Author Mark Winne comes to Bellingham for a reading and book signing of his recent book,
Closing the Food Gap Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty.
Tuesday, May 13, 7-9pm
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship 1708 'I' St

Light refreshments will be served.

Event sponsored by Small Potatoes Gleaning Project as part of Community to Community's ongoing Food Justice community education program. Recently C2C partnered with the Bellingham Community Food Co-op for a public forum about Domestic Fair Trade,this event continues community dialogue about our food system.
Co sponsors include Village Books,The Community Food Co-op,WSU Whatcom County Extension,Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Social Justice Committee,and Pastazza

"'Closing the Food Gap' is a deeply moving account of Mark Winne's long career as an advocate for policies that will ensure adequate nutrition for the poor.

"Reading this book should make everyone want to advocate for food systems that will feed the hungry, support local farmers, and promote community democracy-all at the same time."

-Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, and author of Food Politics and What to Eat

"Closing the Food Gap reveals the chasm between the two food systems of America-the one for the poor and the one for everyone else. Mark Winne offers compelling solutions for making local, organic, and highly nutritious food available to everyone."
- Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace

More on the book from http://www.markwinne.com/

American society has never been as fair as we might think. Though a land of opportunity and great fortune for some, we have never been a nation able to fully confront, let alone resolve, our social and economic inequalities and disparities. Food, like air and water, is a basic necessity, but stands as a glaring example of how the gap between this country's "haves" and "have-nots" remains deep and wide. No matter what aspect of the subject we consider - hunger, obesity, or the latest food trends like local and organic - food is emblematic of a promise fulfilled for some but falling ever so short for many.

Like thousands of food activists throughout North America, Mark Winne has worked for 35 years to close the food gap. From organizing breakfast programs for low-income children in Maine to developing innovative national food policies in Washington, DC, Winne has dedicated his professional life and writing to finding local, state, and federal solutions to America's food disparities. To this end, and to those whose passion for this purpose is no less than his own, he has dedicated his first book "Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty."

Closing the Food Gap tells the story of how we get our food: from poor people at food pantries or bodegas and convenience stores to the more comfortable classes, who increasingly seek out organic and local products. Winne's exploration starts in the 1960s, when domestic poverty was "rediscovered," and shows how communities since that time have responded to malnutrition with a slew of strategies and methods. But the story is also about doing that work against a backdrop of ever-growing American food affluence and gastronomical expectations.

Elvira Arellano from Mexico speaking on New Sanctuary
Movement and a Just Immigration Reform - Peace Arch Park in Blaine
We are honored to be hosting Elvira Arellano and
the human rights activists from Border Angels/Gente Unida and hope that you
can join us.

Tuesday  Feb 12: Elvira Arellano from Mexico speaking on New Sanctuary
Movement
and a Just Immigration Reform - Peace Arch Park in Blaine

The Marcha Migrante from San Diego will be arriving at the C2C Offices and
we will join their car caravan and depart for
the Canadian border at 7:45am. Below is our schedule for this historic
event. We are honored to be hosting Elvira Arellano and
the human rights activists from Border Angels/Gente Unida and hope that you
can join us.

8:30am - 9:30am - Joining Broken Hearts Ceremony and press conference with
Elvira Arellano, Enrique Morones from Border Angels
and Whatcom County immigrant and human righst activists

9:30am to 10:00am -  Border Angels ceremony for all the loved ones from
Mexico that have perished crossing the border

11:00am to 1:00pm - Community Dialogue and Potluck with Enrique Morones and
the Border Angels/Gente Unida
                                   bring a dish and something to drink for
6 - 8 people, let's show our brothers and sisters
                                   from the Southern Border our warm North
West hospitality - here is your chance to talk about
                                   the coming Presidential Election and the
candidates positions on immigration reform
1:00pm - The Marcha Migrante will depart for the Yakima Valley


Join us at either or both events and bring a potluck lunch to share.
Please send this to your membership and call Catherine at C2C - 738-0893
with any questions.

