Food Justice Newsletter from PHP

In this issue: Ten Things to be Thankful For | An Invitation Ten Things to be Thankful For! Sometimes the situation can seem dismal with hunger on the rise, food deserts, pesticide corporations buying up seed companies, and diet-related disease. But at the same time, people all over the country and world are working together to build food economies that are fair and more sustainable -- while supporting nearby farmers! Neighborhood leaders and groups are bringing fresh, local food to their communities. One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help fund a program in Oregon to train immigrant families in farming skills at Huerto de la Familia. In Louisville, one initiative has turned teens into ambassadors of fresh produce and another holds food justice classes and brings in local produce for Fresh Stop markets in their lower-income neighborhoods. Students are demanding better and fairer food in their cafeterias. The first nonprofit supermarket just opened in Pennsylvania and is providing an oasis in a food desert. Watch the video. While much of the advertising promotes unhealthy foods, efforts are afoot to expose how our children are being misled. Take a look at Anna Lappé's new Food Mythbuster video, "The Myth of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids"? Presbyterian camps and conference centers are growing food! Ghost Ranch has revived its farm, Stony Point is producing veggies all over their campus and is putting in a greenhouse as we speak. Joseph Badger Meadows Camp and Eastminster Presbytery in Ohio are establishing a working farm and training program on their land! A new movement among Native Americans is bringing back traditional foods and changing lives. To ensure we don't lose ground globally, Presbyterians can advocate to halt Fast Track and call for transparency and fairness in the Trans-Pacific Partnership to protect farmers overseas. Fortunately, policy makers are beginning to admit that export-oriented cash crop farming is not the answer to ending poverty. In fact, research shows that it is small farms that are the key to creating global food security!  Globally, La Via Campesina and food sovereignty movements around the world–such as the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and the US Food Sovereignty Alliance—are building strong coalitions to resist injustice and build just and sustainable food economies everywhere! Presbyterians can support great agricultural development by giving to the Presbyterian Hunger Fund and by funding great projects through the Food Resources Bank in Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An Invitation We invite you to share ways your church or groups in your area are building your local food economy! Email the information along with a website link if applicable and we'll publish them in an upcoming newsletter. If you participated in the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge and have any reflections, please send those as well. Thanks!

Please consider giving a donation to the Presbyterian Hunger Fund. Together we can end hunger!

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