OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Sachita]

I would like to see people shopping local. Not shopping at walmart, McDonalds and the like. To seek out local stores, farmers, etc. make a strong statement and it would. You can make changes, support this revolution right now by being proactive towards change.

Some might say "It's just not affordable" but if you plan and if this is important enough to you then you'll start finding a way. If we all made these choices- not use credit cards, move money, shop different it does more because it forces change.

while you're at it support our local food systems- bulk purchases at local co-ops and small health food chains. Try and buy organic and stop GMO's. Its all part of a whole. Lets do it.

[Dominique]

Here I am again, talking about the pro's and con's of living in an *old* city neighborhood.

I think it is very important to patronize local businesses. Times are tough for the entire 99%! don't forget that. As we are asking the 1% to pay their share, I think those of us that can pay a little more, should. I give my money to as many businesses in my neighborhood as I can. CHOICE. Yes, it may cost me a dollar more. But it will keep that business here, and keep a local mom or dad working. (maybe that mom or dad doesn't have a car, or there is a reason real specific they are working at Mary's Nut and Bolt store)

I moved into this neighborhood 15 years ago, with promises of big things to come. GENTRIFICATION!! Revitalization. Well.....

To date: The elementary school has closed. Merged with one 6 miles miles away.

The Grocery store closed. Nearest one is 3.5 miles away.

The Post office sub station closed. Nearest one 1.5 miles away. That closed. Main post office 3 miles away.

Bus route cut significantly. No week end service unless you can walk one mile. Week day service routes are ok if you work....every 30 minutes, from 6a until 9a and again from 3p to 6p. two buses late night 11:45p and 12:30a. Holiday service, one every two hours.

Laundry mat closed.

Two banks moved away CREDIT UNIONS (TWO) STAYED!!

Major hospital 4 blocks away.

OK, Mostly I've told you what has left. This is the city people. Who would move into this neighborhood? We are walking distance to the major down town area.....16 blocks or less. Dense in senior citizens.

I patronize my local businesses because these are the things that make a neighborhood. The elderly people/ and the very poor, need these things to be here. They can't rely on mass transportation system to help them get around (mass transportation is free to them, paid for by the Pa. Lottery) what good is it, if it doesn't come into the neighborhood?

Absolutely, you have to force change. The rerouting of the buses had little effect on me. But you can bet I was at every meeting speaking. Basically I told them what I told you. I even tossed in some census numbers. These things effect everybody. Do not buy your stamps at a mac machine because it is convienient. How long has it been since you have used your post office? What will you be saying when your post office closes?

[SmoothButch]

[atomiczombie]

This guy was a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on the Current channel tonight.

[Kätzchen]

Tonight, after work, I went down to our OWS campaign site (downtown by the Elk Fountain) and spent time there visiting with many supporters.

I got permission from supporters to share their stories here and for the photos I took: my night's visit started off a with locking myself out of my son's car....



"Solomon" (his street name) helped me unlock my car! He allowed me to take a photo of the sign he made for his tent (seen below). Solomon is Black and he has a rap sheet a mile long for 'breaking and entering.' He's been homeless for over 2 years. I told him tonight that I liked his street name a lot because of Solomon (in the bible) and to not assimilate because he's been labeled a felon due to his circumstances! He has a heart of gold! He has been part of the protest since it began here in Portland and I learned tonight that he was going to Eugene tomorrow to take up a post down there. I gifted him enough money to catch a bus to Eugene and donated the left over proceeds of my small winnings from a lottery ticket I bought last week to OWS tonight.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68856794@N08/6255753477/


The photo below is of Maggie and David - they just got married tonight at OWS... They have been out of work for some time now and have been at the OWS site since it began. I spoke with them for quite awhile tonight and they plan to stay for as long as they can here in Portland, but they may migrate to Eugene to participate there this weekend.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68856794@N08/6255753551/

In the photo below is Zach who manned the Information booth tonight! He was instrumental in helping me connect with "Solomon" to unlock my car!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68856794@N08/6256283962/

Here are posters that various supporters have made for OWS
(by the information booth)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68856794@N08/6256283426/

(I don't how to embed the photos here in this thread, but if someone knows a better way than just leaving a link to the photos, let me know asap tonight and I can resubmit this post)

[Kätzchen]

Well, for heaven's sake, I just got accidentally logged out from the system and can't amend my post above! *blush*


Many people have submitted written opinion to our local newspaper (The Oregonian) and here's a brief statement of support from a reader who lives in Vancouver (across the river from Portland):


There is a huge movement sweeping across the country as people take up occupation of public squares to express outrage over citizen suffering as a result of greedy, unethical and likely illegal actions on Wall Street.

