The Youth Food Bill Of Rights! July 30th at the Liberty Bell, Philly PA!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Ty Holmberg

Agatstson Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI)

3451 Walnut St. Suite P-1117A

Cell: (518) 304-3402

Email: tyholmberg@gmail.com

Today: July 11, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA- JULY 30^th 2011- 2pm

Over 100 Youth Leaders from Around the Nation

Present the “YOUTH FOOD BILL OF RIGHTS”

at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA

As the Culmination of 

The 13^th Annual Rooted in Community Conference

On July 30^th at 2pm, over one hundred youth leaders from around the nation, from thirty different food justice-focused organizations will convene at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center to declare,  “The Youth Food Bill Of Rights”, a statement of what youth demand of their food system.  While gaining the attention of congress people, public officials, and community members, this youth-created document will influence the movement for a healthier and more equitable national food system and Farm Bill in 2012. It will be created during the youth powered and food justice focused Rooted in Community (RIC) National Conference (July 27-31) hosted by the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI) at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Youth Food Bill of Rights: www.youthfoodbillofrights.com

July 27th-31st: 

RIC is a national network that empowers young people to take leadership in their own communities (www.rootedincommunity.org). It is a diverse movement of youth and adults working together to foster healthy communities and food justice through urban and rural agriculture, community gardening, food sovereignty, and related environmental justice work.  With eleven Philadelphia urban farming sites hosting RIC exposure trips, twelve youth-created and facilitated workshops on food injustices and community organizing, ten local Philadelphia artists teaching ways to “express your voice for food justice”, youth participating in this year’s RIC Conference will fully engage in the “food justice” movement and create the Youth Food Bill of Rights.

Youth participating in this year’s conference have extensive experience in the national food justice movement. In Boston, high-school aged youth are taking charge of their food with shovels and cultivators as they are learning how to grow organic vegetables under the “Food Project”. In New Mexico, “New Mexico Acequia Association” youth utilize digital media to protect the Acequia irrigation system that is essential to their community’s environment, agriculture, and life. Eight youth involved in the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative’s gardening and cooking internships, in Philadelphia, have recently started their own business called the Youth Urban Mobile Market (YUMM) that delivers fresh fruit and vegetables on a tricycle to low income neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Today where food and youth leadership can be seen as despairing, these youth give inspiration as to what can be accomplished through fervor and youth innovation. The youth empowerment model for health is one that First Lady Michelle Obama endorses in her Lets Move! Campaign.

This year marks a pivotal year for RIC as the upcoming year (2012) marks the possible renewal of the Farm Bill in its fifth year of enactment. The Farm Bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the Federal government of the United States. RIC youth have joined together in consensus to demand a farm bill that prioritizes health and their country’s next generation. Named after the amendments to the US Constitution that listed the demands of the populous in regards to inalienable human rights, youth believe that the Youth Food Bill of Rights will outline human’s right to real food. Post-conference, organizers will continue to garner support for a youth-defined Farm Bill platform.  This August, RIC partner Live Real will meet with youth and communities along a series of nationwide "Food and Freedom Rides" to generate support for a fair Farm Bill.

Rather than accepting the food system that they have been born into, national RIC youth are creating revolutionary solutions and growing healthier communities. As Matthew Johnson, one RIC youth leader, stated, “We all eat, we are all affected, no matter who you are, join us on July 30^th.”

The Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI) (www.urbannutrition.org) is the host of the 2011 RIC conference. Eight AUNI youth are organizing the RIC conference. AUNI is apart of the Netter Center for University-Community Partnerships based at the University of Pennsylvania that engages K-16+ learners in an active, real-world problem-solving curriculum that strives to improve community nutrition and wellness through nutrition education, and high school internships in cooking, garden, and business sites.

The Farm Bill is legislation authorized by the Federal Government every five years. The last one was in 2007. The Farm Bill covers a wide range of topics, including payments to farmers to support the prices for crops, nutrition programs such as food stamps, international trade, conservation, and energy. The Farm Bill isn’t the only legislation to address these issues, but it is one time when we have an opportunity to speak out on things that concern so many parts of our lives.

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution that were ratified on December 15, 1791 that protected individual liberties.

The National Constitution Center is Philadelphia’s historic museum, located two blocks from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written.

Big thanks and love to Seattle youth leaders Donte and Aman for representing CRAVE, to Tammy for representing FEEST, and to Joaquin from C2C up north in Whatcom County for reppin' the PNW for food justice for ALL along with the support of adult ally, CRAVE Program Director, and Social HeARTistry Educators Creative Director stephanY.

a youth-lead food justice movement in South Seattle and beyond...

