Season for Sharing

The party starts early this holiday season with the Oxfam Bay Area Action Corps. This Thursday, December 12th, 6-8:30 pm join your fellow Oxfam America supporters in Berkeley, CA and enjoy a delicious spread of GROW Method themed potluck dishes while playing games and making new friends.

The Action Corps asks that everyone bring a potluck dish that follows the GROW Method and any canned or packaged food items cluttering your cabinets that you can spare for donation to a local food bank, but if you can't bring anything, don't fret all are welcome.

The celebration will take place at the home of an Oxfam Action Corps member in Berkeley and is easily accessible from the Ashby BART station. Let us know if you're interested in joining the celebration for the exact address. You can RSVP by email or Facebook.

For ideas and recipes using the GROW Method check here: www.pinterest.com/oxfamgrowmethod/

Date: December 12th
Time: 6-8:30 pm
Location: Berkeley (near the Ashby BART station)

RSVP by email or Facebook.

Hope to see you there.

Special Monthly Meeting

Let's keep the pressure on.

Join the Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps this Monday for a social media cram session. We'll come together to send several messages to Pepsico through Facebook and Twitter asking them to follow in the steps of Coca-Cola by saying NO to land grabs in their supply chain. Join the fun Monday, 11/25, 6:30 - 7:30 pm at Samovar Tea in San Francisco (730 Howard St.). Pepsico monitors social media everyday and cares about its online reputation, so this is will be a great way to make sure your voice is heard. RSVP today.

You'll also have the chance to meet other people who are working toward lasting solutions to hunger, poverty and inequality. We'll discuss upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, current Oxfam campaigns and get to know each other. If you haven't yet made it to a meeting, it's a great time to join in!

Just look for the Oxfam logo on our table!

Date: Monday, 11/25
Time: 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Location:
Samovar Tea Lounge
**Yerba Buena Gardens, Upper Terrace**
730 Howard St.
San Francisco

Accessible by BART from the Powell St. station. Garage parking available.

To RSVP visit www.facebook.com/events

Oxfam Helps Iowa Shine the Spotlight on Women

Every year one of America's most quintessential agricultural states open its door to the most powerful players in food and agriculture to spark discussion around the future of food security and world hunger. Des Moines, Iowa welcomes elected officials, corporate executives, leaders in global development, renowned scientist and agriculture big wigs to the World Food Prize.

This year the three day conference featured keynotes from the President of Iceland, past UK Prime Minster Tony Blair and Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson to name a few. The event certainly delivered on star power, but was lacking one important thing, the voices of the women and small-scale farmers who produce most of the world's food and represent 80% of the world's chronically hungry. This is where Oxfam America comes into play.

Oxfam has earned the largest non-profit presence at the World Food Prize and uses that position to secure prominent speaking roles for small-scale food producers from all over the world, including Oxfam's 2013 representatives, the awe-inspiring Kijoolu Kaliya and Harriet Nakabaale.

Kijoolu Kaliya featured center

On the largest stage at the conference, Kijoolu Kaliya shared her firsthand experience with land grabs to a packed room and some of the biggest applause received by any World Food Prize speaker. Ms. Kaliya is a member of the Masaai community in Tanzania and a prominent community leader as well as a pastoralist. Over the past four years, she has been forced to fight two land grabs threatening the livelihoods of her people. The most recent of which came from a rich investor from the United Arab Emirates who was attracted to the lush landscapes and thriving wildlife where Ms. Kaliya lives which the Masaai culture has been working to preserve and nurture for years. After the government of Tanzania approved the land deal with this investor , he decided that he would drive Ms. Kaliya and her community off of their land by force. The Masaai people had their homes burned to the ground and were physically assaulted by the investor's thugs. Masaai leaders are traditionally male, but after this egregious attack, Ms. Kaliya mobilized the women in her community to do what the men had failed to do, protect their way of live. She organized a five day trek to the capital of Tanzania to demand an audience with the President by returning 2,000 political party membership cards to the government. This show of force got the President's attention and resulted in him making a public declaration affirming that the Masaai people were the rightful owners of their own land and that the investor had no claim to it, but this declaration was only verbal and in this day and age a verbal agreement is little assurance, especially when it comes to the livelihood of your family. Now Ms. Kaliya is fighting for a written contract guaranteeing their land rights, because as Ms. Kaliya stated “land is life.”