Disparagers scoff that participants come from a variety of backgrounds and lack focus. Do not let anyone portray cohesive diversity as inarticulate disunity. The diversity of participants is one of the strongest statements of all.

JUDITH DAHLEN
Vancouver
(link to The Oregonian Blog)

Last second edition to this post:

I also met Heidie and Len - an elderly retired couple who spent years as public servants in the State of Oregon: They watched over me and 'Solomon' as he helped me to unlock my car. Just speaking with them and knowing that they support this movement brought me to tears tonight. Many people from all types of sectors in Portland are representing the OWS movement and I couldn't be more proud of the support people have given and continue to give in light of all the other events happening US-wide. ~D

[SoNotHer]

Disparagers scoff that participants come from a variety of backgrounds and lack focus. Do not let anyone portray cohesive diversity as inarticulate disunity. The diversity of participants is one of the strongest statements of all.

At the gym tonight, I watched two local Chicago stations give this air time. The FOX station, not surprisingly, portrayed this a protest of mostly "25 to 35 year olds." Well, I saw what I saw yesterday, and I wasn't the only person approaching a half century.

The newscast went on to offer that "many were unemployed, but some were employed." And the more FOX hopes to manipulate folks into seeing this movement as something specific to young, restless, unemployed folks, the more they continue to lose its own credibility (if that's possible).

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Here I am again, talking about the pro's and con's of living in an *old* city neighborhood.

I think it is very important to patronize local businesses. Times are tough for the entire 99%! don't forget that. As we are asking the 1% to pay their share, I think those of us that can pay a little more, should. I give my money to as many businesses in my neighborhood as I can. CHOICE. Yes, it may cost me a dollar more. But it will keep that business here, and keep a local mom or dad working. (maybe that mom or dad doesn't have a car, or there is a reason real specific they are working at Mary's Nut and Bolt store)

I moved into this neighborhood 15 years ago, with promises of big things to come. GENTRIFICATION!! Revitalization. Well.....

To date: The elementary school has closed. Merged with one 6 miles miles away.

The Grocery store closed. Nearest one is 3.5 miles away.

The Post office sub station closed. Nearest one 1.5 miles away. That closed. Main post office 3 miles away.

Bus route cut significantly. No week end service unless you can walk one mile. Week day service routes are ok if you work....every 30 minutes, from 6a until 9a and again from 3p to 6p. two buses late night 11:45p and 12:30a. Holiday service, one every two hours.

Laundry mat closed.

Two banks moved away CREDIT UNIONS (TWO) STAYED!!

Major hospital 4 blocks away.

OK, Mostly I've told you what has left. This is the city people. Who would move into this neighborhood? We are walking distance to the major down town area.....16 blocks or less. Dense in senior citizens.

I patronize my local businesses because these are the things that make a neighborhood. The elderly people/ and the very poor, need these things to be here. They can't rely on mass transportation system to help them get around (mass transportation is free to them, paid for by the Pa. Lottery) what good is it, if it doesn't come into the neighborhood?

Absolutely, you have to force change. The rerouting of the buses had little effect on me. But you can bet I was at every meeting speaking. Basically I told them what I told you. I even tossed in some census numbers. These things effect everybody. Do not buy your stamps at a mac machine because it is convienient. How long has it been since you have used your post office? What will you be saying when your post office closes?

You mention the post office, bus system and small business imploding in our current economy.

Today, at work, I performed an expensive service and the customer handed me a Hundred Dollar bill and while I was presenting her change and as she was leaving her 'tip,' somehow the customer swiped back the $20 dollar bill... I didn't realize how fast it happened, but she ended up not paying fully for her service. I doubt she will ever come back and make it right. When we counted the till tonight, I handed back the tip she supposedly left me because I won't be a part of cheating - even if it hurt me the most.

Also, the USPS is downsizing it's locations and service centers here. I have a client who has logged 24 years of service who will lose his job by the end of this month. He *was* full time; he's been working a reduced schedule and lost considerable benefits under the federal pay system, et al.