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Your Support

At this point, when our delegation is leaving to Philly, it's important to give gratitude to everyone that has supported us and to ask for support from everyone in our communities.

For me CRAVE has been an amazing experience so far, we have demanded the food justice movement the Northwest will not be without youth voice. And that our fight for justice of one specific kind is not disconnected from the many other struggles for justice our collective communities are involved in. Supporting CRAVE is supporting the idea that food justice is thoroughly incomplete if it maintains patriarchy, that access to healthy food is not just if we torture animals in the process, and that community gardens can't be for the community if they aren't queer safe. At CRAVE we put our radical process above the money we make at the end of the day. As a result we've only been able to send a portion of the youth working with us everyday to the conference in Philly. That said, there is a group of youth getting the information and training no one imagined they would be getting a year ago. Just the idea of that has inspired me to work to ensure that when they return from the conference those youth can educate me and my community, but more than anything lead us into action around issues we care so much about.

Any money you donate will be used for nothing but the most radical and inclusive work for food justice in the PNW, but more specifically south Seattle, and if you don't believe me feel free to come through to any of our events (that we post here on the blog) or hit us up on facebook or email and build with us at a meeting.
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Thank you!

See you soon! Here's some truth to chew on!

CRAVE gathered for one last Film Series and Discussion at WAPI in Columbia City before the national Rooted In Community Conference in Philly.  Aman, Donte, and stephanY leave tomorrow afternoon and arrive in Philly tomorrow evening, more than ready to represent the 206 along with FEEST leader Tammy, and are so excited to team up with Community 2 Community youth leader and RIC Advisory Committee member Joaquin for a powerful PNW caucus on ways to collaborate and proliferate!

In addition to sending off the crew in style with good inspiration and intention, we engaged in the "showing and telling" of MEAT the Truth that powerful and vividly lifts the veil behind factory farms as the #1 threat to/of global warming and asks why Al Gore didn't mention it, but once, in his renowned documentary An Inconvenient Truth.  Perhaps Gore found this important truth a bit too inconvenient for he himself to speak as an implicit consumer and complicit angus cattle rancher who directly benefits from the devastating fallout of the factory farm bomb.

Big thanks to Jen Chen from WAPI for the space, grace, and wisdom, to Kevin Tillman for the critical and clear perspectives and awesome documentaries and media we've visited thus far, and a great big thanks and welcome to the new adult ally/homie/artist and VOC, Coreena Reena to the crew who said she will most definitely be back for more!  according to word in the circle, stephanY's delicious robbin' hood meal might've had something to do with it.


stephanY served up some amazing mashed russet and yukon potatoes whipped and "creamed" with olive oil, hemp milk,  spanish yellow onions, sweet corn, cilantro, chile, pimienta, oregano, y sal topped with homecooked black beans with magical herbs and spices topped with freshly diced cebolla, and three varieties of tomatoes all culled from her summer job in the produce department at the local coop.  


The sharebacks, reflections, and discussion were powerful with folks showing profound critical analysis and understanding, deep compassion for all creatures and one another, and inspiring conviction to becoming more conscious and conscientious about what we C.R.A.V.E.; our choices when it comes to consumption, of food, and beyond... all are reconsidering their relationship to meat after seeing this film; either working to eliminate it from their diets all together, or at least limiting or decreasing their consumption.  It's also clear, as youth leader Ann Norton, a teacher to all, lovingly reminds us that we need community to remind us who we are and who we want to be.  This film, this movement, this commUNITY is all most definitely a must see indeed.

Stay tuned for more amazing films, food, and fun.

From Philly and Seattle!

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CRAVE: Cultivating Radical Activism, Vitality and Education; a Feature with Kevin Tillman of the Vegan Hip Hop Movement

Animal Voices is proud to present a special feature with Kevin Tillman of the Vegan Hop Hop Movement. Kevin has been working with youth as part of the CRAVE (Cultivating Radical Activism, Vitality and Education) community. Click below to learn more about CRAVE and to hear two fresh tracks recently recorded at the WAPI from Carlos and Donte – two youth activist/artists.  CRAVE is raising funds to send youth to the grassroots, youth-led “Rooted In Community Conference” in Philadelphia, PA. To support our work or donate to send youth to the conference please access our paypal account:

Click here to Listen!