Marcha Migrante Info:
Marcha Migrante, a major catalyst for original massive national
demonstrations in the Spring of 2006 is now on its third year. "MMIII" is a
caravan of vehicles; we will stay where invited, have local actions (grass
roots, as grass roots can be) and this years 2008 theme will be to visit
"forgotten migrants" and get community to VOTE (su voto, es su voz) !!! We
are responsible for our respective costs, we are hosted at most locations by
local grassroots activists and the majority join us for part of the route.
MARCHA MIGRANTE I : 111 total vehicles first year (Feb 2-28, 2006, 10,ooo
miles, "sparked national marches" San Diego to DC & back, 40 cities in 20
states)
MARCHA MIGRANTE II : 56 total vehicles second year (Feb 2-17, 2007) San
Diego to Brownsville & back 5,ooo miles (20 cities in 10 border states) "why
we need reform"
MARCHA MIGRANTE III  We expect about 50 total vehicles (San Diego to
Canadian Border & back, 6 states) California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
Utah, Nevada "vote"
JOIN US, BE PART OF HISTORY, SUCCESS AS ALWAYS DEPENDS ON COMMUNITY EFFORT -
Here is the route:

Feb 2nd (anniversary of Guadalupe Hidalgo "treaty" and Dia de la Candelaria)
Feb 2 San Diego-Holtville
Feb 3 Los Angeles
Feb 4 LA PAZ/Bakersfield
Feb 5 SACRAMENTO VOTE!!!
Feb 6 open/Oregon
Feb 7 Oregon
Feb 8 Medford, OR
Feb 9 Eugene, OR
Feb 10 Portland, OR
Feb 11 Detention Center, Tacoma and then Seattle, WA
Feb 12 Canadian/US BORDER "ACTION"
Feb 13 Yakima, WA
Feb 14 Boise, Idaho
Feb 15 Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 16  Las Vegas, NV
Feb 17 San Diego
Enrique Morones - Border Angels/Gente Unida   (619) 269-7865
<http://www.borderangels.org> www.borderangels.org

Other Events and Background Information - GRACIAS! to our Canadian Brothers
and Sisters from No One Is Illegal!  SI SE PUEDE!

*THE NEW SANCTUARY MOVEMENT AND MIGRANT JUSTICE *
Date: Sunday, February 10, 2008
Time: 4:30 - 6:00pm (Doors at 4:15pm, event begins at 4:30 sharp!)
Venue: SFU Harbor Center, 515 West Hastings.
Wheelchair accesible, childcare provided.
Hosted by: No One is Illegal - Speakers: ELVIRA ARELLANO from Mexico!
(others TBC)

Elvira Arellano is a Mexican citizen and sanctuary-deportee whose plight in
the US has galvanized the New Sanctuary Movement and personified the
oppression suffered by undocumented people. Originally entering the US in
1997, she was apprehended then and deported back to Mexico. She returned and
gave birth to a son in 1999, Saul Arellano. From 2000 to 2002, Arellano
worked as a cleaning woman at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, but
was arrested and convicted of using a false social security card following a
post-September 11 security sweep.
On August 15, 2006 - the day she was supposed to appear before immigration
authorities - Arellano took refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist Church
in Chicago. Over the year, she become a spokesperson for the New Sanctuary
Movement, as well as president of La Familia Latina Unida, and a symbol of
resistance against the systemic violence, exploitation, and racism in the US
immigration system.
On August 19, 2007, having traveled to California on a speaking tour where
she advocated the right of immigrant families to stay united, the single
mother was arrested by US authorities and deported to Mexico, without her
son. Arellano's deportation was clearly meant as a blow to the resurgent
immigrants rights movement, yet the movement continues as strong as ever.
Join us for a ONE-TIME OPPORTUNITY to hear from Elvira, who has flown in
from Mexico to meet the US-caravan Marcha Migrante at the US-Canada border
on Feb 12th.