Also, recently, a long tenured bus driver from Tri-Met kicked a young Latino mother and her baby off the bus in the dark (late at night), and other riders left the bus in protest over the treatment the bus driver gave to her. She's a student learning English at a local PCC campus in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area and her professors saw the news story about her and helped her to make a statement to law enforcement (and TriMet investigators) about what happened that night. She didn't feel like she had any choice but to leave the bus with her crying baby - which according to others on the bus, was not crying as badly as the bus driver portrayed the situation. The bus driver is no longer an employee (or maybe still relieved of duty pending the investigation), but racism is alive and well in the suburbs of the Portland Metro area and in Portland as well.

[T4Texas]

[QUOTE=Yellow band;439284]
Absolutely, you have to force change.

I think those who oppose OWS are waiting for some violent explosion so they can institute martial law and become even more oppressive. No one knows where all this will go. I believe as many have said the best ways to fight are to move your money, support small business, and let your public officials know your displeasure with the way they vote or make policy decisions. What they forget is the general public is what makes this country tick, not just a handful of politicians or a president, or a CEO. They might hold the reigns of power, but its still John Q. public making it all work. WE have the power to decide where our money goes and what we spend it on. These folks are afraid because they know this thing could become a serious grass roots movement that will alter the way they profit. Its always all about the dollar no matter how you look at it.
You do have to force change because otherwise its not going to happen. But you don't need a mob to force change. You do it quietly by using your credit union instead of your bank. By not patronizing companies like WalMart. By telling your elected officials they need to work for their constituents instead of some lobbyist or they can forget re-election. Just occupying public spaces is not going to make it work.
I feel if change is not forthcoming, this country is going to be in a hella mess. We already have a debt that is out of control and will take years to fix. We import so much more than we export and have allowed China to overrun our country with mass poorly made goods. We have outsourced so much that if our international creditors shut us down tomorrow, we'd be screwed. We waste money on wars that will never be won or serve the interests of either us or the countries we fight in. We have a president who appears to be more concerned about his re-election than running the country. How many times in the last few years has wall street almost been on the verge of financial collapse? I think people have no idea what will really happen if this economy bottoms out and I fear we are getting close.
Those in power have not been working for you. They have been working for their own interests and filling their own pockets for years now. We need to do a house cleaning in washington and get some people in office who are truly concerned about the mom and pop business owners, the people on public assistance who want to get off it, the unemployed who get caught up in a cycle of benefits vs taking a job. I feel until we do this house cleaning, the problem is not going to get better.

[persiphone]

[quote=T4Texas;439767]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Absolutely, you have to force change.

I think those who oppose OWS are waiting for some violent explosion so they can institute martial law and become even more oppressive. No one knows where all this will go. I believe as many have said the best ways to fight are to move your money, support small business, and let your public officials know your displeasure with the way they vote or make policy decisions. What they forget is the general public is what makes this country tick, not just a handful of politicians or a president, or a CEO. They might hold the reigns of power, but its still John Q. public making it all work. WE have the power to decide where our money goes and what we spend it on. These folks are afraid because they know this thing could become a serious grass roots movement that will alter the way they profit. Its always all about the dollar no matter how you look at it.
You do have to force change because otherwise its not going to happen. But you don't need a mob to force change. You do it quietly by using your credit union instead of your bank. By not patronizing companies like WalMart. By telling your elected officials they need to work for their constituents instead of some lobbyist or they can forget re-election. Just occupying public spaces is not going to make it work.
I feel if change is not forthcoming, this country is going to be in a hella mess. We already have a debt that is out of control and will take years to fix. We import so much more than we export and have allowed China to overrun our country with mass poorly made goods. We have outsourced so much that if our international creditors shut us down tomorrow, we'd be screwed. We waste money on wars that will never be won or serve the interests of either us or the countries we fight in. We have a president who appears to be more concerned about his re-election than running the country. How many times in the last few years has wall street almost been on the verge of financial collapse? I think people have no idea what will really happen if this economy bottoms out and I fear we are getting close.
Those in power have not been working for you. They have been working for their own interests and filling their own pockets for years now. We need to do a house cleaning in washington and get some people in office who are truly concerned about the mom and pop business owners, the people on public assistance who want to get off it, the unemployed who get caught up in a cycle of benefits vs taking a job. I feel until we do this house cleaning, the problem is not going to get better.

