Posts Tagged: food justice

Really good news about inequality! And…

woman with child at rally The really good news:  Seventy-four percent of respondents (including 58 percent of Republicans) said they back boosting the minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $9 over the course of two years, according to a poll this year. Another poll shows that 48% of Americans favor raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour…. Read more »

Parable of a Warming Planet: Fire Water & Air

kids holding hands and jumping ONCE UPON A TIME… a precious planet called Earth was tousled by ferocious disasters, more and more each year!  Epic fires, hurricanes, floods and droughts uprooted lives and destroyed nature along with the many edifices built by humans.  The faith of the religious was tested, as damage, deluges and death brought to mind the story in… Read more »

Food on everyone’s table!

graph of how children benefit after receiving SNAP The Senate is expected to vote on a regressive tax bill next week, and your voice advocating for a moral and compassionate budget is critical! For Presbyterians, the message is biblical and simple. Urge your Senators to say “no” on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, because it will make hunger and poverty worse and will further deepen… Read more »

Salmon named MVP! (Most Valuable Piscis)

Young husband and wife at vigil Salmon figured prominently at the Presbyterians for Earth Care Conference held along Oregon’s Columbia River in September. These beautiful creatures are the traditional and cultural heart of the Columbia River tribes. As the keystone species, salmon not only created the biologically-diverse ecosystems of the region, but they also form the economic foundation for the indigenous… Read more »

Why It Matters: Farm Bill 101

Should we rename the Farm Bill? This hard-working bill covers everything—from crop insurance to community food projects, from Meals on Wheels and SNAP (food stamps) to energy, conservation, and international food aid. Calling it the Food Bill would at least pique the curiosity of those that eat! No matter what it is called, though, as… Read more »

PHP’s Food Justice VISTAs ~ Where are they now?

PHP had the honor to work with 17 smart, talented, and dedicated folks who came to us through the Americorps VISTA program – a program currently on the chopping block of the currently proposed administration’s budget, alongside a number of other vital federal programs that make our world a better, fairer place.  The gifts these VISTAs brought… Read more »

When in Iceland, eat sheep

By Kathleen Murphy, former Boston Food Justice Young Adult Volunteer and PHP Food Justice Fellow, pictured here in Thingvellir Park, Iceland, where the continental divide goes through the island nation and the ancient parliament met. As an adventurous eater I was really excited to see what kind of trouble I could get myself into when… Read more »

Boston Food Justice Young Adult Volunteer – Ashley Earley

My name is Ashley Earley and I am serving as a Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) in Boston this year and our focus is food justice. I will be posting periodically onto this blog about various food related topics for the next year.  First, I would like to introduce myself. I am from Rock Hill, SC (just south of Charlotte, NC) and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in May with a bachelors in biology and a minor in math. I am currently taking a gap year before going to graduate school for a master’s in plant biology and afterwards plan to go into research. I have never been to the New England area before, but I am so far really enjoying my time in Boston.

 

For this year, I am serving at First Presbyterian Church in Brookline and at a non-profit called Woman and Girls Thriving in Brookline with a focus in the Healthy Food and Lifestyle working group. My role will be to learn and educate about food justice.

 

Also as part of the program we will be participating in two different food challenges. From September to the end of January is the local eating challenge and February to the end of July is the SNAP (food stamp) challenge.

 

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Top Food Stories

woman gardeningA big thank you to Adam Liebowitz at North Star Fund, a fellow member of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, for this great collection of news on all things food and farming.

ECONOMICS & TRADE

Don’t Let Food Industry Stir the Pot.  Pam Kock, Huffington Post, Mar 23, 2015

The PR War Continues: Monsanto and the myth of peaceful coexistence. Laetitia Benador, Food First, Apr 2, 2015

Trade Rules Create Obstacle Course for a Better Food System. Karen Hansen-Kuhn, IATP, May 15, 2015

John Oliver Explains the Abuses of the Chicken Industry (Not the Ones You Think).  L.V. Anderson, Slate, May 18, 2015

Walmart’s Sustainability Promises: Myth vs. Reality. Steve Holt, Civil Eats, Jun 5, 2015

Egg rationing in America has officially begun.  Roberto Ferdman, Washington Post, Jun 5, 2015

Whole Foods Markets: Throwing Organic Farmers Under the Bus? Cornucopia Institute, Jun 12, 2015