Harriet Nakabaale featured center

Speaking at the Oxfam sponsored luncheon featuring Oxfam America's President Ray Offenheiser was  Harriet Nakabaale, a sustainable and organic farming advocate from Uganda's capital city Kampala. With help from her son Jjumba Frank Luyinda, Ms. Nakabaale turned her home into a small urban farm called Camp Green. Through Camp Green, the mother-son team teach local community members, schools and local governments the importance of finding creative ways to re-purpose what most people would consider waste, protect the environment, and grow sustainable and nourishing food. Together they work to alleviate poverty within and outside of Uganda by arming people with the knowledge necessary to take food security into their own hands and grow the food that they need. Ms. Nakabaale shared her story with hundreds of people and also stressed the importance of tackling domestic violence by empowering women with the necessary tools to become bread winners.

At this year's World Food Prize, on behalf of Oxfam America, Kijoolu Kaliya and Harriet Nakabaale gave voice to the underrepresented majority working towards food security on the ground - the small-scale farmers, community leaders and advocates. These two women helped bridge the gap between theoretical discussions and the harsh realities facing families and communities around the world while also shedding light on the meaningful triumphs women are helping to accomplish everyday.

Festival Diaries Part II- Treasure Island Music Festival

The summer festival season has come and gone and it is once again time for the fall music festival circuit to begin. October brought a change in temperature and colors, but it also brought the annual Treasure Island Music Festival, named for the beautiful island on which it takes place. The festival offers amazing views of the ocean and the San Francisco borders while presenting music from some of the best artists of 2013 including James Blake, Beck, Haim, Animal Collective, Little Dragon, Major Lazer, Japandroids, Sleigh Bells and Atoms for Peace. 

Oxfam had the pleasure of attending this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival and interacting with crowds of people; grandmas and pirates alike. Due to the strong support from Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace, and the work of Oxfam volunteers, we were able to introduce hundreds of Treasure Island Music aficionados and fun loving knowledge seekers to the new portion of our Behind the Brands campaign increasing our movement to 247,120 members. This portion of the campaign targets the world’s largest producers and users of sugar: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Associated British Foods. All three of these companies have been linked to land grabs that have been occurring within their supply chains, but because of pressure from the Behind the Brands campaign the largest of the three, Coca-Cola, has adopted a zero tolerance policy to land grabs. For those who don’t know, land grabs are large scale land acquisitions that occur without free, prior and informed consent. They are a human rights violation that is often ignored or hidden. Oxfam is bringing the issue to light and urging both PepsiCo and Associated British Foods to follow Coca-Cola's lead and be held accountable for what is occurring in their supply chains and to adopt a zero tolerance land grab policy.  If you haven't yet joined the movement and want to speak out against land grabs go to: behindthebrands.org

We were able to meet and interact with so many people who were passionate about our cause while enjoying the fall breeze, wonderful music, robot dance parties, and great food and culture. Treasure Island is a true experience, one that shouldn’t be missed.

If you're feeling like you missed out? Never feel that way again. Be a part of our next concert event by emailing us at sanfrancisco@oxfamactioncorps.org.

Our Voices Have Been Heard: 

Coca-Cola Agrees to Zero Tolerance Policy for Land Grabs

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, our hard work is paying off! All of our hours spent volunteering, campaigning, speaking out, and signing petitions is showing fruition. Over 225,000 people called for action to prevent land grabs and Coca-Cola has heard us. The food and beverage giant Coca-Cola has agreed to respect and protect the land rights of indigenous communities from which it sources its sugar. Specifically, Coca-Cola has agreed to:

1. A zero tolerance policy on land grabs
2. A “know and show” policy relating to being held accountable and aware of land rights and conflicts within its supply chain
3. To support responsible agriculture investment and to advocate for governments and others to tackle land grabbing;

Sugar production requires a vast amount of land and is currently at an all time high triggering land conflicts and abuse. Coca-Cola is the largest sugar producer in the world making this news all the more amazing. Coca-Cola is the first beverage and food company to take such a stand, but should not be the last. For more information on this breaking news visit politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org

Our mission and work does not end here. PepsiCo and Associated British Foods are some of the largest sugar producers in the world and as such we are urging them to follow in Coca-Cola’s footsteps and make a change in relation to the allowance of land grabs within their supply chains. In order to do this we need your help.
 