yes but it's important that the people come together and stand together if for nothing else than to say we have been wronged. it's important because we are trapped in a place where we have no choices. we have have no choices as consumers because everything on shelves in stores across America ...it's all made in China. we have no food choices (and the fact that our food supply was mentioned in the OWS declaration really struck a chord with me) because our food supply has been quietly becoming monopolized and being replaced, literally, with poisonous chemicals. if for nothing else.....the people need to stand up and say that they are not ignorant to the goings on of the widespread corruption that has become our country and say NO to it. we have no choices in democracy because we've lost so many freedoms in the name of security that we can't even protest in parks that our tax dollars pay for without getting arrested or pepper sprayed. even when the people come together and elect the right guy as president he's so crippled by government infighting that not a lot happens in our favor. we have no choices. deregulation has taken the power of choice out of the people's hands and put that power into the hands of corporations that can pirate you and not be held accountable. we have judges on the supreme court who have been caught lying, evading taxes, and taking money from lobbyists to pass judgement that further the corporate agenda and nothing is being done about it. because we have no choices. the people absolutely need to come together in masses and stand together and fight. freedoms are not free. we had to fight to get them and we have to fight to keep them and we should fight back when we lose them.

on a side note.....it took months of a group of women protesting and some endured jail time and abuse....to get women the right to vote. and that was LESS than one hundred years ago.

[ruffryder]

Easier said than done, shop local. Do not shop Wal-Mart or go to McDonald's. You can only shop local if there is local farmers. There are not a lot! I went to a local grocery store, but guess what, it gets it's food from the same place Wal-Mart does and it was more expensive. Farmers sell their product to Wal-Mart and other major grocery stores because there is money in it for them. Why sit outside at a farmer's market all day and hope for someone to buy their stuff when a grocery chain will buy in bulk and take all the crop. I worked wholesale meat and produce for 8 years. We bought bulk from farmers and sold to grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. So farmers stuff does actually make it into stores and around town and stays in the U.S. McDonalds buys their beef from local farmers. . . I also worked 6 years in beef production. We got our cattle from local feed lots, slaughtered them, cleaned them up and distributed the meat to McDonalds and other major restaurants and grocery chains. We even shipped to Japan and handled organic meat for the customers that wanted it. I worked Quality Assurance so I know what is in the meat and how safe it is when it comes out of a meat plant. I have taken many tours from where the cattle comes from to how it is slaughtered, packaged, and shipped. You may not want to shop Wal-Mart or McDonalds, however you should research where they actually get their product from because some of it is from local farmers and from the U.S. We may not like McDonalds and Wal-Mart but they do provide many jobs for people in the U.S. Just a thought..

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by ruffryder

Easier said than done, shop local. Do not shop Wal-Mart or go to McDonald's. You can only shop local if there is local farmers. There are not a lot! I went to a local grocery store, but guess what, it gets it's food from the same place Wal-Mart does and it was more expensive...

Sigh. You must force change. There have been extensive and in in depth studies about how the Walmarts of the world, have ruined the small businesses. We [the collective we] in this thread, didn't make this stuff up. One of Walmarts biggest down falls is it's unwillingness to pay it's employees a decent wage. They encourage them to apply
for public assistance. Are you following what the Occupy Wall Street is about Ruffryder? Walmart would be part of the 1%.

Personally, I come here to see what is going on with the movement, what NEW idea's people have to contribute and to see what others are doing to affect change. Based on your post below....you are totally ok with the direction our country is going ? Including what the Walmarts of the world are doing. Let us have our space to discuss how we want to affect change, and you just keep doing the same old, same old. OK?

[persiphone]

Originally Posted by ruffryder

Easier said than done, shop local. Do not shop Wal-Mart or go to McDonald's. You can only shop local if there is local farmers. There are not a lot! I went to a local grocery store, but guess what, it gets it's food from the same place Wal-Mart does and it was more expensive. Farmers sell their product to Wal-Mart and other major grocery stores because there is money in it for them. Why sit outside at a farmer's market all day and hope for someone to buy their stuff when a grocery chain will buy in bulk and take all the crop. I worked wholesale meat and produce for 8 years. We bought bulk from farmers and sold to grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. So farmers stuff does actually make it into stores and around town and stays in the U.S. McDonalds buys their beef from local farmers. . . I also worked 6 years in beef production. We got our cattle from local feed lots, slaughtered them, cleaned them up and distributed the meat to McDonalds and other major restaurants and grocery chains. We even shipped to Japan and handled organic meat for the customers that wanted it. I worked Quality Assurance so I know what is in the meat and how safe it is when it comes out of a meat plant. I have taken many tours from where the cattle comes from to how it is slaughtered, packaged, and shipped. You may not want to shop Wal-Mart or McDonalds, however you should research where they actually get their product from because some of it is from local farmers and from the U.S. We may not like McDonalds and Wal-Mart but they do provide many jobs for people in the U.S. Just a thought..

