---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Frank Tamborello <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 10:38 PM Subject: urban ag alert and other news To: [email protected]
*To All Those Interested in Food and Justice... * A (usually) weekly update on food issues, promoting access to sufficient, affordable, healthy food ---with a focus on campaigns you can become active in! **** Welcome to all the new people on the list. If you wish to respond, or use a different e mail, or be removed from the list, please respond to [email protected] . DO NOT reply to THIS email: it wont go anywhere. Use [email protected] <[email protected]> <[email protected]> **** *Follow us *on Twitter @HungerActionLA . **** Like our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hunger-Action-Los-Angeles/133467296826961 <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hunger-Action-Los-Angeles/133467296826961>** ** *2013-2014 Peoples Guide is here!* Place your order at [email protected] . This 72-pg booklet covers rights, responsibilities, who qualifies, and how to access financial assistance, free and low cost food, health care, housing, and other services in Los Angeles County. Spanish version also available beginning Sept. 1. $1.25 per copy: inquire about discounts for orders over 10. See last years version for a sample www.hungeractionla.org/peoplesguide **** *August 2, 2013:***** ***1. ****Urban Ag Issues Rising in Los Angeles* ***2. ****Farmers Market Week August 4-August 10* ***3. ****Latest on Farm Bill: House Wants to Cut $40 Billion from SNAP* ***4. ****Teen Setting Example for Food Rescue* ************************************** *1.Urban Ag Issues Rising in Los Angeles***** * * >From urban ag advocate Dan Allen of Farmscape:**** ** ** Dear Urban Ag Advocates:**** As you know, we have been working for two years to expand the list of edible plants allowed in resident parkways. Recently, two more residents were cited by the City and Steve Lopez has highlighted the issue in a recent LA Times article: **** http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0731-lopez-gardencops-20130731,0,5680891.column **** ** ** Momentum is continuing to build but we NEED YOUR HELP!**** The "Edible Parkways" motion (#13-0478) introduced by Council President Wesson asks staff at the Bureau of Public Works to report on ways to include more edible plants on the city's "standards" list. Anything that is "standard" can be planted without a permit. **** Public Works staff has said they are almost finished with their report and recommendations. Next, staff will report to the Commissioners of the Board of Public Works BEFORE it goes back to City Council. The Mayor JUST appointed all new Commissioners, who were sworn in yesterday. **** ** ** In addition to City Council members, we urge you to reach out to the Commissioners at the Board of Public Works. Because the Commissioners are new, they will be facing a ton of issues as they get started. This needs to be elevated to a top priority for them. This wont happen unless they hear from all of us who care about this issue. **** ** ** Their contact information is available here: http://bpw.lacity.org/Secretariat/SecretariatContacts.html **** The main asks are:**** 1) Schedule review of staff recommendations on this motion at the Board of Public Works and City Council immediately!**** 2) Include as many edible plants as possible on the City's landscaping standards list. All recommendations should honor the purpose of the motion in the first place: to encourage and promote food growing in the city! **** 3) If there are edible plants that can't be "standard" due to liability concerns (height, obstruction, excessive water use, pests, etc.) then there needs to be a way to waive the permit fee (currently $400) or provide a much more affordable option.**** If you have any questions, please contact Francesca at [email protected] **** ** ** ************************************************* * * *2. Farmers Market Week August 4-August 10* * * National Farmers Market Week begins this Sunday, August 4 and runs through Saturday, August 10. Its a time to celebrate markets as venues for seeing our friends, buying good food, trying out new vegetables, buying brown eggs twice as big as store bought eggs, getting to meet the people who grow our food, and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of an open-air market. And this being the food justice update, time to share some resources on the farmers markets:**** ** ** **· **The Ecology Center in collaboration with LA Countys Department of Public Social Services has an excellent map where you can locate all the markets that accept CalFresh benefits. An 800 number with the same information is being included in a mailing to all CalFresh participants in LA County**** www.ecologycenter.org/fmfinder, 800-962-8217**** ** ** **· **And of course Hunger Action LA is sponsoring the Market Match program at 12 markets in LA County (Adams/Vermont, Altadena, East Hollywood, East LA, Gardena, Huntington Park, Long Beach (3 markets), Mar Vista, Monterey Park, and Santa Monica (Pico). www.hungeractionla.org/marketmatch. The Long Beach Downtown market had to move a few blocks away from its usual location, and will be looking for a new home altogether soon**** **· **** ** **· **Slow Food USA: Of all food system innovations in the U.S. in the last 20 years, the resurgence of farmers markets may represent the most important DIY expression of community involvement and reinvention. Slow Food suggests some activities to celebrate the week:**** *Host a Grow Dinner* Use the five principles of Oxfams Grow Method to plan your meal (1) reduce food waste, (2) cook and buy food efficiently, (3) buy only whats in season/local, (4) reduce meat consumption, and (5) buy products that benefit small-scale producers. **** *Have a Meatless Monday* Give up meat one day a week with these top 10 seasonal recipes from our friends at Meatless Monday. Eating less meat and more nutrient-rich vegetables can help reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity and save water and fossil fuels, too. **** ** ** **************************************************** *3. Latest on Farm Bill: House Wants to Cut $40 Billion from SNAP* * * Not content with the $20 billion in cuts they proposed earlier in the year that were condemned as outrageous, the House Republicans have literally decided to double down and proposed $40 billion cuts in another attempt to pass the nutrition portion of the Farm Bill in the 20 remaining working days before the Farm Bill expires on Sept. 30. The Senate-passed farm bill would cut SNAP by just $4 billion, so the Houses cuts of ten times that amount would make for extremely difficult negotiations to say the least.**** ** ** U.S. House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., made the following statement after reports of the House Republican cuts:**** ** ** There they go again. Apparently, the Republican Leadership plans to bring up yet another political messaging bill to nowhere in an effort to try and placate the extreme right wing of their party. Clearly they have no interest in compromise or actual legislating. **** ** ** Adding an additional $20 billion in nutrition cuts, on top of the poison pill nutrition amendments that brought down the Agriculture Committees bipartisan farm bill in June, effectively kills any hopes of passing a five-year farm bill this year. **** ** ** The Health Impact Project, a Washington research group, released a study on Tuesday about the impact of the proposed cuts to the food stamp program (SNAP), using the $20 billion figure. In total, about 5.1 million people would be eliminated from the program.**** http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/politics/house-plan-on-food-stamps-would-cut-5-million-from-program.html?ref=politics **** Urge your member of Congress to sign on to a letter supporting SNAP (Many California representatives have signed the letter but check to see if yours is on the list)**** ** ** http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5118/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=11344 **** ** ** ************************************************** *4.Teen Setting Example for Food Rescue***** * * A Silver Lake teen has organized her classmates to figure out how to get around regulations making it hard to save uneaten cafeteria food, and collect the food for donation to the needy. 13-Year-Old Discovers a Way to Combat Hunger in America: McKenna Greenleaf Faulk leapt over her school districts red tape to get food to the people who needed it the most by Suzi Parker (thanks to Shane Solar-Doherty for passing this along):**** http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/07/23/teenager-combat-hunger-America*** * ** ** * * ** ** ********************************************* ** ** Frank Tamborello**** Hunger Action Los Angeles**** 961 S. Mariposa #205**** Los Angeles CA 90006**** 213-388-8228**** [email protected]**** -- JAI RAC-LA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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