What Can You Do to Stop This?

Start by signing Oxfam's current petition to urge Pepsi-co and Associated British Foods to follow Coca-Cola’s example and hold themselves accountable for the land and human rights atrocities occurring in their supply chains. These huge companies have the market power to pressure their suppliers into committing to zero tolerance land grab policies and you have the power to pressure these food and beverage giants into stepping up and standing against land grabs. Make sure your voice is heard.

Then share the following messages:

Via Twitter

Tell @PepsiCo & #ABF to take action against land grabs! #BehindTheBrands

Via Facebook

Post the following message to PepsiCo's Facebook page

Stop land grabs! Tell PepsiCo and ABF—some of the biggest buyers of sugar in the world—to make sure their sugar doesn’t lead to land grabs that force poor farmers and their families off their land. #BehindTheBrands!

Does Your Favorite Food Cause Land Grabs?

 

Did you know that every time someone takes a swig of soda or bites into a cookie, they may be consuming sugar grown on land that has been taken from its previous occupants – often poor communities – without their consent? Indeed, many of the world’s largest food companies rely on long chains of production that maintain great distance between their corporate offices and the fields where their raw ingredients are grown. As a result, the biggest sugar buyers and producers have failed to keep tabs on their industry’s insatiable demand for land, and the lengths to which the third party companies they work with will go to acquire it.

Land Grabs 101

Wealthy investors around the world and large producers who supply sugar, palm oil and soy have been increasingly turning to land grabbing as a means of acquiring large parcels of land to turn into farmland for cash crops. These deals are often struck without the free, prior and informed consent of the land owners, often without compensation and may involve intimidation or violence.

The Facts

• Every 30 seconds land the size of Chicago is grabbed by rich investors in some of the world's poorest countries to grow cash crops like sugar
• Two-thirds of all foreign land deals in poor countries happen in places facing severe hunger issues
• Big name brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Associated British Foods purchase sugar from producers linked to land grabs

Land Grabs on the Ground

Land grabs devastate the livelihoods of families, entire communities and small-scale farmers around the world. In Brazil's Pernambuco State since 1914 multiple generations of families grew crops, fished and collected shellfish to eat and sell. In 2002, 53 families were evicted from their land, after several decades of intermittent pressure from Usina Trapiche, a giant company which provides sugar to Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

In 1998, members of the sugar company’s private militia destroyed the communities’ homes and farm land, burning down their houses and then, after they had been rebuilt, burning them down again. The community received death threats and feared for their safety. Finally in 2002, Trapiche was successful, through court proceedings, in pushing the community off their land. Federal officials have tried, unsuccessfully, to restore the community’s rights to the land, but Trapiche has successfully leveraged its political influence to retain control.

Unfortunately this story is not unique and is becoming a serious threat to global human rights and food security.

What Can You Do to Stop This?

Start by signing Oxfam's current petition to hold the world's largest food and beverage companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi-co and Associated British Foods accountable for the land and human rights atrocities occurring in their supply chains. These huge companies have the market power to pressure their suppliers into committing to zero tolerance land grab policies and you have the power to pressure these food and beverage giants into stepping up and standing against land grabs. Make sure your voice is heard.

Then share the following message via Facebook or Twitter:

I just told @CocaColaCo, @PepsiCo and #ABF to make sure their sugar doesn't lead to land grabs. Go #BehindTheBrandshttp://behindthebrands.org

Next learn more about the human, environmental and food security costs of land grabs by attending the Oxfam Bay Area Action Corps upcoming panel discussion, Standing on Common Ground: A Local Discussion on Global Land Grabs, October 26th, 2:30 – 4:30 pm in Oakland, CA. For more information or to RSVP visit oxfamsf-worldfoodday.eventbrite.com

Monthly Meeting - September 2013

Get to know your fellow Bay Area Oxfam supporters by coming to this month's Meet & Greet.