i see what you're saying. it's gonna take me a minute to deconstruct all your points carefully, but i'll try to break it down. first lemme say that i agree....not all places in America have the basic option of buying from someplace OTHER than Walmart and to be honest, i think that is exactly the point of Walmart. they certainly didn't want to make buying from anyone else easier on the consumer and Walmart has basically monopolized many food markets, and that, in itself, goes against what we, as consumers, deserve as a liberty in America. corporate monopolies used to be regulated and now they are wildly out of control and taking over, which leaves us with....no choices as consumers.

also, farmers are not making money selling to Walmart. they are just as trapped in that system as the consumer is. when a business like Walmart drives the prices down on everything, it's the farmer that eats that cut, not Walmart. so they end up getting caught in the grow more treadmill rather than the grow better sustainable life cycle because they have to grow more to make ends meet, if they can even do that. and they end up cutting corners, like migrant labor (which is a whole other discussion) that will work those thousands of acres of fields for well below minimum wage illegally. adding onto this...it's corporations like Walmart that have pushed, and got approved, the kinds of visas that allow people from other countries to come and work in agriculture that leads to illegals staying here after those visas have expired. it's actually NOT coming from hordes of people running across the border in the middle of the night. so there are huge impacts that institutions like Walmart represent that are grossly negative on the well being of the country as a whole, from immigration, to agriculture, to food laws, to economic depression and the list goes on and on.

now farming organically is about 3 times as expensive (and that's a conservative number) as farming commercially. AND....out of season produce, i garauntee you, comes from other countries. the in season products that come from other countries are there because it's literally impossible for American farmers to produce those products for cheaper. their hands are tied. you can only drop the prices so much before you're out of business. which leads me to farm subsidies. what alot of people don't understand is that farming has become ONLY profitable IF it is subsidized. it's a hidden cost that most people aren't aware of. so when you get you paycheck, taxes taken out of your check go to subsidizing agriculture. the consumer is paying for that. THEN.....when you go to the store and you get an orange from Florida.... you're paying for that orange. again! but you're not complaining because that orange was only 50 cents. but how much have you already paid for that orange in the form of tax dollars? so what we have is this illusion of "cheap food" that really, isn't cheap at all. and we have no say in the matter....that's the real kick. AND....it's corps like Walmart that push for those ag subsidies, btw. they practically wrote them. so basically, corps like Walmart are deciding how our tax dollars are being spent for us. i dunno about you, but i kinda have a problem with that.

oohhhh where do i start about the beef? *deep sigh* sooooooo.....once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there were some cows that became steak. i'm just kidding. this stuff depresses me. i need some humor. so what if it wasn't funny. so a couple decades ago there were roughly 5 meat corporations that owned somewhere around 20% of the beef supply...the remaining percentage was privately owned, ie cattle ranchers. today there are 4 that own 80 or 85% of that supply and there are less than six slaughter houses in the country that handles all of the nations commercial beef supply. during this time, monopolies (it's a theme here) emerged in the meat industry and in the name of driving prices down, we now have feedlots, injections, subsidized commercial corn (means it's not fit for human consumption) being fed to cows, and all kinds of shady dealings like cutting labor corners (insert illegal immigrant here) so that Walmart can sell beef at a certain price. see where i'm going with this? production in slaughterhouses have tripled because the beef industry, like the farmers, have to now produce in bulk to turn a profit. they're not making a whole lot of money either, or else they wouldn't need to produce in bulk. feedlots are a nightmare to the environment, as well. it creates a host of disease problems, a host of environmental problems, and it's a system entirely dependent on oil to work. all of which are bad and not sustainable forever.