For more information email noii-van@resist.ca or call 778-862-8895 or
604-710-5480.  <http://www.nooneisillegal.org> www.nooneisillegal.org
Articles on Elvira:

<http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=13606>
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=13606

<http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12843>
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12843

*BACKGROUNDER*
The American sanctuary movement initially took root in the 1980s as churches
rallied to assist Central American refugees fleeing US-sponsored wars and
protect them from deportation. The continuing racist exploitation at the
heart of American imperial ambitions, which has become even more pronounced
in the post 9/11 era with increasing border militarization and deportations,
has resulted in a revival of this movement over the past several years. The
New Sanctuary Movement (NSM) is a faith-based movement uniting Protestant,
Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities who share the common hopes of
providing sanctuary for undocumented migrants whose deportation could break
up families. This movement is a specific and powerful response to the
phenomenon of "illegal" parents (ie.hyper-exploited migrant workers) being
deported and separated from the US-born (and therefore American citizen)
children. Critically, the NSM draws connections between the labor demands of
a racist, capitalist political economy and the exclusionary nature of
citizenship. Kim Bobo, executive director of the Interfaith Worker Justice
in Chicago and key NSM organizer, has stated, "The immigration reform agenda
is just inseparable from worker justice at this moment in our history. The
absolute worst abuse of workers that we see around the country is the abuse
of immigrant workers, because they have no path to citizenship, and there's
no strong protection of workers' rights for immigrant workers." In
harmonizing Canadian immigration policies with the U.S. in the "Smart Border
Declaration" of December 2001 that is part of the Security and Prosperity
Partnership Agreement, with the proposed "national security perimeter"
around North America, and with the changes in the 2002 Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act including the lack of implementation of the Refugee
Appeal Division, Canada has opted for an increasingly racist and imperialist
immigration and refugee policy.

Denise Nadeau, an educator with a Doctorate of Ministry in International
Feminist Theology writes, "In this situation of grave injustice, supporting
the claims of asylum seekers and refugees may be one of the most effective
things we, as Christians, can do to challenge the forces of empire. The
spiritual basis for solidarity is the basic fact of our interconnectedness
as human beings. This means we do not see the asylum seeker and refugee as a
"tragic" victim whom we are saving by our good works. Rather it means we
acknowledge we are in a relationship, one shaped by our location in a
country and a religion with more than five hundred years of a colonial past
and present."

<http://www.notinmycounty.org/>

 

Martin Luther King Jr.
10th annual Human Rights Conference
Breaking the Silence

Saturday January 19, 2008 9:30 am - 6 pm
Whatcom Community College’s Syre Center
Registration begins onsite at 9:30 AM. No advance registration

WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, THE RIGHT TO FOOD IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN. Once again Small Potatoes Gleaning Project will be participating in this free annual event. We hope you'll join us!

2008 will be the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In honor of his work and in commemoration of his passing, the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, along with co-sponsor Whatcom Community College, are pleased to present the 10th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Conference. The event, marking a decade of community education and activism, will be held at Whatcom Community College’s Syre Center,. The theme for this year’s conference is “Breaking the Silence” and was inspired by Dr. King’s pivotal speech “A Time to Break Silence”, which was written in collaboration with this year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Vincent Harding.

11-12:30 Workshop session I
Community to Community/Small Potatoes Gleaning Project 'Taking Back our Community Food System' We will present the film: The Global Banquet: Politics of Food. The Global Banquet exposes globalization's profoundly damaging effect on our food system, and debunks several underlying myths about global hunger. After the film, Aline Soundy(Managing Director of Projects) and Rio Thomas (Director Small Potatoes Gleaning Project)will talk about some of C2C's local responses to globalization through their various Food Justice Programs.

More on the film:
This film reveals how agribusiness squeezes out small farmers and how trade liberalization undercuts subsistence farming—in the U.S. as well as in the developing world. It demonstrates how food security is linked to social development and how women, in particular, are affected by that. And it links factory farming and the alteration and patenting of life forms to degradation of the natural environment.

Through interviews with farmers, policy analysts, and international activists, The Global Banquet examines the ethical questions at the heart of the globalization debate. Beyond that, it shows how farmers, laborers, environmentalists, animal-rights activists, church groups, and students—worldwide—are mobilizing to address the situation.

Hope to see you there;bring a friend!
May All Be Fed,
Rio

More information about the conference:
Registration begins at 9:30AM, with the opening ceremony and keynote address at 10AM. Workshops will run throughout the day. The conference is FREE and open to all community members. Accommodations include childcare for those 2 years and older (pre-registration required), parking and light refreshments. Sign language interpreters will be available. Please contact the office at (360) 733-2233 or whrtf@whrtf.org with any questions.