Meet other people who are working toward lasting solutions to hunger, poverty and inequality. We'll discuss upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, current Oxfam campaigns and get to know each other. If you haven't yet made it to a meeting, don't be shy just look for the Oxfam logo on our table and join in.

Date: Monday, September 30th
Time: 6:30p - 7:30p
Location: Samovar Tea, 730 Howard St. (Yerba Buena Gardens - Upper Terrace) San Francisco. Easily accessible by BART from the Powell St. station.

Hope to see you there. Email us today to RSVP: sanfrancisco@oxfamactioncorps.org

Oxfam Meet & Greets are held the last Monday of each month and alternate between Berkeley and San Francisco.

Festival Diaries Part I - Outside Lands

 

It's always a special feeling to be a part of the small group that gets to see what's behind the curtain. At our first day at Outside Lands, we got to do just that. Arriving before the gates officially opened, we wandered across Golden Gate Park's lush fields passing the eager vendors and awing at the eerie void left by the lack of people crowded around porta potties. We slowly made our way to the Oxfam booth conveniently located next to one of the festival's most dance worthy stages. It began to feel a lot like the calm before a storm.

From the swelling crowds, we were lucky enough to meet amazing people from across the globe some of whom were familiar with Oxfam's work and others who were eager to learn more by participating in one of our many booth games including our latest Bay Area Action Corps invention, World Hunger Pong, inspired by the collegiate, Olympian level sport that we're all familiar with Beer Pong. Except instead of beer, we provided striking facts about the hunger epidemic including the fact that hunger kills more people than AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined. We also spoke to countless people about the Behind the Brands campaign and how the top ten food and beverage companies in the world are performing when it comes to transparency and the treatment of farmers, workers, women, land, water and climate. Adding strength to the 115,000 people who have already joined the movement to change the way these companies do business, concert goers helped Oxfam move closer to its 125,000 signature goal. If you haven't yet joined the movement, its not too late: www.behindthebrands.org

This year at Outside Lands, the Oxfam Bay Area Action Corps reached hundreds of people all while having a great time and listening to some of today's most influential artists, including Sir Paul McCartney himself and long-time Oxfam activist Thao Nguyen of San Francisco's very own Thao and The Get Down Stay Down.

It's no secret that the Bay Area is home to some amazing festivals and members of the Oxfam Bay Area Action Corps are lucky enough to take part in some of the best of the best.

Members of the Oxfam Action Corps have the unique opportunity to join forces with people passionate about making world hunger obsolete. Together we work to inform concert goers about the devastating conditions of extreme poverty, hunger and injustice around the world. Stories are shared, friends are made and minds are enlightened.

If you're feeling like you missed out? Never feel that way again. Be a part of our next concert event by emailing us at sanfrancisco@oxfamactioncorps.org.

We'd love for you to join the Oxfam Bay Area Action Corps family for the Treasure Island Music Festival, Ra Ra Riot's upcoming show at the Fillmore or Ben Sollee's intimate performance in Oakland. 

Call to Action

It’s easy to walk through the first world unaware of the struggles of those across the sea. Our shopping malls, grocery stores, and public education keep us satisfied that the world is at equilibrium. If we have so many resources at our finger tips how could it be that anyone in the world is going out with food, water, or toilets?

And then one day it hits you – the world is at a critical imbalance. The abundance we have in the U.S. is the devastating scarcity abroad. At that moment you realize you can no longer stand idly by while others in the world suffer. This is your call to action.

For me, I always knew I wanted to help people. I even had the foresight in high school to know I wanted to go into nonprofit management; however, I was only passively taking action. I would volunteer at galas, vote on Election Day, and buy Tom Shoes.

Then, in my senior year in college, I took a class called Service and Social Justice. The class was designed so to give us real world experience through volunteer work while we learned about social justice in the classroom. It was here that I learned more than I ever thought there was to know about the pervasiveness of systematic oppression.

Poverty is not an accident. Race and gender are socially constructed for no other purpose than to separate “us” from “them”? We use this system of us vs. them to decide who is “worthy” of wealth and success. 

This was my call to action.

It was then that I realized if I really wanted to help people it was going to take more than passive action. In that moment I knew I needed to make my all decisions and habits contribute to the betterment of the world.

That thought has led me to the Oxfam Action Corps, where I now spend my time working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. 