can i talk about McDonalds for a sec? the "beef" that makes up a McDs patty is actually the bits that are sent to a factory that (is also entirely dependent on oil) specializes in grinding them all up and then spraying it all with ammonia, wrapping it in plastic and shipping it out to your neighborhood drive thru. mmmm delish. a McD's burger bun has a grotesque amount of ingredients in it (like 80 i'm not kidding). i'm using the bun as an example, but that's basically the theme for the entire menu. it's not actually food. it's ....something ...else.....that is designed to taste and look like food. colleges offer degrees in this stuff. you can get a bachelor's in "food sciences" and then go to work for Kraft for 100 grand a year trying to make cheese that will never mold. or a bun that looks like bread but actually isn't. but no one offers a bachelors in sustainable agriculture. coincidence? i think not.

ok what's next. oohhh quality assurance. i love this one. i cannot count how many times there has been a meat (of sort) recall in the past ten years there has been that many. and they've been huge, too...like in the millions of pounds kind of thing....not like oops we dropped a side of beef on the floor and it contaminated 300 pounds of beef, no. millions of pounds. millions! that's an astounding number to me. i think the most recent one was ground turkey. the one that sticks out, though, was the one that woke me up and that was 2 million pounds of ground beef that was recalled and it stopped me cold from buying commercial ground beef and i took my son off the school lunch program. children have died eating commercial beef in america. DIED. so please tell me about quality assurance. i would looooovvveeee to know more and i'm not being sarcastic at all. on side note, the beef industry had legislation passed that actually permits slaughterhouses that keep having "issues" from shutting down while also keeping the public from being able to sue them. i gotta say, i'm not feeling super confident about any quality assurances that might be in place, as you say. cuz....the proof is in the pudding, man. you can't deny that massive and commonly occuring meat recalls in this nation is a good example of quality nor is it very assuring.

[atomiczombie]

For any of you who still shop at Walmart, PLEASE watch this documentary so you can at least be an INFORMED consumer.

[Cin]

Occupy the Food System!
by Eric Holt-Giménez and Tanya Kerssen

In the past few weeks, the U.S. Food Movement has made its presence felt in Occupy Wall Street. Voices from food justice organizations across the country are connecting the dots between hunger, diet-related diseases and the unchecked power of Wall Street investors and corporations (See Tom Philppot's excellent article in Mother Jones).

This is very fertile ground.

On one hand, the Food Movement's practical alternatives to industrial food are rooted at the base of our economic system. Its activities are key to building the alternative, localized economies being called for by Occupy Wall Street. On the other hand, Occupy provides a space for the Food Movement to politicize its collective agenda and scale-up community-based solutions by changing the rules that govern local economies.

Of course, in the U.S., what we refer to as the "food movement" is really more of a loose "food network" of non-profit organizations and community groups (CSAs, food policy councils, community gardens, etc) with a sprinkling of bona-fide family farmer organizations and food worker organizations. There's nothing wrong with this. The network has blossomed over the past decade, creating an amazing social infrastructure that is actively using the food system to make us healthier and happier. In the Food Movement we re-learn and re-invent ways of farming, cooking and eating. In doing so, we put back in the social, economic and cultural values robbed by the industrial food system.

But if the community gardens, CSAs, farm-to-school programs and sustainable family farms in the Food Movement are so great why isn't everyone doing it?

The simple answer is, because the rules and institutions governing our food system -- Wall Street, the U.S. Farm Bill, the World Trade Organization and the USDA -- all favor the global monopolies controlling the world's seeds, food processing, distribution and retail. This should come as no surprise, the "revolving door" between government and corporate food monopolies is alive and well, and goes back decades. But it means it's unlikely that the Food Movement's alternatives will ever become the norm rather than the alternative fringe -- unless the Food Movement can change the rules and institutions controlling our food.

To do that, the Food Movement needs politicizing.

Why? Hasn't it worked to improve school food, legalize urban chickens and reform the farm bill? Indeed, it has made important strides in impacting food policy. But many community food organizations have become dependent on the diminishing funding streams from the very foundations that helped them get off the ground. The nation's economic downturn has further affected community organizations, forcing them to tighten belts, cut staff, eliminate programs and compete for scarce resources at a time when communities need them more than ever. This makes them vulnerable to cooptation.

This is not to say that the organizations in the Food Movement don't deserve financial support. They do, and the existence of so many community food organizations is testament to positive cooperation with funders. But a broad-based movement is a different animal than an isolated community organization. For a movement, following a funding stream is the tail wagging the dog. Movements are about creating political will for the benefit of all. They converge, unifying and amplifying popular voices around a shared vision. Politically, movements cannot afford to be disarmed by money, silenced or divided.