The Whatcom Human Rights Task Force is a local non-profit volunteer organization committed to educating the community, honoring diversity, and identifying commonalities. This year’s workshops are set up in three interconnected tracks: Educator Track The Educator Track will include workshops and training designed specifically for a multicultural approach to education. The event is being supported by the Bellingham School District and the Woodring College of Education. Seven continuing education clock hours are available for educators.

Youth Track The Youth Track will feature presentations both for and BY local area students, including a county-wide Youth Summit. Community Track. The Community Track will offer “general interest” workshops, discussion forums, and presentations. The intention of the conference is to provide a safe and neutral space wherein all interested parties can learn and share ideas about human rights, education and democracy.

Comunidad, Familia y Celebracion!
Start the New Year Right! Good Food with Justice at the Table!

Saturday January 26, 2008
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Faith Lutheran Church, 2750 McLeod Rd., Bellingham, WA
(On the corner of NW Ave. and McLeod)

Call 360-738-0893 to reserve your tickets or go to www.foodjustice.org to purchase on line.

Dinner - Traditional Oaxacan Pozole and warm Fruit Ponche $15 a plate, $10 students/seniors, $5 Child's Plate (under 12) This is a special treat! Chicken Pozole with that Oaxacan mole touch and we will have a vegetarian version. The fruit ponche is made from a combination of guayaba, sugar cane, tamarind, citrus fruits, plums, cinnamon, cloves and other delights all simmered slowly and blended into a delicious drink - a traditional way to welcome the new year in Mexico.

Program - Panel and Dialogue
Las Margaritas will not be in the kitchen during dinner! They will be presenting an opportunity to community folks by telling their stories and their plans for their future in Whatcom County. You will be able to dialogue with them about immigration reform, how the group Las Margaritas came to be, why they cook, why ponche is so important and more.

"De Colores" Youth Guitar Ensemble
Come and meet the new beginning class, an amazing group of ten year olds as they play with the seasoned intermediate performers. Listen to their new repertoire!

We invite you to join Las Margaritas and the "De Colores" Youth Guitar Ensemble at this fundraising dinner to help support the Aguila del Norte Immigrant Justice Project. All funds will be used for providing assistance to immigrant families, such as interpreting, legal fees, transportation, photocopying know your rights materials, day care and much more.

The Farm Bill has some upcoming call-in days this week. The Farm Bill is a critical anti-hunger piece of legislation. Food Stamps is one of the many anti-hunger programs controlled by the Farm Bill. Please consider calling Rick Larsen and asking him to support H.R. 2129 (information below) to help make more food stamps available to more people. You can reach Rick Larsen by calling 800-965-4298.

Summary of McGovern/Emerson "Feeding America's Families Act" (H.R. 2129) http://www.frac.org/Legislative/farmBill2007/06.23.05.html FRAC's Farm Bill Reauthorization Center | http://www.frac.org/pdf/FAF_ActText07.pdf Full Text of the Feeding America's Families Act | FRAC's Statement

The McGovern/Emerson "Feeding America's Families Act" (H.R. 2129) would make a significant difference for families facing a constant struggle against hunger by improving access to the Food Stamp Program, increasing the adequacy of food stamp benefits, and bolstering the emergency food assistance system. It invests $20 billion in new five-year funding.

Increase Food Stamp Benefit Levels
* Rolls back the two significant across the board cuts enacted in 1996. Maximum benefits would be restored to 103% of the Thrifty Food Plan and the standard deduction would be returned to the 1996 levels, and indexed annually to stop all future benefit erosion. When fully phased-in, the typical working family of three would see a $37 per month benefit increase.
* Help vulnerable people stuck at the monthly minimum benefit level (raising it from $10 to $32)
* Address particular families' needs by letting families deduct the full amount of their child care expenses, and not counting military combat pay against food stamp eligibility.

Increase Food Stamp Access
* Improve resource rules by raising asset limits and indexing them as well as exempting retirement and certain education funds from counting against financial resources.
* Provide food stamp benefits to hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants, including by eliminating a five-year waiting period that now affects many adults.
* Repeal the arbitrary time limit on food stamp eligibility for jobless, childless adults.
* Give states greater flexibility to provide food stamps to individuals reentering society.
* Extend to more clients, especially elderly, the 2002 Farm Bill state option for simplifying client reporting on changes in income and circumstances.

