal, Alabama

Specific areas of focus may include production contracts in the poultry
industry, concentration and buyer power.

Alabama A&M University
Auditorium, James I. Dawson Cooperative Extension Building
4900 Meridian St.
Normal, AL
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June 7, 2010 – Dairy Industry – Madison, Wisconsin

Specific areas of focus may include concentration, marketplace transparency and vertical integration in the dairy industry.

University of Wisconsin
Great Hall, Memorial Union
800 Langdon St.
Madison, WI
------
Aug. 26, 2010 – Livestock Industry – Fort Collins, Colorado

Specific areas of focus will address beef, hog and other animal sectors and
may include enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and concentration.

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
-------
Dec. 8, 2010 – Margins – Washington, D.C.

This workshop will look at the discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid by consumers. As a concluding event, discussions from previous workshops will be incorporated into the analysis of agriculture markets nationally.

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Jefferson Auditorium
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C.

Each workshop may feature keynote speakers, general expert panels, and
break-out panels that will address more narrowly-focused issues. At each
workshop, the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide
comments.

The attendance and participation of the public is encouraged throughout the series of workshops. With the goals of generating further dialogue and understanding the issues, the workshops will involve farmers, ranchers, processors, consumer groups, agribusinesses, government officials and academics. This collection of stakeholders will create a forum for discussion and will ensure various industry perspectives.

The Department of Justice and USDA asked for comments in advance of the workshops.

All comments received are publicly posted.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/workshops/ag2010/index.htm#comments

Additional updates and information, including agendas and speakers, will be posted on the Antitrust Division's events website at www.usdoj.gov/atr/events.htm.

You and your organization are invited to participate in the Peoples Movement Assembly session taking place in San Francisco, California.

This session is a “kick off” of the process to get organized and to get to the US Social Forum II taking place June 22-26, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. For more info see http://abc.ussf2010.org/assemblies

WHAT IS A PEOPLES MOVEMENT ASSEMBLY?

The PMA is a gathering of people (25, 250 or more!) who come together to identify community issues, discuss solutions, and commit to actions.

The Assembly is an organizing tool . . .

BEFORE the FORUM: Communities, movement sectors, and regions will gather, reflect, discuss, and articulate the big issues facing our world as well as explore strategic solutions and alternative practices.
Communities make commitments at the Assemblies about how to get to the Forum, what to bring to the Forum, and what to bring back.

We need to have a count of the people that will attend the PMA-SF so please contact organizers and RSVP: grulla(at)swunion.org

--------------------------------
Usted y su organización están cordialmente invited@s a participar en la
Asamblea de los Movimientos Sociales que se llevara acabo en San Francisco, California el 13 de Marzo 2-5 PM. Esta es la oportunidad de organizarse para llegar a Detroit y participar en el Foro Social de
Estados Unidos II.

Necesitamos saber cuanta gente viene asi es que haga el favor de comunicar conmigo y dejarme saber si va participar y cuanta gente viene con su organización.

FRESH: New thinking about what we’re eating

RSVP at the Facebook Event Page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=298018025674

FREE VALET BIKE PARKING

Doors open at 6 P.M. for the Art Show "DIGEST", Food Vendors, CSA Info booths

7 P.M. - Show time

Watch the trailer at www.freshthemovie.com

Enjoy food from Oakland vendors like Taco Grill, proudly serving Niman Ranch Beef in Fruitvale.

Meet the Farmers:
Sign up for a CSA that delivers fresh food in your neighborhood like Eatwell Farm featured on the History Channel or Shooting Star located only 40 miles from Berkeley.

Participating Vendors and Organizations:

Eat Well Farm - Farming organically in the Sacramento Valley since 1993. Voted Best Local Produce Delivery Service/CSA in 2008 by the San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay.
Signing up new CSA members.

Shooting Star CSA - Small scale, local, wonderful. Top quality produce is our pride, and growing it is our joy. Local food security is our civic duty. Our mission at Shooting Star CSA is to provide our customers with nourishing, nutritionally dense vegetables and melons that are the best they’ve ever had! Signing up new CSA members.

Farm Fresh to You - Currently over 6,000 families are participating in our family farm's CSA, Farm Fresh To You. By joining our CSA these families are connecting directly to our farm and receiving regular deliveries of nutrient rich, mouth watering, organic produce delivered directly to their home or office. Signing up new CSA members.

