CSSC Conference Call Info.

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I receive the following info. monthly. We're trying to figure out how W.I.S.E. 37 fits in with all of this. Please read through them.

Announcements:
Wild Farm Alliance— The Wild Farm Alliance is partnering with the Chefs Collaborative to help connect cuisine with the environment. By using the pieces in this toolkit, chefs are becoming more compelled and equipped to support conservation-based agriculture. Food produced in healthy landscapes can support both humans and wild Nature. Find our more info at: http://wildfarmalliance.org/resources/chefstoolkit.htm

Ecological Farming Association Conference is happening this month in Monterey find out more at: http://www.eco-farm.org/efc_08/index.html

Small Farm Conference--The conference will be held at the Visalia Marriott and the Visalia Convention Center in Downtown Visalia. Scholarships are available for farmers, agriculture students, and farmers' market managers. Click here to see all of the Short Courses offered at the conference
HSUS CA Ballot Initiative--Those of you might have heard from Seema (Deanza) at the convergence that there is an initiative to ban battery cages and gestation crates in CA led by HSUS and a diverse coalition. The CSSC Foods Initiative is working on the national endorsements committee however there is a need to gather signatures across the state. To download and get materials to gather signatures please log onto http://www.humanecalifornia.org/materials/index.php
International Day of Action for Food Sovereignty

Join Via Campesina and other organizations worldwide in demanding food sovereignty and an end to the corporate control of our food system by global agribusiness. Celebrate this January 26 by expressing yourself through either nonviolent direct action, civil disobedience, street theater, convergences, teach-ins, etc. Under the leadership of Via Campesina, Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America, and the Student Trade Justice Campaign, communities around the world can call for a transition away from a globalized food system and towards one that is more localized. For more information and action ideas and resources go to
http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/ Have an action planned? Let them know by emailing jessie@risingtidnorthamerica.org.

Please also post your action on the World Social Forum website: http://www.wsf2008.net/
The Census of Agriculture is one of the most important undertakings of the U.S. Department of Agriculture--it only happens EVERY FIVE (5) YEARS. This process determines the distribution of resources to farmers and ranchers throughout the United States. We strongly urge each and everyone involved in farming to contact your nearest USDA office and GET YOURSELF COUNTED!!!The Census of Agriculture, taken every five years, is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures and many other areas. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future and their responsibility.

Farms not Arms is coalition of farmers, farm-workers and those in the agricultural industry who oppose the war in Iraq. Their mission is to rid the country of the dangerous cycle of war and the terror that it brings, with hopes of a more peaceful world. They strive for a world that focuses its resources on eliminating hunger, disease, and environmental degradation. Recently this organization of farmers has found itself supporting the fight of one man who has been called back to Iraq.

Matt McCue is an Iraq veteran who has been working through Peace Corps in Niger farming with a Muslim Community. He has been recalled back to Iraq and is now being torn between a destructive war and his desire to farm. When he returned from his first time in Iraq, he found himself learning the ways of organic and sustainable farming on the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in Santa Cruz. His love for his work and for the art of farming has transformed him into person who respects the earth and the fruit it bears. Now as he tries to fight his recall, he needs all the support he can get.

Read more about Matt's story at http://www.farmsnotarms.org/statements/ ... story.aspx
Keep current Peace Corps Volunteers from active military service by signing the petition here, http://www.gopetition.com/online/14951.html
Read more about Farms Not Arms at http://www.farmsnotarms.org.
News You Can Use:

Healthy Foods More Expensive and More Prone to Inflation, Study Finds
A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests that healthy foods not only cost more than unhealthy ones, but they also are more prone to inflation, the New York Times reports.
· AASHE is pleased to announce...the completed Guide to Developing a Sustainable Food Purchasing Policy. You may download the guide and view related policy examples on the companion web site http://www.sustainablefoodpolicy.org.

· Very interesting data from survey done in UK by DEFRA, government agency focused on food, ag, rural affairs and sustainability. There data confirms that our target consumer is still niche and it offers levers for broadening consumer interest in sustainability issues. Well worth the read. http://foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=81592

Update on the Collapsing Beehives. In October, we reported on the current state of the vanishing honeybee populations, currently termed the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD hit nearly one-quarter of the commercial beekeeping operations in the United States and proved to be a serious threat to American agriculture. This year, however, pollination went smoothly, as imported bees replenished domestic stocks and good weather aided weak hives. Even though it may seem that we survived this year, CCD has shown our true reliance on honeybee pollination for the establishment of US crops. Since then, the Senate was able to raise $100 million in October to aid in the research of the diminishing honeybee populations. New research published in the Virology journal has shown evidence of a honeybee strain that is resistant to the virus. However, until this research can be finalized and enacted, there needs to be a back-up plan. Therefore, farmers have already started different land-use practices as well as planting pollinator-friendly plants. To read more about the current situation of the bees, go to http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1108/p13s ... tml?page=2.
F.T.C. Asks if Carbon-Offset Money Is Well Spent
By LOUISE STORY
Corporations and shoppers in the United States spent more than $54 million in 2007 on carbon offset credits, but where exactly is that money going?
Farm Bill in the News (from CFJC newsletter):
:: More On Point Coverage from Carolyn Lochhead at the SF Chronicle:
Farm bill amendment to limit crop subsidies plowed under in Senate
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 003&sc=244

:: LA Times Editorial
WTO takes on U.S. farm subsidies -- The organization is reviewing a complaint by Canada and Brazil that could create a trade catastrophe for the U.S
http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... &cset=true

:: Salt Lake City Tribute Editorial
Harvest of Shame: Senate farm bill feeds subsidies to agriculture
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7762663

:: Grassley: Not too late to fix the Farm Bill
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 0485&rfi=6






CSSC Foods Campaign Contacts:

Tim Galarneau (Statewide Advisor) solseeker3@aol.com / tgalarne@ucsc.edu
Maren Poitras (Statewide UC Student Cooridinator) maren_poitras@berkeley.edu
Amie Frisch (Statewide CSU Coordinator) amiefrisch@gmail.com