Food Stamp Bonuses and Grants
* Increase funds for participation grants and state bonuses for effective operations; support state expenses to test program improvements; give states an enhanced match for Disaster Food Stamp Program costs; support state efforts to expand use of food stamps at farmers' markets.

Emergency Feeding and Other Programs
* Increase to $250 million a year and index for inflation mandatory funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); provide extra money for transportation of perishable food.
* Reauthorize the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), reauthorize the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR); authorize and fund the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows and Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program; reauthorize and index for inflation Community Food Security project grants; establish grants for community-based anti-hunger efforts.

Hunger Awareness Day is Tuesday June 5th.

WHAT IS HUNGER AWARENESS DAY?
On June 5, 2007 communities across the country will remember more than 35 million Americans suffering from hunger or food insecurity by recognizing Hunger Awareness Day. Since 2002, Hunger Awareness Day has provided an opportunity for everyone in the United States to unite in support for one of the most solvable social issues in this country—hunger.

"Hunger should have no place at our table. It is inconsistent with our commitment to human rights and objectionable to the American values of fairness, opportunity, family and community."
Millennium Declaration to End Hunger in America December 2003
The Declaration outlines the causes and costs of hunger in the United States. Click here to view the Millennium Declaration to End Hunger in America. http://www.alliancetoendhunger.org/pdfs/millennium_declaration.pdf

A Blueprint to End Hunger-Details Policies and Actions to Solve Problem Affecting 35 Million People Whether an individual,staff at a school or University,part of a club or group, a business owner, employee, member or volunteer of a local nonprofit organization,or representative of local government,there's something YOU can do to help end hunger in our community and our world. To see a list of specific actions you can take, view The Blueprint http://www.alliancetoendhunger.org/blueprint_to_end_hunger.htm

2007 HUMAN RACE
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Maritime Heritage Park
8:45 am - Registration and Check-In 10:00 am - Race Start
The Human Race combines the options of a 5K walk or 5K/10K run sponsored by the Whatcom Volunteer Center and local businesses to raise funds for nonprofits. Individuals and groups collect donations for their favorite cause. The celebration culminates with a complimentary lunch, prizes, and entertainment! We hope to see you in 2007!!
How Does It Work? * Stop by the Volunteer Center to receive a packet. * Collect donations from friends for your favorite nonprofit. * Walk, run or bike and enjoy being part of The Human Race! Designated nonprofit organizations receive 75% of the donations collected and the Whatcom Volunteer Center receives 25% to use for connecting volunteers with nonprofits throughout the year.

Small Potatoes Gleaning Project Annual Volunteer Meeting and Potluck
To find out how to get involved please join us for Small Potatoes Gleaning Project's Annual Volunteer Meeting and Potluck
Friday, May 18th 6-9pm at the
WECU Education Center
511 East Holly Street
Bellingham,WA
Meeting at 6pm, potluck following.

For more information on volunteering call 738-0690

Martin Luther King Jr.,
9th annual Human Rights Conference
Saturday January 13, 2007 8:30am - 4pm Whatcom Community College's Syre Center
Teaching As If Democracy Matters

Food Justice 2:30-4:00 pm in room 216. We'll be showing the following film, and will have additional info, short discussion following. (Also presenting will be Moka Joe Coffee on Fair Trade)

America Needs Human Rights: A Food First Video

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations to establish universal standards and aspirations for human dignity. Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were instrumental in the drafting of the new 'second bill of rights,' which declared civil-political and economic-social rights to be universal and indivisible, and guaranteed food, housing, and a minimum standard of living as basic human rights. Fifty years later America is not living up to its commitments under the UDHR.
Told in the voices of welfare mothers, homeless men and women, low-wage workers, seniors, veterans, and health care workers, America Needs Human Rights uses a human rights framework to portray the social ills of contemporary America and lay the basis for a powerful movement for fundamental change. VHS, color, 23 minutes

The 2007 Farm-and Food -Bill
Why YOU should care
Featuring speaker Thomas Forster
(Thomas Forster serves as Policy Director for the Community Food Security Coalition, a national organization with over 325 members. Building on precedents set in the Farm Bill, he worked closely with advocates and Congressional offices to authorize "Farm to Cafeteria" in 2004, the first federal policy supporting local purchase of foods by institutions participating in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.)

