---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Frank Tamborello <fr...@hungeractionla.org> Date: Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 8:59 PM Subject: food justice news march 27 To: food-advoca...@aumlist.com
*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! **** *Follow us *on Twitter @HungerActionLA . Welcome to all the new people on the list: please respond to fr...@hungeractionla.org if you wish to use a different e mail or be removed**** Like our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hunger-Action-Los-Angeles/133467296826961 , replacing the old, rickety page that gave people access to my private account!**** ** ** ** ** *March 27, 2013: * * * ***1. ****Hunger Action LA Training April 26: Lets End the Criminalization of Poverty * ***2. ****Cornerstone Theater Presents Lunch Lady Courage March 28-April 13 * ***3. ****How WIC (Temporarily At Least) Beat The Sequester * ***4. ****The Monsanto Protection Act : US Congress Caves In To GE Food Pushers* ***5. ****Homeless Vet Ticketed Over A Donut In The Trash * ***6. ****Advocates Call for Restoration of CalWORKs * ***7. ****Minnesota Launches Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program * ***8. ****Healthy Food Just Aint Our Thing * ***9. ****Support Sick Days for Workers 10. **Fighting for Living Wage in DC*** ** ** ************************************** * * *1. Hunger Action LA Training April 26: Lets End the Criminalization of Poverty* **** ** ** The next HALA Monthly Meeting, Friday April 26 at LAANE , 464 S Lucas, from 10 am to 12 noon will be a training on the current California proposals aimed at ending the criminalization of poverty, including but not limited to AB 5 (the Homeless Bill of Rights) and SB 283 (the Successful Re-Entry and Access to Jobs bill). The training will not just cover bill information, but how to successfully communicate with your public officials, the media, and your friends and neighbors about important issues such as these.**** SB 283 has a Facebook page you should check out:**** https://www.facebook.com/pages/Successful-Re-entry-SB-283/227210493968835 ** ** ** ** ******************************************* ** ** *2. Cornerstone Theater Presents Lunch Lady Courage March 28-April 13***** * * >From our colleague Elizabeth Medrano of the Healthy School Food Coalition: I would like to invite, to encourage you, to go see Lunch Lady Courage, a play by Cornerstone Theater Company.**** ** ** In the fall of 2012 I met Peter Howard from Cornerstone and shared about the work we do on school food policy in LAUSD. He came with me to schools to meet parents. Then he followed me, notebook and pen in hand to meetings with teachers and Cafeteria visits. The idea was to have a deeper understanding about school food, to talk about it and to share it with others through theater. It is such an honor and delight to see school food and cafeterias as a central focus of this play, the third in The Hunger Cycle Plays by Cornerstone.**** ** ** This play not only elevates the conversation about school food, but it educates the audience and brings about the varied complex perspectives school folk, and others, have about food, nutrition and health. In addition, this play has the direct participation of students as most of the cast are LA High School for the Arts (LAHSA) students! What a great and appealing combo school food, youth and art! What a taste!**** ** ** TELL EVERYONE you know and COME OUT together to the Cocoanut Grove Theater at the Robert F. Kennedy Campus.**** ** ** THE PLAY: When Ana, aka Lunch Lady Courage, arrives at an urban campus with her food cart of healthy Grab n Go meals, she doesnt expect to find a shadow economy. Donuts and candy sales raise funds for student clubs, an enterprising student peddles homemade tortas from his backpack, and a teacher sells Hot Cheetos to pay for classroom necessities.Inspired by Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and her Children and the people working and learning in Los Angeles schools, Lunch Lady Courage explores what happens when one cafeteria worker battles for the future and health of her own children, and the hundreds she serves every day.**** ** ** *Performances:* March 28, 2013 April 13, 2013 Thursdays Saturdays @ 7:30 PM**** Student Performances: Wednesdays April 3 & April 10 @ 4:30 p.m.**** *Location:* Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Cocoanut Grove Theatre*** * 701 S. Catalina St. Los Angeles, CA 90005**** Tickets and More Details about Parking, etc:**** http://cornerstonetheater.org/lunchladycourage/**** https://cornerstone.secure.force.com/ticket**** ***************************************************************** *3. How WIC (Temporarily At Least) Beat The Sequester* * * >From California WIC Association: With a week to spare, Congress passed the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013 replacing the expiring Continuing Resolution and funding WIC at a higher allocation of $6.869 billion through September 30, 2013. The new WIC appropriation raises the base upon which WIC sequestration cuts are imposed. When combined with WIC contingency funds, unspent SNAP transfer and reallocation funds, state WIC programs will be able to serve all participants without cuts or waiting lists. More good news: the bill also provides for $58.5 million for breastfeeding peer counselors, independent of meeting caseload needs, contrary to what we previously reported!**** ** ** So in spite of the sequester and its artificially created crisis resulting from political gamesmanship over true governance, a way was found to at least temporarily salvage the funding for this critical and almost universally popular program that promotes healthy eating from a childs Day One, and reduces health care costs all across the board.**** ** ** Around October, though, the kids in Congress will want to play again .so stay tuned.**** ** ** ************************************************ *4. The Monsanto Protection Act : US Congress Caves In To GE Food Pushers* * * The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week - including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks.**** The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the Monsanto Protection Act, as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns.**** ** ** The provision, also decried as a biotech rider, should have gone through the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees for review. Instead, no hearings were held, and the piece was evidently unknown to most Democrats (who hold the majority in the Senate) prior to its approval as part of HR 993, the short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown.**** http://rt.com/usa/monsanto-congress-silently-slips-830/**** ** ** **************************************************** *5. Homeless Vet Ticketed Over A Donut In The Trash* There has been a lot of discussion about the proposed Homeless Bill of Rights, AB 5, and a lot of misinformation about what it will do, unfortunately being spread by such media giants as the LA Times. The following story from Houston shows the kind of situation that the Homeless Bill of Rights is intended to prevent. **** James Kelly <http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/51147547/#51147547>was just hoping to retrieve a discarded donut from the trash. But the homeless Houston man was served a ticket instead. The Navy veteran was cited on March 7 for disturbing the contents of a garbage can,<http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/51147547/#51147547>because he had been rummaging through the bin for something to eat, KPRC reports. Outraged activists have stepped forward to support Kelly, including the ACLU, which is going to represent him in court, free of charge. **** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/james-kelly-homeless-ticketed_n_2869113.html **** AB 5 would establish equal rights for the homeless in California---not special rights. Contrary to some beliefs, it wouldnt permit anyone to block sidewalks, harass people on the street, urinate and defecate publicly, allow homeless people to interfere with local business operations, or infringe on landlords property rights. It would protect homeless peoples right to use public spaces, prevent them from being targeted by police and private security just for appearing homeless, protect their property, and require local government to report on enforcement of quality of life offenses. **** ********************************************** *6. Advocates Call for Restoration of CalWORKs* * * CalWORKs, the cash assistance program for poor families with children, has been the target of Women and Children First cuts in the California state budget for many years, regardless of its impact on families and the resultant increase in homelessness and hunger experienced by them. **** With the Governors optimistic budget projecting Californias first surplus in over a decade, advocates are pushing to have some of the value of the monthly CalWORKs payments raised back to a halfway sufficient level. CalWORKs only accounts for 3% of the state budget, and payments to families in 2013 are worth only 46% of the 1989 grant payment, after adjusting for inflation (See California Budget Project excellent power point Cuts and Consequences http://www.cbp.org/documents/120224_CalWORKs_KeyFacts.pdf )*** * ** ** Heres a radio clip from a rally at the State Capitol on March 13 calling for restoration of some of the benefits that have been cut out of CalWORKs over the last several years, due to state budget quandaries.**** http://soundcloud.com/kpfa-fm-94-1-berkeley/welfare-advocates-call-for-cal** ** * * ******************************************************* *7. Minnesota Launches Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program* * * Hunger Action LAs Market Match program is one of ten programs around California that offer SNAP participants (and others including SSI recipients) an extra $5 for fruits and vegetables, at participating farmers markets. Michigan, Louisiana, and some New England states have similar programs. All are run by private organizations at this time. **** Minnesota has become the first state to launch a fruit and vegetable incentive program at grocery stores:**** State officials (in Minnesota) are launching a pilot program to encourage food stamp recipients to eat more fruits and vegetables. **** Starting in June, food stamp customers at select grocery stores in Minnesota will get a $5 coupon for fruits and vegetables. They'll be able to use that coupon during their next visit to the grocery store. **** http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/03/05/news/fruits-veggies-food-stamp-recipients?refid=0 **** Seems like the Market Match idea is catching on, and one day could lead the federal government to pay as much attention to fruits and vegetables (and how to bring their price down) as they do to grains and meat. **** Because when the unhealthy foods we crave cost less on top of being more accessible, well need every incentive we can get .**** ** ** ************************************************** *8. Healthy Food Just Aint Our Thing* * * This shouldnt surprise anyone, but its a reminder of the market forces advocates for healthier diets are up against:**** ** ** Andy Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, told The Los Angeles Times that he isn't interested in making his menus healthier. Selling 20 times more bacon cheeseburgers with 740 calories than barbecue chicken sandwiches with 390 calories, Puzder plans to continue to provide the foods that his customers want most.**** ** ** "It's not our personality and it won't become our personality," Puzder told The Los Angeles Times when asked about the healthy food craze. "All of our products are indulgent, decadent." Despite the obesity problem plaguing the entire country, Puzder has remained firm that it is not the fast food industry's place to tell people what they can and cannot eat."We're not the food police," he said in an interview with the New Zealand Herald.**** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/fast-food-healthy-food-hardees-carls-jr_n_2891489.html **** ** ** .But some message about soda is getting through. Total sales volume of soda declined 1.2% last year, continuing on a third year of decline. **** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/soda-sales-declining-pace_n_2950993.html **** ********************************************** **** ** ** *9. Support Sick Days for Workers* * * >From Restaurant Opportunities Center: On March 20th, The Healthy Families Act was introduced by Rep. DeLauro and Sen. Harkin. The HFA guarantees workers seven paid sick days a year. We need your help to build this bill's co-sponsors! **** A full forty percent of private-sector American workers have no access to paid sick days meaning that they cannot miss a day of work without risking a days pay or even their job. When illness or emergencies strike, millions of hardworking people must make an impossible choice between the job they need and their or their families health and well-being. - Senator Tom Harkin, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. **** *Please let your elected officials know you support the Healthy Families Act **here*<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6bP6pmEe9%2FRBkyOx5iGHOHWP7DVLDLIu> *. * * * * * ******************************************** * * * * *10. Fighting for Living Wage in DC* In DC, a proposal that would raise the minimum wage to $11.75 in businesses that operate in indoor spaces of more than 75,000 square feet and have corporate parents with annual sales of at least $1 billion (WalMart, Costco, and Home Depot) has created controversy brewing from the tension between the citys desire to have big retailer/employers, and workers desire to have a living wage in an area thats becoming more expensive:**** http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-panel-hears-testimony-on-living-wage-bill-targeting-large-retailers/2013/03/20/ccd8bb44-917b-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html **** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Frank Tamborello**** Hunger Action Los Angeles**** 961 S. Mariposa #205**** Los Angeles CA 90006**** 213-388-8228**** fr...@hungeractionla.org**** -- JAI RAC-LA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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