Who Owns the World's Land?

Here's another great example of the amazing events Action Corps teams across the country put together in honor of World Food Day - this time, from Oxfam Action Corps Boston!

Originally posted at http://bostonoxfamactioncorps.blogspot.com

In honor of this year's World Food Day, the Action Corps in Boston hosted a film screening of Land Rush.  Land Rush was one of eight films in the Why Poverty?documentary series, which won a Peabody Award this year for Excellence in Journalism. Over 50 attendees gathered to learn more about global land grabs and their connection to sugar production. You might think hunger is about too many people and too little food, but this isn’t the case. Hunger is about power. Its roots lie in inequalities in access to resources, like fertile land and water. The power to control these resources doesn't sit with the billion-plus farmers who produce food.  Instead, companies and governments control the global food system—and they often determine who eats and who doesn’t.


Worldwide demand for sugar is set to rise by 25 percent by 2020. This growing demand for sugar will propel even greater competition for land. Three companies in particular—Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Associated British Foods (ABF)—buy and produce huge amounts of sugar around the world and hold significant influence over the industry. Right now, though, they are not doing enough to ensure that their suppliers and operations respect land rights.

At this event, the Action Corps was also honored to host the Land Rush's Producer, Eli Cane. Eli Cane is the Creative Director of Normal Life Pictures, a New York and London-based production company. 

Joining Eli was Irit Tamir, the Senior Advisor of Policy and Campaigns of Oxfam America's Private Sector Department.  Speaking about Oxfam's Behind the Brands Initiative and it's new direction, Irit explained the plan to hold corporations accountable for stopping land grabs. Take action now, sign the petition, and make your consumer voice heard! No company is too big to listen to it's buyers, not we all act as one.

Irit Tamir speaks to the audience regarding Oxfam's stance on small farmers rights

TAKE ACTION TODAY

Sign the petition HERE today, and share on your social media: 

On Twitter: Tell @CocaColaCo and @PepsiCo to take action against land grabs! Sign the petition at behindthebrands.org #BehindTheBrands

On Facebook: Stop land grabs! Tell Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and ABF—some of the biggest buyers of sugar in the world—to make sure their sugar doesn’t lead to land grabs that force poor farmers and their families off their land. #BehindTheBrands









Interested in joining us? Like us on facebook, or email to find out how you can get involved in actions that create real change in global poverty.

**Photography credit: Sapana Thomas

World Food Day 2013

Oxfam Action Corps has been busy this World Food Day!  The Oxfam Action Corps held - and continue to hold - events around the country, e.g. packing the house for a 'Land Rush' screening in Boston, and featuring Jim Morris of the Indiana Pacers at the Indianapolis event.  Volunteers helped Oxfam stage stunts at key Coke and Pepsi locations in the US, while more than 100,000 people signed our petition via our ally "Sum of Us." And our Action Corps team expanded Oxfam's presence at the World Food Prize in Iowa, led by staffer Jim French, including tabling at a Hunger Banquet for nearly 300 people!

Kijoolu Kaliya (center), a member of the Maasai people of Tanzania has led a women’s mobilization to save their land from a foreign investor who wants to convert it to a private hunting reserve.  “Everybody in this world deserves a seat at the table,” she said.  Pictured here in Marshalltown, Iowa, with Oxfam staff members Mwanahamisi Salimu and Brian Rawson.  (photo: Brian Rawson)

Mwanahamisi Salimu of Tanzania shows John, a farmer in Marshalltown, Iowa, how sweet potato greens are prepared for eating.  John harvests some 200 pounds of sweet potato from the community farm at the Marshalltown Community College, saying that he intends to set aside what he’ll eat for the season and then “give the rest to the poor.”  (photo: Brian Rawson)

Oxfam America President Ray Offenheiser and Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University Cornelia Flora are pictured in support of Oxfam’s petition urging major food companies to help stop land grabs, at the World Food Prize, Des Moines, Iowa.  (photo:  Brian Rawson)

In Albuquerque, NM, Sara and Jasmine of the Oxfam Action Corps dine at one of the area restaurants supporting World Food Day by distributing Oxfam placemats and campaign materials to customers. (photos: Kathy Chavez)

Celebrating WFD in Chicago with (left to right) Nancy Jones of Chicago Fair Trade Coalition, Adam Farag of Oxfam Action Corps, Adam Olson of Oxfam America, and Tom Leavitt chef at White Oak Gourmet and Oxfam Action Corps.

