Friday, September 30, 2011

"Imagine if food could talk. What would your rice tell you?"

This World Food Day, dedicate your dinner to the farmers who produced the food on your plate.  

Oxfam America is teaming up with a host of allies across the US and around the globe.  We have a simple yet compelling idea—to host a Sunday Dinner October 16 that fosters a conversation about where your food comes from, who cultivates it, and how we can make the food system more just and sustainable.  Order your free materials by October 12.  


Archbishop Desmond Tutu, food activist and author Frances Moore Lappé, and activist and organic farmer Ellen Walsh-Rosmann invite you to host your own Sunday Dinner:






How to host a Sunday Dinner:
  • Decide what kind of gathering you want. How many people? What kind of food? Have a potluck and ask everyone to bring their favorite dish. You can also make a dish contributed by chefs such as Giada De LaurentiisMark BittmanEric YostJosé Andrés , and the Mennonite Central Committee, or these cheap recipes for Slow Food USA's $5 Challenge.
  • Decide on the time and place and get the word out in order to get your guest count.
  • Order Free Materials for your dinner by Oct. 12. We have World Food Day place mats to use at your table and sets of recipe cards to give out to your guests. For large events we have posters, stickers, and more.
  • Use our Sunday Dinner Discussion Guide to facilitate the conversation during your dinner.
  • Before your guests leave, ask them to join the Oxfam America Mobile Action Network. Text OXFAM to 30644 and we’ll send you critical updates about how you can help during global emergencies, take action when Congress is debating important legislation, and join us when there are Oxfam events in your area. Text STOP at any time to unsubscribe.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Seattle supporters get together for GROW campaign

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Seattle, Oxfam Action Corps hosted a training on the GROW campaign.  Oxfam supporters and friends from various organizations got together to discuss how best to address the root causes of global hunger, speaking and learing from a wealth of experience and perspectives.  Our group included students, retirees, doctors, researchers, musician-moms, and even newlyweds!   Thank to all for spending your sunny afternoon indoors with us.  Special thanks also to members of the Borgen Project and Global Washington for participating.


We’re looking forward to making an impact together. Anyone who wants to get started right away can click here to download materials to host a World Food Day Sunday Dinner in October, and to sign-up online for updates and invites from the Seattle Oxfam Action Corps.
 


Monday, September 12, 2011

"Memorable," "Powerful," Life-changing"

That's how people describe an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet event. 

Oxfam Action Corps members, along with hundreds of Oxfam supporters nationwide, will organize events like these in October and November.  Will you too?

Click here to host one in your community.


Friday, September 9, 2011

Expanding the border of local food advocates

Reposted from Ode Magazine.
Written by Desiree Thayer of San Francisco bay Area Oxfam Action Corps.




Expanding the border of local food advocates

Thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been walking for days. Not just a day or two, they've been walking for fifteen to twenty days, bound for Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Many of the women have lost children to hunger during the trek or taken unaccompanied minors (likely orphans) found along the way into their care. All of these people were in utter desperation to leave their homes and come to a camp in such a remote place for food and water. There are now 400,000 people in Dadaab. The influx of 9,000 people per week is taxing on the resources of the camp.

The ongoing food crisis in East Africa, including Kenya and Ethiopia and the famine in parts of Somalia, is affecting over 11 million people and the result of a series of circumstances. In Somalia, a two-year drought devastated harvests and depleted livestock. This in turn led to record food prices beyond the reach of many. There is also internal conflict in Somalia, tied to a lack of basic infrastructure and social services.

Of course emergency humanitarian relief is needed to save lives now. But equally important is the need to address underlying problems to achieve long-term solutions.

Overall this is an issue of food and power. There is enough food produced to feed everyone but still nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry every night. The food system is broken, and we need to change the way we grow and share food so everyone has enough to eat.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are many great efforts to change our local food system and how we eat. We have support for eating local and organic food through farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture, more people taking part in urban gardening in community gardens or their own backyard, many chefs in our restaurants who prepare local and sustainable foods, and efforts to reform school lunches. And from travels to other cities and regions, I’ve witnessed the local food movement’s presence from coast to coast.

Much like the benefits we will reap locally and nationally by moving to more sustainable agriculture and supporting local farmers, these same advantages are desirable to the global food system. Most of the hungry in developing countries are actually small-scale food producers (farmers, pastoralists, fishers). So in order to help those who are vulnerable to hunger, there should be investment in small-scale food producers, protection of their rights to land and other natural resources, and support to maintain resilience through climate change and food price increases.

When it comes to the food movement here, a common saying is “Think globally, act locally.” It’s time for local food advocates to embrace the global food system and to push for changes by focusing on local efforts here and abroad. “Think globally, act locally and support global reform.”

Oxfam’s GROW campaign aims to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population (estimated to reach nine billion by 2050) and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive. Learn more and take the GROW pledge on Oxfam America’s website. Take action today at www.oxfamamerica.org/grow

Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT)

posted by THAYERD on 8/17/2011 11:59 am | COMMENTS (54)