A movement to "occupy the food system" will need to put healthy food in our communities and community voices in places of power.

A new, collective decision-making process is being fleshed out at Occupy sites across the country, and in the vibrant conversations on blogs, list servs and social media. It's about more than formulating "demands." As Naomi Klein commented in a recent visit to Food First, "Demands are about negotiation and compromise; this movement is articulating a broader vision." As the food movement moves into the new political spaces being opened up by Occupy Wall Street, a bold vision of food sovereignty is being crafted -- one in which food decisions, food resources and the food dollar are not controlled by Wall Street or by the food monopolies, but by local communities.

This political "convergence in diversity" has the potential to take us from the strategies for survival to strategies for transformation.



Another interesting article-

http://motherjones.com/environment/2...-street?page=1

[Cin]

[Cin]

OWS demand introduction of "Robin Hood" tax
Published: 25 October, 2011, 08:41
Edited: 25 October, 2011, 08:41



Occupy Wall Street activists have called for worldwide protests ahead of Saturday's G20 summit in France, demanding that the G20 leaders introduce a "Robin Hood" tax on high-finance transactions and currency trades by banks and institutions.

Anti-corporate demonstrations are continuing across the US, despite tougher tactics from police, including mass arrests. In Chicago, 130 have been held and charged with camping out in a city park after closing time. Back in New York, where the rallies began over a month ago, dozens have been arrested in a police crackdown on activists in recent days.

Author and activist David Swanson, who has been at the protests in Washington, believes neither the police nor the upcoming cold spell will stop the growing movement.

“We are starting to hear talk from the police again that they are being pushed by someone in the administration higher up to drive us out of there. We’ll see what comes of that. We are not leaving,” he told RT.

“We are protesting not just our government but its funders, its handlers, its think-tanks, and we are building a community and we are making decisions, and we are networking with the other ‘occupy’ movements around the country,” he said. “We’ll see what the police do and what the weather does to these occupations but, you know, the weather won’t shut down half of this country… and there are a lot of people camped out there that have no intention of ever leaving.”

OCTOBER 29 – #ROBINHOOD GLOBAL MARCH

This is a proposal for the general assemblies of the Occupy movement.
Eight years ago, on February 15, 2003, upwards of 15 million people in sixty countries marched together to stop President Bush from invading Iraq … a huge chunk of humanity lived for one day without dead time and glimpsed the power of a united people's movement. Now we have an opportunity to repeat that performance on an even larger scale.

On October 29, on the eve of the G20 Leaders Summit in France, let's the people of the world rise up and demand that our G20 leaders immediately impose a 1% #ROBINHOOD tax on all financial transactions and currency trades. Let's send them a clear message: We want you to slow down some of that $1.3-trillion easy money that's sloshing around the global casino each day – enough cash to fund every social program and environmental initiative in the world.

Take this idea to your local general assembly and join your comrades in the streets on October 29.

for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ

[Sachita]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

For any of you who still shop at Walmart, PLEASE watch this documentary so you can at least be an INFORMED consumer.

this is really great if anyone cares enough to watch it. thanks for posting it

[dreadgeek]

Ruffryder:

You bring up some interesting points that I wish were given more due consideration. One of the books I read in the last six months (I think it was Matt Ridley's The Rational Optimist) had a discussion about local sourcing and while it seems like a great idea, it actually can create quite a bit of price inflation. Someone back east set out to create a men's suit using only materials that could be obtained within 50 miles of her home. To be fair she started absolutely from scratch and, if memory serves (I don't have the book with me at work) a suit that would have cost maybe $150 - $200 at a local clothing store was close to $1000 when all was said and done. Another book I'm currently reading (Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature) brings up a really interesting point about trade and that is that it appears to create a more peaceful world. Why bomb someone at great expense when you can trade with them and get the things they have that you want at a fraction of the cost?

People who have studied how humans have become less violent over time (and despite what you might think humans are *far* less violent now then even a century ago) have noted two things. Trading partners tend not to go to war with one another and democracies tend not to go to war with one another. So while the idea of local sourcing and buying local might seem like an intuitively obvious idea, it may turn out that there are hidden costs. This is NOT a defense of globalization nor is it a defense of unregulated capitalism.

