Almost everyone in the country involved with family farmer issues knew Kathy Ozer. We also knew that she had been sick for a while and thought she was getting better. On January 22, the cancer – non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – finally took her from us. She was 58 years old.
We are deeply saddened to report the passing of our beloved, courageous and steadfast leader and friend, Kathy Ozer. Her indefatigable optimism and resolve eventually were not enough to overcome her cancer, and she died peacefully on Sunday, January 22, 2017.
Our organizations, representing diverse family farmers, ranchers and fishermen, farmworkers and rural communities, have worked diligently for many years to protect our communities from trade agreements written by corporate insiders seeking only corporate profits. With our counterparts in Mexico and Canada, we have witnessed and lived the devastating impacts of the North American Free Trade agreement on agriculture, workers, jobs and our environment.
This speech by George Naylor was written as the keynote address to precede the panel, Farmers Leading the Food Movement, for the Food Tank Summit, Washington, D.C., April 21, 2016.
Last week, representatives of over 20 organizations gathered in Seattle and Bellingham for several days of dialogue, action, and celebration of the growing food sovereignty movement. The Encounter, co-hosted by Community Alliance for Global Justice and Community to Community Development was a national gathering of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA). On Saturday, we honored Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and Farmworkers Association of Florida as recipients of the 8th Annual Food Sovereignty Prize, awarded by the USFSA.
Several dairy farmers and staff of various farm organizations met on September 15, Thursday in Washington with officials of the USDA in meetings and events organized by Farm Aid. Introducing the events was the Farm Aid Executive Director, Carolyn Mugar.
The undersigned farmer and public interest organizations are writing to express our deep disappointment with both the stated goals and the public engagement process led by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the proposed modernization of federal regulation of biotechnology known as the Coordinated Framework.
NFFC member organization RAFI-USA offers in-depth analysis of the situation in which many contract poultry growers find themselves today. Sally Lee’s recent blog states: “In 2015, people consumed 112,000,000 metric tons of chicken globally. That’s an unfathomable quantity. So here’s one way to visualize it: That amounts [to] the weight of two-thirds of all the cars on the road today in the United States—in chickens.”
On May 23, 2016, the Resource Reform work team of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance held a learning call on People’s Agrarian Reform based on the principles outlined by La Via Campesina (http://bit.ly/1R9ospB) at their April 2016 International Conference of Agrarian Reform. Speaking were Blain Snipstal (Black Dirt Farm Collective, SAFFON and Rural Coalition), Dena Hoff (Northern Plains Resource Council, NFFC), Saulo Araujo (WhyHunger) and Eric Holt-Gimenez (Food First). Excellent questions and dialogue followed the presentations, all of which may be heard at https://soundcloud.com/user-319354071/peoples-agrarian-reform-usfsa-learning-call-52316.
Sixteen dairy farmers testified at last Tuesday’s milk hearing held at Perkins Restaurant in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. According to Arden Tewksbury, Manager, Pro-Ag, “The dairy farmers told it like it is down on the farm.” The hearing was attended by aides to Senator Bob Casey’s office, Senator Pat Toomey’s office, Rep. Lou Barletta’s office, and an aide was there from State Rep. Karen Boback’s office, and Wyoming County Commissioner Tom Henry attended the hearing.
The undersigned 161 farm, food, rural and faith groups urge you to reject the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement.
We write to you as development, faith-based and sustainable agriculture organizations concerned about the potential impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on food security and sustainable development in the member countries and around the world. Many of us work closely with partners in developing countries and have witnessed the devastating impacts of previous free trade agreements on small-scale farmers and their communities. We urge you to reject the TPP.