In Ames, Iowa, renowned author and activist Francis Moore Lappé joins Oxfam Action Corps members from Boston, San Francisco, Des Moines, and NYC.  (Left to right Suad Maow, Yoshiko Hill, Amy Luebbert, Francis Moore Lappe, Elizabeth Norman, and Brittany Wilson)

Taking the message to the Des Moines Farmers Market with Oxfam partners from Tanzania and Uganda, volunteers with the Oxfam Action Corps, and staff.  (photo: Sarah Kalloch)

At Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City
, Oxfam staff and volunteers mount a giant warning label.  (Photos: Vasia Markides)

In Atlanta, telling Coca-Cola to stop land grabs!

No Sleep ‘til Des Moines? From Brooklyn to the World Food Prize

This week, dedicated members of the Oxfam Action Corps team are representing Oxfam America at the 2013 World Food Prize & Borlaug Dialogue. Read more from Elizabeth Norman, co-organizer of our team in NYC. 

Originally posted at http://www.oxfamactioncorpsnyc.org/2013/10/no-sleep-til-des-moines-from-brooklyn.html

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It’s 6:30 AM at La Guardia Airport; still dark outside. I am excited to be on the way to Des Moines to join other Oxfam volunteers and staff at the World Food Prize’s 2013 Borlaug Dialogue. Brittany Wilson and I are traveling from Brooklyn to Des Moines to represent the Oxfam Action Corps NYC as we join volunteers and staff from San Francisco, Boston, and of course, Iowa.

Oxfam’s presence at the World Food Prize will involve tabling and outreach, hosting three farmers visiting from Tanzania and Uganda, hosting a Grow Method luncheon, attending official events (highlights this year will include Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain; Ólafur Ragnar Grímmson, President of Iceland; and Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace), as well as attending interesting side events. (Too many to choose from!) 

Camp Green in Kampala, Uganda

I am excited about hearing Frances Moore Lappé andOxfam America President Ray Offenheiser speak, meeting and hearing from farmers from Tanzania (Kijoolu Kaliya who has worked for land rights for Maasai women and men in Ngorongoro District) and Uganda (Harriet Nakabaale and Jjumba Frank Luyinda, urban farmers from Camp Green in Kampala) at Oxfam-sponsored events, tasting SRI rice at Oxfam's luncheonand visiting a farm connected with Marshalltown Community College on Friday.

Please stay tuned to this blog and watch for live updates on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OxfamActionCorpsNYC) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/OxfamActionNYC). 

Standing on Common Ground with Farmers Worldwide

 By Suad Maow, volunteer advocate, Oxfam Action Corps  boston@oxfamactioncorps.org

Photo: Suad Maow

As a volunteer advocate with Oxfam America’s Action Corps, I am very excited to participate in the Boston Local Food Festival.  I was born in Somalia and I wasn't exposed to any kind of food except for fresh food.  So, it came as a bit of a shock when I moved to Boston and had to eat food from a can or frozen breakfast items. 

But as I have gotten older, I am starting to see a shift in the way food is made available. There are more farmers markets and food festivals happening throughout the city and the country. This was not the case when I was a teenager. Seeing this shift is making me happy because I know the value of fresh food. I know that it’s better for the environment, cuts down on food waste, and is a healthier option. 

Do you ever wonder, like I often do, how to combine support for fresh, local foods with your impulse to do the right thing for farmers in developing countries like Somalia?  That’s where Oxfam can help you.  Many think that hunger is about too many people and too little food. But that’s not true. Our planet produces enough food to feed every woman, man, and child. Instead, hunger is about power. Its roots lie in inequalities in access to resources. Right now, many farmers in poor countries—the people who grow the food the world relies on—don’t have the power to access the resources they need to thrive.

We stand on common ground with these farmers.  Our voices and our food choices can help. Though we might be far apart, our problems aren’t so different. No matter where live, we all rely on the land—our common ground—and farmers to put food on the table. 

Come visit our table at the Boston Local Food Festival to learn actions you can take to help farmers worldwide, like these:

·         You can start right in your kitchen with Oxfam’s GROW Method.

·         You can help us stop land grabs. Governments and corporations are currently taking land that is not theirs, forcing families from their homes and leaving families hungry. You can speak up for farmers around the world and demand that companies develop land policies to protect their rights.

The main reason that I am excited to attend the Boston Local Food Festival is not only to taste delicious food, but just to hear the dialogue coming out of such a festival. The conversations that attendees will have pertaining to food are sure to be entertaining and educational. I can’t wait to eat delicious food and meet interesting people!

I’ll be looking forward to seeing you there!

Caption:  This placemat and other free materials are available at www.oxfamamerica.org/worldfoodday

Caption:  This placemat and other free materials are available at www.oxfamamerica.org/worldfoodday