DIG IN!Creative Campaigning for Food Justice

Kate and GenevieveMay 2010CUC AGM, Victoria (BC)

http://usc-canada.org/storyoffood/

A great 6 min. short animated film that can be used to help people to start thinking about what’s is wrong with our broken food system and what we can do to rebuild a healthier one.

About USC Canada... Founded in 1945, as the

Unitarian Service Committee, today, USC’s goal is...

To promote sustainable livelihoods through agro-biodiversity = Food, Farmers and a better Future

Food Bite• 1 in 6 people go to bed

hungry every night... the majority of them are rural children

• 1.4 billion people depend on the SEEDS that FARMERS SAVE

What we do abroadSeeds of Survival:• Started in 1989 in Ethiopia

after a major drought.

• Goal: To save local varieties adapted to the local climate.

• Community Seed Banks, in situ conservation, etc.

What USC does in CanadaAdvocacy:• Public Engagement events

and speakers.

• Workshops on Food Security, Youth Rights and Civil Society Advocacy.

• Support to Volunteer initiatives.

What’s the alternative? Food Sovereignty

the right of peoples to healthy and

culturally appropriate food produced through

ecologically sound and sustainable

methods, and their right to define their

own food and agriculture systems.

Nyéleni, Mali 2007, La Via Campesina

Some Campaign Actions

• Postcard campaign

• Write to MP’s, Ministers, and PM

• Rallies and speakers

• Hearings in the House and Senate

• Leading to introduction of legislation

• New social media

Canadian Food Justice Campaigns

Let’s Get Creative!

Seed Saviour

Seed Saviour

Guerilla Gardening

Guerilla Eating

Eating for Change

Eating for Change

Food Art

Spreading the Word

Spreading the Word

What else do or can we do?

One Seed at a time: the Hummingbird Story!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHtFM1XEXas

Garden Song – Peter, Paul & Mary

CHORUSInch by inch, row by rowGonna make this garden grow All it takes is a rake and a hoe andA piece of fertile ground Inch by inch, row by row Someone bless these seeds I sow Someone warm them from belowPlease keep them safe below 'Till the rain comes tumbling down

USC staff received this musical greeting from Kalahan, Timor Leste. The song is performed by young farmers in honour of USC.

They wrote the lyrics themselves: "Manilma, Manilima. Before the land was empty, but now it is full of green. And so we thank you.“

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9qc3v_wN94

THANK YOU