Slow Food Nation inspires and empowers Americans to build a food system that is good, clean and fair. The inaugural edition of Slow Food Nation takes place in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, August 29 to September 1, 2008. Over 60,000 people will come together to cultivate a Victory Garden, support a sustainable marketplace, share meals and participate in tastings, workshops, forums, films, talks, a music festival and more. The event will be an inclusive platform to allow those working in the fields of social justice, environmentalism, education and food access to engage participants, create momentum and show what “Slow Food” means in action and on the plate.

Slow Food Nation is calling for leaders in the youth food movement to contribute to and participate in a Youth Program during the event. It will be an opportunity for universitylevel students and young farmers, producers, cooks and activists to learn from mentors and peers, exchange ideas and build networks. The Youth Program will feature:

• Panels and forums to address issues in and galvanize the youth food movement;
• Workshops and networking sessions for all participants to connect in the spirit of mentorship/apprenticeship;
• A volunteer program to integrate young people into the event, e.g., cooking meals or leading school groups on tours of the Victory Garden;

http://www.ciw-online.org/2008_Petitions/index.html

The CIW is launching a national petition drive to demand that Burger King and other food industry leaders work with the CIW to improve the wages and working conditions of the workers who pick their tomatoes, and join with the CIW in an industry-wide effort to eliminate modern-day slavery and human rights abuses from Florida’s fields. The petitions will serve as notice that those who sign are “prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to do so.” The campaign comes on the 200th anniversary of the US ban against the importation of slaves, and echoes key strategies of the early abolitionist movement that helped hasten the end of slavery in the 19th century.

April 23, 2008 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT

http://www.sustainablefoodsystems.com/pdffiles/0408-local-food.pdf

Buying, preparing, and eating locally grown food has positive effects on students, the campus, the environment, and the surrounding community. Local food purchasing is also an important part of creating a campus with a sustainable future, and dining services administrators can lead the way in campus sustainability by introducing locally grown foods into their services. Join us and learn what it takes to start a local food purchasing program.

This web conference is aimed at institutions exploring local food purchasing or looking to expand their current local and sustainability initiatives. Directors of dining, dining services managers, purchasing managers, auxiliary service directors, and sustainability coordinators will benefit from attending this event.

USFT is joining forces with the California Student Sustainability Coalition to create a superconvergence! This President’s Day weekend, hundreds of youth and student leaders in the fair trade and sustainability movements will be joining us at UC Santa Cruz for a weekend of workshops, discussions, training, and fun. This conference will provide a means to:

• Develop and strengthen inter-school connections and collaboration in order to deepen and expand the Sustainable Food & Fair Trade movement

The Real Food Challenge will employ a regional organizer at each of its 7 regional hubs, beginning with the Northeast and California in 2008 and extending to all regions by 2010. The Regional Organizer will play a critical role in the regional hub model of RFC, increasing RFC visibility and student participation and building the relationships that will be the core of our success.

We are seeking motivated individuals to become coordinators for the Southwest, Northwest, Midwest, and Southeast regions. It is a part-time, paid position.

From beets in January to chilies in December, this beautiful calendar wows with every month. Offering nude bodies dressed with seasonal, locally grown fruits and vegetables from the northeast, ripe 2008 celebrates the intimate and wondrous connection between our ourselves and our food. Produced with the firm conviction that a tastier, more sustainable future is possible, the calendar seeks to ignite your passion as well as your taste buds.