FAMILY FARM AGENDA 2013 December Issue Honoring Nelson Mandela Ralph Paige, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund I write to express our sorrow at the loss of Nelson Mandela, yet, we also celebrate his life. His long, distinguished work for justice is an inspiration for those of us who seek justice in the United States. We also claim him as our leader. In the 1990's, in fact, the Federation named a housing initiative in Alabama after Mr. Mandela, known as the Griffin-Mandela Apartments. The United Nations awarded the Federation for these apartments, stating that they were an excellent model for low-income rural communities. Ralph Paige with Derek Hanekom (r), In the 1960's, Mr. Mandela was arrested and then imprisoned for 30 years on Robbin Mandela's Minister of Land Affairs and FSC’s Island because of his activism and leadership against the horrors of the apartheid keynote speaker in 1995. H. Gray photo. system. At the same time, we in the southern part of the United States were demanding our rights, freedom of expression and economic advancement against the destabilizing horrors of Jim Crow laws in the South. Our organization was created in the 1960's in response to this oppression. It was launched on the heels of rural Blacks attempting to express their constitutional rights of voting, access to government services and civil rights overall as American citizens. Unfortunately, these initiatives for freedom were met with derision by many white leaders in the South, such as government officials who denied credit and jobs to those, for example, who wanted to vote or to also assist others to register to vote and to demand the end of the oppressive Jim Crow laws. As a result of this activism, thousands of Black farmers were forced off their land or from the plantations where they worked as sharecroppers. Thousands left the South in response or were left homeless in desolate rural areas. The Federation was created in 1967 specially to assist these struggling Black farmers and rural communities. Our tool was and is cooperative economic development as a way of empowering communities and individuals. As a result, thousands of Black family farmers across the south have saved their land and become more economically viable. We were thrilled and honored when, in 1995, President Mandela's "Minister of Land Affairs", Derek Hanekom, spoke at our Annual Meeting at our Training & Research Center in Epes, Alabama. He remarked that he had searched throughout the world for a port folio that was similar to what South Africans were attempting in terms of land reform for dispossessed Africans. (cont. pg. 2) Pro-Ag Manager Tewksbury Recognized Lisa Griffith Progressive Agriculture manager, Arden Tewksbury, was recently sworn in to another four-year term on the Elk Lake District school board. This marks the beginning of his 53rd year on the board, a record in his home state of Pennsylvania. In 1984 his school district launched the Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center to provide vocational education to local residents. Arden helped to establish Dairy Day in 1990 at Elk Lake to promote agriculture to area students and residents, and currently advocates for whole milk, not “colored water”, to be served in schools. Arden at House Ag “I am grateful to the people of Meshoppen Township for once again having confidence in me and what I try to do on the board,” he was quoted by the Wyoming County Press Examiner. The NFFC is grateful for Committee Office Arden’s tenacity and determination, as well; for the past 20 years he has worked to change dairy pricing policy to ensure farmers receive a price that covers their cost of production. His op-eds are often posted in dairy trade journals and regional newspapers. 2013 NFFC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Thank You and Happy Holidays President: Ben Burkett to NFFC Members! Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ American Raw Milk Producers Land Loss Prevention Project (NC) Mississippi Association of Cooperatives Vice President: Dena Hoff Pricing Association (WI) Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Northern Plains Resource Council, MT Ashtabula Lake Geauga Counties Association Secretary: Margot McMillen Farmers’ Union (OH) Mississippi Association of Cooperatives Missouri Rural Crisis Center California Dairy Campaign Missouri Rural Crisis Center Treasurer: Brad Wilson Community Alliance for Global Justice Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Community Farm Alliance (KY) National Hmong-American At Large Members: Niaz Dorry Dakota Resource Council (ND) Farmers, Inc. Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, MA Dakota Rural Action (SD) National Young Farmers’ Coalition Savi Horne Family Farm Defenders (WI) Northern Plains Resource Council (MT) Land Loss Prevention Project, NC Farms Not Arms (CA) Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance Mardy Townsend Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga Farmers Union, OH Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Powder River Basin Resource Joel Greeno Land Assistance Fund Council (WY) American Raw Milk Producers’ Pricing Food for Maine’s Future Progressive Agriculture (PA) Association, WI Idaho Rural Council Rural Advancement Foundation NFFC STAFF: Iowa Citizens for Community International-USA (RAFI-USA) Washington, DC: Improvement Rural Vermont Ph: 202.543.5675 Fax: 202.543.0978 We have been fortunate to have significant support Toll Free: 877.968.3276 from the following foundations: Executive Director: Katherine Ozer Clif Bar Family Foundation Patagonia, Inc [email protected] Farm Aid Presbyterian Hunger Program Policy Assistant: Rachel Nagin Grassroots International Tikva Grassroots Empowerment Fund [email protected] Helanthius Fund of Tides Foundation Via Campesina Coordinator: Jessica Roe Isvara Foundation Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program [email protected] Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation at Shelter Rock Lawson Valentine Foundation Woodshouse Foundation Midwest: Norman Foundation Outreach Coordinator/Editor: Lisa Griffith We are very appreciative of the record number of individual donors who [email protected] contributed to our Farmer Leader Travel Fund, General Support Fund, Ph: 773.319.5838 (mobile) and Combined Federal Campaign account in 2013. Family Farm Agenda December 2013 Please consider an end of the year donation to further our work in 2014: The Family Farm Agenda is published three https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1910 times annually by the National Family Farm Coalition, a nonprofit providing a voice for grassroots groups on farm, food, trade and Honoring Nelson Mandela (cont.) rural economic issues to ensure fair prices for As he could find no similar government programs anywhere in the world, family farmers and fishers, safe and healthy Hanekom chose to make his first international visit to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which resonated with similarities food, and vibrant, environmentally sound to the South African land reform initiatives as well as similar challenges. rural communities here and We are so thankful for the life of Nelson Mandela. He led the way for around the world. millions of us throughout the world. His compassion, wisdom and tireless www.nffc.net dedication are an inspiration to us all. While our work for justice is by no means www.facebook.com/natlfamilyfarmcoalition complete, the leadership of Nelson Mandela inspires us to continue and to never www.twitter.com/FamilyFarmCo give up the struggle. Page 2 Family Farm Agenda Downtime BOOKS All the Land to Hold Us – Rick Bass (fiction) The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love – Kristen Kimball Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies – Seth Holmes Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People – Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities – Will Allen and Charles Wilson The Perfect Peach: Recipes and Stories from the Masumoto Family Farm – David Mas Masumoto, Marcy Masumoto, and Nikiko Masumoto Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens – Andrew Beahrs Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal – Tristam Stuart FILMS 16 Seeds – A documentarian assesses the food justice movement in Oakland, California The Dream Is Now – Undocumented youth advocate for US immigration reform For the Best and For the Onion – Story on the lives of Nigerian onion farmers and their pricing struggles Gasland II – Sequel continues to expose the spread of fracking worldwide for ‘safe and clean natural gas’ Gleason Ranch: Risking Everything – Family farmers and community members share their struggles Growing Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields – Farmer Veterans find new lives tilling soil Growing Change – Venezuela strives to regain food sovereignty Inequality For All – Robert Reich analyzes the demise of the U.S. middle class Land Rush – Documents the devastation wrought by trans-national agribusinesses buying up Africa Leviathan – A harsh perspective of commercial fishing More Than Honey – The lives and demise of honeybees demystified, just a bit Nothing Like Chocolate – As currency and candy, its history reflect ritual, health, luxury and enslavement Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship – Dispels the ‘boundless ocean’ myth On Our Land – Film documents Papua New Guinea’s loss of l4 million hectares of land to palm oil and timber Raising Resistance – Countless acres of Paraguayan forest plundered for soybean production Sand Fishers – The renowned Bozo fishermen of Mali share their story Stealing From The Poor – A first-hand view