ENVIRONMENT & FARMING PRACTICES

Climate Change Poses Serious Threats to Food Distribution.  Elizabeth Grossman, Earth Island Journal, Mar 4, 2015

 
Let’s put an end to factory farming.  Tom Colicchio, CNN, Apr 6, 2015
 
 
Feeding the future through agroecology. Dr. M. Jahi Chappell and Tara Ritter. IATP, Apr 21, 2015
 

FOOD JUSTICE & ADVOCACY

Racism and Capitalism: Dual Challenges for the Food Movement.  Eric Holt-Gimenez, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.  Mar 25, 2014

The Color of Food: America’s Invisible Farmers.  Natasha Bowens, Civil Eats, Apr 14, 2015

The Color of Food: Building Autonomy as African American Farmers.  Natasha Bowens, Civil Eats, Apr 14, 2015

Promised a Supermarket Five Years Ago, a Housing Project Is Still Waiting. Keith Williams, New York Times, Apr 17, 2015

The World Bank’s Long War on Peasants.  Eric Holt-Giménez and Tanya M. Kerssen, Food First, Apr 20, 2015

What happened to America’s black farmers?  Madeleine Thomas,Grist, Apr 24, 2015

Justice for farmworkers as labor rights bill makes overdue progress in the New York State Senate.  Editorial, NY Daily News, May 3, 2015

Can We Finally Treat Food Workers Fairly?  Mark Bittman, New York Times, May 27, 2015

The New Food Movement Has a Problem with Race.  Lauren Rothman, Mucnhies, May 29, 2015

The Food Revolution and the War for Our Minds.  Jonathan Latham, Rural America, Jun 12, 2015

HEALTH & FOOD ACCESS

Fewer NYC teens are drinking sodas: study.  Carl Campanile, NY Post, Apr 6, 2015
 
As Global Food Chain Grows, So Does Risk of Illness.  Maryn McKenna, National Geographic, Apr 7, 2015
 
Food System Recommendations Should Account for More Than Public Health.  Gabrielle Blavatsky, EcoCentric, Apr 21, 2015

Lessons from Supermarket Failure in a Food Desert. Kate McCleary, Liveable Future, May 5, 2015

School Lunch May Be Next to Nudge Antibiotics Off the Plate.  Maryn McKenna, National Geographic, May 8, 2015 

 
 
France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities.  Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, May 22, 2015
Restaurants Pan New York City’s Plan for High-Salt Labels. Melanie Grayce West, Wall Street Journal, Jun 10, 2015
 
The Daily Table: Is This What We Really Need?  Mark Winne, Beacon Broadside, Jun 30, 2015 

OTHER

In Newark, a Vertical Indoor Farm Helps Anchor an Area’s Revival. C.J. Hughes, New York Times, Apr 7, 2015

Why “Clean Label” School Lunch May Be a Pipe Dream. Bettina Elias Siegel, Civil Eats, Apr 9, 2015

Council Members Ask De Blasio to Invest in Farmland. Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette, Apr 21, 2015

Craft Distilleries and Breweries Take Hold in South Bronx.  Winnue Hu, New York Trimes, Apr 22, 2015

USDA Report Shows Increase in Activity of Local and Regional Food Systems.  AJ Hughes, Seedstock, May 10, 2015

Vermont: America’s Food Relocalization Laboratory.  Steve Holt, Civil Eats, May 13, 2015

Let’s Help Create More Farmers.  Mark Bittman, New York Times, Jun 10, 2015

30 Women Under 30 Changing Food. Danielle Nierenberg, Huffington Post, Jun 23, 2015

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Farm to EVERY Fork

group photo with t-shirts
“Guess who loved their Farm to EVERY Fork t-shirts?” asks pastor Warren Barnes rhetorically.

poster of event“Most of them wore them to school on Monday!”

The Farm to EVERY Fork Forum is in its 2nd year and culminates from nearly three years of networking in the community and with public health groups concerned about healthy eating and active living. Much of this was done through the Healthy Sacramento Coalition, which Grace Presbyterian Church helped to found. Their good standing in the community meant that speakers were happy to participate in a compelling program.

This year’s FTEF followed the opening of Grace’s CalFresh/EBT weekly booth where folks can purchase fresh produce with their electronic SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits cards — year-around.
table display

“Grace is a small church with a big heart and vibrant outreach, especially involving food justice and population health,” says Rev. Barnes.

Indeed it is!

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