Thursday, February 15 3:30-5:00pm Locally sourced refreshments!
Space is limited. Call Rio @ 966-2533, or email glean@openaccess.org for more information, and to reserve a spot
Event co-hosted by Small Potatoes Gleaning Project and Community to Community Development
Thanks to sponsorship from The Community Food Coop The farm bill is about so much more than just farming.

The farm bill affects us all, as it determines both the quality and quantity of food grown, and who gets to eat healthy food.

Small Potatoes Gleaning Project was chosen as one of ten Who Cared in 2006.
Bellingham Herald 10 WHO CARED This is the first of 10 profiles of people who made a difference in Whatcom County in the past year. The people we are highlighting have given something special in 2006, and in many cases for years previous, in order to make our community a better place to live. We salute every one of our 10 Who Cared and thank them for their contributions.
Read full article www.bellinghamherald.com/265/story/44564.html

Small Potatoes Gleaning Project
2518 Central Rd
Everson,WA
(360) 966-2533
www.gleaningproject.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS: Rio Thomas (360) 966-2533 glean@openaccess.org

Small Potatoes Gleaning Project Joins 350 Organizations in Calling for Farm Bill Reform New Policies Would Promote Healthy Farms and Communities

Everson, WA (January 23, 2007) - Small Potatoes Gleaning Project joined a broad national coalition of over 350 organizations endorsing the Farm and Food Policy Project's report Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy that was released yesterday. The report presents a comprehensive set of new policy proposals aimed at reducing hunger and soaring obesity rates; promoting entrepreneurship and economic development in farm and rural communities; encouraging local food production; providing incentives for more environmentally-friendly farming practices; and reducing barriers for youth, women, and people of color to entering farming. (A full copy of the report can be found at www.farmandfoodproject.org)

Small Potatoes Gleaning project is a member of The Community Food Security Coalition, which has worked with dozens of organizations over the past two years shaping specific initiatives within the report that are designed to reduce domestic hunger and improve the food security and health of the nation's communities. Linda Berlin, University of Vermont Nutrition Specialist and CFSC spokesperson said, "The first measure of a healthy food system and responsible society is its capacity to provide for the nutritional needs of all its members. With 35 million hungry or food insecure Americans and over 60 per cent of our citizens overweight or obese, our public policies are failing to act responsibly."

A companion document to the FFPP report titled Healthy Food and Communities Initiatives, that was authored by the Community Food Security Coalition, a national non-profit organization, details proposals to increase the consumption of healthy food, improve marketing opportunities for small and mid-scale family farms, and expand the capacity of public institutions like schools to procure and offer locally produced food.

"Childhood obesity rates are climbing dramatically and threaten to shorten the life span of this generation of children," said Andy Fisher, executive director of the Community Food Security Coalition "Our public policies are leaving behind an irresponsible legacy of poor health, lost farms, and failed communities."

The Healthy Farms and Communities Initiatives proposes expanding the highly successful Community Food Project Competitive Grant Program to $60.5 million (now funded at $5 million per year in the current Farm Bill) to increase the ability of lower income communities to meet a larger share of their own food needs; begin a $45 million program to assist limited resource farmers to increase their production and marketing capabilities for local and regional markets; and expand and broaden such programs as the Farmers Market Nutrition Program and Food Stamp Program to improve the delivery of healthy and affordable food.

ABOUT Small Potatoes Gleaning Project: Small Potatoes Gleaning Project is a local project of Community to Community Development's Food Justice Alliance. Our mission is to contribute to the development of a local food system, focusing on increasing access to nutritious produce through gleaning and market retrievals, educational outreach, and promoting food self-reliance. We envision a "food secure" Whatcom County, in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable local food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice.

The farm bill is about so much more than just farming. The farm bill affects us all, as it determines both the quality and quantity of food grown, and who gets to eat healthy food.

If you'd like to learn more, see event announcement for upcoming forum: The 2007 Farm-and Food -Bill Why YOU should care

"Hunger does not just happen in a nation with more than enough food to feed itself and a good part of the world. Hunger occurs because policies either produce it or fail to prevent it" -Physician Task Force on Hunger in America