RAFI E-Bulletin
The Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA

July 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:

  • UN Recognizes Organic as Solution for Food Security
  • Justice for Immigrant Farmers
  • Agricultural Justice Project Label Launch
  • Relieving Hunger and Supporting Local Farms
  • Reinvesting in Happy Land
  • Annual Report Available Online
  • Goodsearch for Farmers

    • UN Recognizes Organic as Solution for Food Security

    Last month, the United Nations held a conference in Italy on organic agriculture as a key to creating food security around the world.

    Organic agriculture requires only knowledge and access to local resources like land and seed. Organic farming is ideal for resource-poor farmers.

    Crop diversity enables organic farms to withstand environmental and climate change. Soils actually improve in fertility and water retention over time, making organic farms sustainable long-term. Crop yields also increase over time.

    For more information, read Organic Agriculture and Access to Food, presented at the conference by RAFI staff.

    Justice for Immigrant Farmers

    In Arkansas and Oklahoma , contract poultry farms are increasingly owned by Hmong immigrants. These farmers saved for decades to be able to return to a farming life after fleeing their Vietnamese homeland. Now they are fighting, once again, to feed their families and keep their land.

    RAFI provides these farmers with support and training. Now we need your help.

    We need you to ask Congress to allow farmers to restructure their debt, limit the excessive amount of collateral some banks are controlling, and fund programs that would reduce the interest rate farmers have to pay.

    Please sign your name to a letter to your senators asking them to resolve this situation. 

    Agricultural Justice Project Label Launch

    Carlos Diaz and Jose Arturo Zavala, Board Members of the Comité de Apoyo a los Traba-jadores Agrícolas / Farmworker Support Committee with workers at an AJP pilot farm in Wisconsin. 2007 Agricultural Justice Project.In July, RAFI and the Agricultural Justice Project will make history by launching a food label that guarantees fairness for farmers and farmworkers alike.

    All AJP farms are also certified organic. Consumers can be confident that AJP guarantees environmental and social responsibility. 

    AJP will also pilot a label that certifies the entire food production chain from farmworker to grocery clerk.

    July marks the label's pilot launch. Shoppers in several Minnesota co-ops will find food labeled "Local Fair Trade - Meets Agricultural Justice Project Standards."

    Look for more information on this launch in upcoming e-bulletins.

    Photo: Carlos Diaz and Jose Arturo Zavala, Board Members of the Comité de Apoyo a los Traba-jadores Agrícolas / Farmworker Support Committee with workers at an AJP pilot farm in Wisconsin . 2007 Agricultural Justice Project.

    Relieving Hunger and Supporting Local Farms

    In the March e-bulletin, we announced “Come to the Table: A Conference on Food, Faith and Farms.” Come to the Table now is an ongoing project, in which RAFI is an active partner.

    Come to the Table works with people of faith in North Carolina to relieve hunger and sustain local agriculture in our state. The project is currently convening regional committees to address these issues.

    For more information on Come to the Table, visit the Web site. For information about serving on a regional committee, e-mail us.

    Reinvesting in Happy Land

    Now you can see (and hear) RAFI in action on the Internet. A new multimedia Web project features RAFI’s Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund.

    Visit Small Town Fortunes to see pictures, read a story and listen to an interview with Harold Wright.

    Wright is owner of Happy Land Farms, a leader in the rural community and recipient of a RAFI - TCRF cost-share grant. 

    TCRF is a RAFI project that revitalizes North Carolina's rural economy by providing financial and technical assistance to innovative farmers. It was featured in last month’s e-bulletin.

    Annual Report Available Online

    Do you hunger for in-depth information on what RAFI has been up to? Then the RAFI Annual Report is for you. Information on RAFI’s 2006 accomplishments is now available in PDF on our Web site or in hard copy by calling (919) 542-1396.

    Goodsearch for Farmers

    Supporting RAFI is now as easy as searching the internet. Goodsearch gives a small amount per search to your selected nonprofit. Simply type “RAFI” into the “Who do you Goodsearch for?” box on the site, and search away.

    The RAFI-USA e-Bulletin is produced by Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA

    If you have questions or comments, let us know at communicator@rafiusa.org.
    Copyright 2007, RAFI-USA.

    For back issues of the bulletin, see the RAFI- USA e-Bulletins page or call (919) 542-1396. You can search our site to find information in back issues.

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