Another problem I see with our quickness to grasp onto local sourcing and buying local as a panacea is that it ignores what happens when trade is diminished. Let's say you live someplace where there's plenty of minerals but not a lot of good farmland. I live someplace where there's not a lot of minerals but lots of farmland. Now, if you trade your surplus minerals with me and I trade my surplus food with you, you have the food you can't grow yourself and I have the minerals I can't dig out of the ground. But what happens if I stop trading with you? Well, I still have all this food but I don't need to grow as much anymore. If I'm no longer selling for a large market, I don't need all the extra hands around. So I lay them off. Likewise, since you don't need nearly as many miners if you aren't trying to get enough minerals out of the ground to trade for other goods you lay them off. Now, we've done the right thing and we've shrunk our footprint. We are now only doing business locally but we're doing *less* business. Every person I lay off is one person who doesn't have money to stop by the bar and buy a couple of beers after a hard day. Every person you lay off is someone who isn't going to eat at the diner during their lunch hour. So the diner lays off someone. That person isn't going to go to the tailor and buy a new dress. So the tailor lays off someone. That person isn't going to be buying a car from the used car dealership, so they lay off someone.

We can't say that the economy doesn't behave that way because, in fact, we are in a recession *precisely* because the economy *does* behave that way. There's a crisis on Wall Street and businesses either fold or contract. The people who lose their jobs aren't spending at the lunch counters, bars and little shops surrounding the business districts so some of those businesses also fold. People who keep their jobs seriously contract their spending in case they are the next one's to get a layoff notice. More jobs are lost. And the cycle feeds on itself.

This is why I am so very, very frustrated that the GOP is pretending that a Keynesian stimulus would be nothing but a waste of money and energy. If people are hired to start repairing schools, bridges and roads those will be construction workers who have money in their pocket. Knowing that it's going to take a while to do the job and there'll be more work because there's a lot of roads to be repaired and schools to be updated, so they spend at the bar or the tailor or what-have-you. That is part of what is wrong is that the government, the spender of last resort, isn't able to do infrastructure projects NOT because there's no money but because our politics is broken.

I understand the arguments in favor of buying local and to some degree I think that's good. My wife and I, for instance, have committed to not eating out of season so there won't be bananas in January for us. On a limited scale this works and as an act of conscience I applaud it. However, I think that we need to be mindful of the ripple effects of economic actions. What might seem to be a self-evidently great idea may, in light of deeper reflection, have hidden costs that may be higher than we should want to pay.

How many here would be willing to have the cost of most everything--certainly their electronics, clothing and food--to double? Triple? Would this really help the poor if suddenly a $700 bare-bones laptop suddenly became a $2100 laptop because every component had to be made within 100 miles? What about those objects that have no physicality? Do we local source that stuff as well? When I upgraded to OS X Lion I didn't touch a DVD, I downloaded it. I don't know nor do I care *where* those bits came from. Should we local source those items like software, books and music that have no physicality to them?

Cheers
Aj

Originally Posted by ruffryder

Easier said than done, shop local. Do not shop Wal-Mart or go to McDonald's. You can only shop local if there is local farmers. There are not a lot! I went to a local grocery store, but guess what, it gets it's food from the same place Wal-Mart does and it was more expensive. Farmers sell their product to Wal-Mart and other major grocery stores because there is money in it for them. Why sit outside at a farmer's market all day and hope for someone to buy their stuff when a grocery chain will buy in bulk and take all the crop. I worked wholesale meat and produce for 8 years. We bought bulk from farmers and sold to grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. So farmers stuff does actually make it into stores and around town and stays in the U.S. McDonalds buys their beef from local farmers. . . I also worked 6 years in beef production. We got our cattle from local feed lots, slaughtered them, cleaned them up and distributed the meat to McDonalds and other major restaurants and grocery chains. We even shipped to Japan and handled organic meat for the customers that wanted it. I worked Quality Assurance so I know what is in the meat and how safe it is when it comes out of a meat plant. I have taken many tours from where the cattle comes from to how it is slaughtered, packaged, and shipped. You may not want to shop Wal-Mart or McDonalds, however you should research where they actually get their product from because some of it is from local farmers and from the U.S. We may not like McDonalds and Wal-Mart but they do provide many jobs for people in the U.S. Just a thought..