Category Archives: Food Justice

“India is Great” But is it Sustainable? A Call for Environmental Democracy at Rio+20

By Alisa Zomer  |  May 17, 2012

Annual meeting of women’s cooperatives near Jaipur, India (Photo: Alisa Zomer)

Boldly painted on the sides and rears of many TATA trucks and tractors are the words “INDIA IS GREAT.” Alongside an open lotus flower, symbolizing purity, these words hold true on a number of levels.

First, India is great in terms of the country’s size and diversity of natural resources. India is the world’s largest democracy, has one of the fastest growing economies, and is home to over one-seventh of the world’s population. India is also great in terms of its rich history and culture, as well as the country’s current position as a leader in world politics, especially in the Global South. Read More »

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A Foodie’s Take on the Farm Bill

By Marissa Miley Friedman  |  May 11, 2012

Originally posted on the Global Circle blog.

I think of myself as a foodie. Maybe not a spend-25%-of-my-salary-on-pickled-lamb-tongue omnivore—not even someone who would choose pickled lamb tongue off the menu—but someone who buys organic, goes to the farmer’s market on Sundays, and appreciates not only how my food tastes, but how it was grown, made, packaged and sold. I also read enough to know that the story of how my food got to my plate is hardly straightforward, shaped by a tangled web of political, economic, and cultural forces. (Global ones, too: just see where your salad comes from.) Read More »

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Congressional Meetings for a Just Farm Bill: Part 2

By Benjamin D. Singer  |  April 14, 2012

Farm Bill debates are picking up in Washington, so now is the time to reach out to members of Congress and share our vision for a just Farm Bill. People committed to AJWS’s work in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago have been organizing other AJWS supporters and activists to participate in meetings with congressional representatives. These meetings are a rare and exciting opportunity to speak directly with elected officials to ensure that our voices heard. Benjamin Singer shared he thoughts about his meeting with senators in Chicago…

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Congressional Meetings for a Just Farm Bill: Part 1

By Alexa Weitzman  |  April 12, 2012

Farm Bill debates are picking up in Washington, so now is the time to reach out to members of Congress and share our vision for a just Farm Bill. People committed to AJWS’s work in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago have been organizing other AJWS supporters and activists to participate in meetings with congressional representatives. These meetings are a rare and exciting opportunity to speak directly with elected officials to ensure that our voices heard. Alexa Weitzman shared her thoughts about her meeting with Congressman Turner in Queens, New York…

Read More »

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Hunger is Not a Game

By Hadassah Max  |  March 21, 2012

Fans of The Hunger Games—you know who you are—are getting excited for the movie version of the first of Suzanne Collins’s trilogy of young adult novels. The film arrives in theaters this weekend. (Midnight or 3 a.m. IMAX screening, anyone?) We want to doff our hat to Oxfam—one of our friends in the campaign to end global hunger—for partnering with the HPA (that’s the Harry Potter Alliance) and its Imagine Better Project; a project to harness the energy around The Hunger Games to help fight, well… hunger. This really seems to be “catching fire” (insider Hunger Games, reference—sorry!) and we look forward to hearing more about the campaign’s performance in the coming weeks. Read all the details about this over at The New York Times.

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Advocating for a Just Farm Bill on Capitol Hill

By Ilan Caplan  |  March 1, 2012

Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot.

“This just makes common sense, and—I think—it makes Jewish sense.”

That is how Timi Gerson of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), closed the House of Representatives policy briefing organized by the Jewish Working Group for a Just Farm Bill.

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From a Village in Uganda to the Halls of Congress: My Path to Jewish Global Citizenship

By Izzy Parilis  |  February 28, 2012

Volunteer Summer participants advocate for a just Farm Bill in Congress

When I applied for AJWS’s Volunteer Summer program in Uganda, I knew that my stay in Ramogi Village would be temporary: seven weeks of volunteering, cultural exchange, education and travel. I never predicted that the experience would permanently impact the way I live my life—then, as a regular college student, and now as a proud Jewish global citizen.

On Monday, February 27th, I joined over 40 AJWS alumni to lobby Congress to reform the 2012 U.S. Farm Bill and create a more flexible and sustainable approach to international food aid.

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Chewing On Food Justice: Rocking the Farm Bill

By Katy Schwalbe  |  February 6, 2012

Pursue's event "Chewing on Food Justice: The Farm Bill and You" - New York City, February 2012

Originally published on Pursue: Action for a Just World.

If you are of a certain age (let’s say born between 1970 and 1985), I suspect there’s a better than average chance that your introduction to the American lawmaking process came courtesy of an animated and singing piece of legislation. This plucky bill overcame his fear of Death by Committee and his long, long trip to Capitol City to get signed into law, while in the process demystifying the legislative process for a generation of young viewers.

If you’ve been following recent discussion over the 2012 Farm Bill, you might notice a few things that differ from the Schoolhouse Rock account. Our paper protagonist never contended with sinister lobbyists or smoky back room deals–not to mention concerned citizens who want bills to reflect their faith and values. Fortunately, no such omissions were made at last Monday’s Chewing on Food Justice: The Farm Bill and You event, where the Pursue team assembled an impressive coterie of experts on the Farm Bill to educate and inspire the assembled crowd. Read More »

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The Global Giggle: Ryan Gosling’s Love for International Development (and My Love for Ryan Gosling)

By Julie Gersten  |  January 23, 2012

This is the first installment of “The Global Giggle,” a series of posts that capture the funny side of global justice… because we can’t be serious all the time. Right?

For those of us who work in the field of international development, sometimes the problems can seem so huge and so insurmountable that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Sometimes we just need to remember to laugh a little, and not take ourselves too seriously. I was recently reminded of this by none other than… Ryan Gosling. (My favorite: “Hey Girl. Your love is like subsistence agriculture. You’re all I need to survive.”)

For all the jargon and technicality that pervades international development work, it is sometimes important to remember that, in the end, our success depends on building respectful and trustworthy relationships. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my husband’s sake), it’ll never depend on my relationship with Ryan Gosling.

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Jews vs. The Farm Bill

By Leah Kaplan Robins  |  January 20, 2012

Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot.

AJWS President Ruth Messinger supporting local agriculture in Kenya.

The issue inspiring the latest Jewish political movement won’t surprise readers of this blog—but it might cause some head scratching among the rest of the Jewish community. It isn’t Israel or the 99%. Nope, it’s… the U.S. Farm Bill!

While it may seem like an unlikely target for a swell of Jewish activism, the Farm Bill—which dictates U.S. law on everything from agriculture to food stamps to biofuels—is packed with policies that go against the grain of Jewish ethics. The bill is up for debate and reauthorization this year, and six Jewish organizations are seizing the opportunity to call for reforms that they feel will go a long way toward achieving their Torah-inspired visions of food justice.

Even though they’re each tackling a different aspect of the bill, they’ve recently joined forces to maximize their power and mobilize their constituents toward a common goal. Read More »

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