A New Chapter for SF Action Corps

My name is Brook and I am one of the new Organizers for the Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps.

This past week I was privilege to travel to Washington D.C. with my fellow co-organizer Yoshiko to attend a four-day training for Oxfam Action Corps (OAC). We met with more than 30 other OAC leaders from around the country to learn about Oxfam, develop our leadership skills, and practice sharing the Oxfam message.

The training went the way most trainings go, with the exception of a few exciting deviations:

• Event planning 101 - With no notice the group of 30 OAC organizers was challenged with planning a dinner event for 60 people that were expected to arrive within 2 hours. We got off to a rocky start, but we quickly regained focus and moved ahead by assigning roles and forming committees. You would think with a group of 30 leaders there would be a lot of head-butting, but that wasn’t the case at all. Everyone worked well together and the event went off without a hitch. There was an awesome group activity, great speakers, and delicious food made using the GROW Method.   
• Changing tides in Malawi - We were lucky enough to hear from an amazing speaker, Martha Kwataine from Malawi, who is a true testament to the effectiveness of foreign aid when it is put in the hands of local leaders. Kwataine lobbied her local government to use foreign aid money to fund scholarships to train medical professionals to care for the people of Malawi. She was able to use local knowledge and resources to determine where the money needed to go and how it was best spent. Kwataine was able to secure funding for midwife training and to restore a medical center in the rural town of Mponela. Kwataine currently heads the Malawi Health Equity Network and is now recognized as a powerful leader for the far-reaching impact she has left on her country.
• Bringing Oxfam's message to the Capital- Yoshiko and I lobbied our local and state congress members to support the poverty-focused foreign aid proposal in the President’s 2014 budget. We received good responses from our congress members – they seemed to agree with the foreign aid reform; however, they were concerned about the amount of support they would receive from their constituents (we’ll be sure to change that!). It was a great learning experience; one that we’ll be sure to utilize when lobbying our local leaders here in California.

After the four days, not only was I more knowledgeable about the Oxfam's mission, but I was inspired by the amazing people that make Oxfam a powerful force against poverty, hunger, and injustice. I plan to use that inspiration to further the reach of the Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps and hopefully inspire others to fight for a world free of poverty.    

Act Local, Think Global!

Support Women Farmers
Fight Global Hunger 

Build a Better Food System

Join the Oxfam Action Corps!

www.oxfamactioncorps.org

Advocate in your community on behalf of millions worldwide

Free spaces are available at training April 13-16, 2013  – Apply now!

ð  Are you concerned that the people who grow the world’s food—many of whom are women—cannot afford to feed their own families?  And that one in eight people goes to bed hungry every night even though the world produces enough food for everybody?

ð  Do you want to take action in your city to achieve policies to sustainably feed a growing population and empower poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive?

ð  Are you willing to reach out to others in your community to hold governments and businesses accountable for the impact of their policies and practices on the environment and global food security?

Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, invites you to join the Oxfam Action Corps, an exciting effort to cultivate grassroots leaders and political change.

Oxfam Action Corps volunteers work closely with Oxfam staff to engage their community and elected officials. We will provide training and support throughout a one-year time commitment.  You'll meet amazing activists, build community, and drive political solutions.

We are recruiting for the Oxfam Action Corps in these cities:

Albuquerque, NM	Columbus, OH	Minn./St Paul, MN
Austin, TX	Des Moines, IA	New York City, NY
Boston, MA	Indianapolis, IN	Philadelphia, PA
Burlington, VT	Kansas City, MO	San Francisco, CA
Chicago, IL	Madison, WI	Seattle, WA

Here is what previous Oxfam Action Corps volunteers said:

“Oxfam Action Corps has given me a ton of confidence… gaining knowledge and being able to speak to people about the issues.”  Amy , Business Operations Analyst, Des Moines

“I liked it, loved it, actually.  I now have a better appreciation for activism and I do believe that it can really make a difference!”  Debby, Graduate Student, VT

"This has become one of the best parts of my life… I can't express enough how satisfying it is to be organizing with people who are just as committed and dependable and passionate." – Isaac., Educator, New York City

          Sign-up by February 14 at:

            www.oxfamactioncorps.org