Alternatives

Check out these articles by and about our allies, who are creating vibrant grassroots alternatives everyday.

SEEDS OF CHANGE: SHIFTING NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL POLICIES

By Tory Field and Beverly Bell

“The only way we’re going to… change the most basic attitude of policy-makers… is for you and me to become the policy-makers, taking charge of every aspect of our food system – from farm to fork,”said Jim Hightower, the former agriculture commissioner of Texas.[i]

The need for us to become the policy-makers to create a just and sustainable food supply chain is urgent, because in the hands of the US government it has become increasingly unjust and unsustainable. Over the past 50 years, agricultural policies that once supported small- and mid-sized farmers have been whittled away. As a result, more than 100 family farms go out of business every week.[ii] The government has instead turned food production over to agribusiness and allowed large firms to buy up small producers and traders. Currently, in the pork, poultry, beef, and grain markets, the biggest four firms control more than half the market share. Three companies control 90% of the massive global grain trade.

Hundreds of Thousands March for 'Free Education' in Chile

Cross-posted from Common Dreams

By Common Dreams 

'Education should be equal for everyone, it should be free — we all have the same rights.'

- Jon Queally, staff writer

Students march during a protest to demand Chilean President Sebastian Pinera's government to improve the public education quality, in Santiago, on April 11,2013. (AFP Photo / Claudio Santana)The Chilean student movement roared back to life on Thursday, with organizers and media outlets reporting that hundreds of thousands of people joined students in the nation's streets calling for a free and quality education for all.

National Organic Board Decision a Victory for Organics, Preservation of Antibiotics: A joint statement of Consumers Union, Food & Water Watch and The Center for Food Safety

Cross-posted from Common Dreams

By the Food & Water Watch

Portland, Ore. - April 12 - Today the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) rejected a petition to extend the expiration date for the use of oxytetracycline to treat fire blight in apple and pear production beyond October 21, 2014. The decision is a victory for the organic standard and advances efforts to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics.

National Organic Board Decision a Victory for Organics, Preservation of Antibiotics: A joint statement of Consumers Union, Food & Water Watch and The Center for Food Safety

Cross-posted from Common Dreams

By the Food & Water Watch

Portland, Ore. - April 12 - Today the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) rejected a petition to extend the expiration date for the use of oxytetracycline to treat fire blight in apple and pear production beyond October 21, 2014. The decision is a victory for the organic standard and advances efforts to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Domestic Workers Sow a New Global Movement

Cross-posted from In These Times

BY MICHELLE CHEN


Members of the International Domestic Workers' Network show support for the groundbreaking International Labor Organization's Convention 189, signed in 2011.  (Courtesy of WIEGO)

In Argentina and Brazil, a sector of workers that has long labored invisibly is moving out of the shadows and gaining legal protections. Their counterparts in Jamaica and Uruguay are sparking a new political consciousness from the friction between tradition and globalization. Around the world, private homes are becoming labor's latest battleground as domestic workers stake out their rights.

Global Sustainability Forum Tells Indonesian Paper Giant: End Deforestation or Else

Cross-posted from Common Dreams 

Press Release 

JAKARTA - April 12 - The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which claims to be the "world’s foremost business association dedicated to sustainable development", today warned Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL), Indonesia’s second largest pulp and paper producer, to clean up its act. The move is a result of APRIL’s ongoing large-scale destruction of Indonesia’s rainforest.

SMALL FARMS FIGHT BACK: FOOD AND COMMUNITY SELF-GOVERNANCE

By Tory Field and Beverly Bell

Heather Retberg stood on the steps of the Blue Hill, Maine town hall surrounded by 200 people. “We are farmers,” she told the crowd, “who are supported by our friends and our neighbors who know us and trust us, and want to ensure that they maintain access to their chosen food supply.”

Blue Hill is one of a handful of small Maine towns that have been taking bold steps to protect their local food system. In 2011, they passed an ordinance exempting their local farmers and food producers from federal and state licensure requirements when these farmers sell directly to customers.

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