Tomatero Farms - Pick up a box of fresh, organic tomatoes grown in Watsonville, CA right in your own neighborhood! Or visit is at the Grand Lake Farmers Market every Saturday in Oakland. Signing up new tomato CSA members for summer 2010.

Phat Beet Farms - Providing equal, affordable access to organic fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes to North Oakland families through wholesale pricing. Facilitates youth in leadership roles engaging their peers in healthy eating and nutrition discussions through fruit and vegetable sampling. Connecting small farmers to urban communities via the creation of farm stands and farmers markets in local establishments.

People's Grocery is a community-based organization in West Oakland that develops creative solutions to the health problems in our community that stem from a lack of access to and knowledge about healthy, fresh foods. Our mission is to build a local food system that improves the health and economy of the West Oakland community.

Middle school students from Oakland School for the Arts will be selling the
East Bay Eco Metro Guide , a fundraiser for the school and a great resource for local groceries, Farmers Markets, and CSA's. One lucky raffle winner will win a free Eco Metro Guide!

Earth Box - Our maintenance-free, award-winning, high-tech growing system controls soil conditions, eliminates guesswork and more than doubles the yield of a conventional garden-with less fertilizer, less water and virtually no effort.

Funk Town Farm - We are Funk Town Farm, a community garden located in the area known to locals as “funk town” in East Oakland. The garden was started in 2008 behind 219 East 15th Street at 3rd Avenue and two blocks up from Lake Merritt.

Regeneration Church - Regeneration Church has graciously offered its building for this community event. Regeneration is a group of believers in Jesus Christ who desire peace, well being, and opportunity for the people of Oakland. Regen believes in caring for creation and caring for its neighbors and is active in improving its neighborhood through community gardening, feeding the homeless, Tae Kwon Do classes for youth, and supporting neighborhood groups.

If you or your organization would like to participate as a vendor or sponsor, contact Betsy Johnson, betsy.tyler@gmail.com

Doors open at 6:30pm, film to start at 7pm
Tickets: $15 online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/101354 or $20 at the door

Panel discussion will follow the film featuring:

-Rufina Juarez, protagonist in the film and activist with the South Central Farmers, who will talk about the personal experience of the eviction of the garden and what folks are doing now
-Shereen D'Souza of the California Food & Justice Coalition, talking about model policies and actions that communities are taking to protect land for food production
-Terry Corwin of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, talking about what is happening in Santa Cruz County to protect farm and garden space as well as natural habitat

Proceeds from the event benefit the work of the California Food & Justice Coalition, which promotes the basic human right to healthy food while advancing social, agricultural, environmental and economic justice.

Organized by the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems and the California Food & Justice Coalition. Co-sponsors are Transition Santa Cruz and Slow Food Santa Cruz.

For details and registration go to:
https://www.pathwayswellnessprogram.com/farm_to_table_conference.html

Part of the U.S. Social Forum planning

www.ussf2010.org for details.

register online for the All Rights for All People conference and you won't want to miss what we've got planned.

Here's a range of what you can experience in New Orleans:

• Confronting the cycle of poverty – exposing slums, maternal mortality and corporate accountability
• Lobbying 101 and legislative tactics for connecting with elected officials
• Assessing the human rights situation in New Orleans post-hurricane Katrina • Simulating crisis response strategies for the upcoming elections in Myanmar (Burma)
• Engaging the media to cover social issues and best practices for communicating your message
• Exploring a multimedia art fair on human rights

Sound exciting? Register now!

After you register, share the news on Facebook and post on Twitter using the hashtag #agm10.

And if you want to come, but are on the fence, check out these ways you can save on travel to help make your decision a little easier. Remember to take advantage of our special group rate at the New Orleans Marriott hotel!

To achieve the goal of all rights for all people, we need everyone to contribute. We want all of you to come together in New Orleans April 9-11th to share ideas, inspire and support each other, organize your communities, and speak out on behalf of those who cannot.

You are invited to the human rights conversation; your voice matters. Together, we can make a difference and come closer to a world that fully respects human rights.

See you in New Orleans,

Rocio Diaz
Director of Events
Amnesty International USA

For details: www.greenfestivals.org

A joint project of Global Exchange and Green America.