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Late Summer Update
Sept. 7, 2008

Slow Food Nation has just ended. It was an amazing event: sixty thousand people, hundreds of farmers and food producers, dozens of presenters, four major venues, incredible media coverage and open dialogue about the strengths and weaknesses of Slow Food.  It was a concrete moment that could mark a phase change in America related to food and agriculture. I hope so.

I want to reflect on progress made by ROC in the last several months as revealed by three Slow Food Nation events in which ROC played a defining role. ROC is a network collaborative and there are many voices shaping strategy, action, and assessments. The ROC Stewardship Council will convene in a few weeks to reflect on progress and do it again in November. The 2008 Fellows will begin a series of retreats running October through December in which strategic opportunities will be the focus. All of you reading will, I hope, consider ROC’s past progress, current focus, and future direction and your relationship to those. I invite comments, concerns, and suggestions. Knowing the magnitude of collective thinking just ahead, I offer my assessments as one voice in a chorus.

dscf6163.jpgBut first, I want to highlight that the ROC Community arrived to Slow Food Nation in force. Forty-three of fifty Fellows from the 2007 and 2008; fourteen of seventeen Council members; over a dozen folks from the Statewide and County roundtable work, and many dozens from the Changemakers Network up and down the State participated. It was great to see so many people who share a commitment to making the food system in California sustainable. By the way, ROC has renamed what was formerly known as the Leadership Network. It is now the Changemakers Network. This happened because the new moniker has been recognized as more accurate, more inclusive, and more appealing.

Let me focus on three personal highlights from the weekend: the first public reading of the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture, Changemakers Day, and the small gathering of leaders at the ROC offices on Sunday morning to discuss the future of agriculture in the nation and state.

dscf6037 copy.jpgAs the Washington Post wrote in its page-one article on August 30th, Slow Food Nation “opened with the presentation of a … Declaration, a statement of values the group hopes will guide the omnibus farm bill that appropriates money for farm subsidies, food stamps and the school lunch program. The 12 principles include providing access to affordable, nutritious food to everyone; preventing exploitation of farm workers; and committing resources to educate children about food.” As always, the media did not include the whole story. But you can see it all by visiting www.fooddeclaration.org to read the final draft document and endorse, comment or both. The reading was a joyous moment. Three hundred cheering people came to the Rotunda of San Francisco’s City Hall to watch. CBS News, the New York Times, Washington Post and AP wire service covered the reading which was conducted by an august mix of stakeholders: Dan Imhoff, writer, publisher, small farmer, and winemaker; Dr. Marion Nestle, noted author and nutrition policy analyst; Maricela Morales from the ROC’s Stewardship Council and leader of CAUSE in Ventura County; Alice Waters, restaurateur, food curriculum and Slow Food advocate; Keith Bolin Illinois farmer and President of the American Corn Growers Association; Richard Rominger, farmer, Stewardship Council member and former Deputy Secretary of USDA; Wendy Wasserman, publisher of Iowa River Valley; and Patty Lovera from Food and Water Watch. The message got out that farmers, eaters, social justice and environmental advocates are forming a unified voice in favor of major improvements in America’s food and agriculture policy. We need incentives and safety nets appropriate for the 21st Century and the Declaration provides a framework for getting there. I urge everyone to endorse the document and spread the web link to everyone in our own network. We seek to ignite a viral Internet campaign that will attract up to 1 million endorsements by October 2009.

The next morning, Changemakers Day commenced with nearly 1000 people sitting in on a dynamic and challenging dialog regarding the World Food Crisis featuring Vandana Shiva, Raj Patel, Michael Pollan, Corby Kummer, and Carlo Petrini. I sat with AG Kawamura throughout the talk. Like me, he wondered aloud how the gulf in worldviews between the industrial system and the emerging good food movement will be constructively crossed. I think we would agree that good leadership and clear and honest communication are needed. I believe that impinging realities will force collaboration from all sides in order to mitigate a difficult set of serious crises.

The opening session at Herbst Theater was only the beginning. Six hundred leaders continued sharing and learning in 29 different talks. Some sessions were large and some small, but all were held because ROC could provide a ways and means to convene. Changemakers was where the issues of social justice and the Slow Food movement were most deeply discussed. It was where those who actually work on the front line of change in all sectors could share experience and progress. It was not perfect, but it was an excellent start to what I am hope will become an annual event.

On Sunday, ROC hosted a very interesting meeting with seminal thinkers, experienced policymakers, and thoughtful leaders from the good food movement. The writer Wendell Berry, scientist Wes Jackson, Secretary AG Kawamura, Former Secretary Richard Rominger, ROC Co-Chair Larry Yee, Food First head and 07 ROC Fellow Eric Holt Gimenez, Prison Garden innovator Catherine Sneed, UK Soil Association leader Patrick Holden, farmer and Leopold Fellow Fred Kirschenmann, and several others gathered to discuss a long-term transition plan for American agriculture. The question was how do we actually encourage farming systems that are biologically appropriate to place. Wes is proposing a 50-year plan broken into ten five-year increments to fit the current farm bill appropriation cycle. Although the topic is huge and we had only 4 hours, the dialogue clarified that in the context of California, social justice and community health issues would need to be linked to the biological needs of the planet to build a broad enough coalition to push through such major reform. Wes and Wendell are in Portland this week to continue building support for their cause. The have held similar meetings in the Mid West and mid Atlantic. They will continue to share the concept and plan to prepare a white paper that could be used to brief the next President and Secretary of Agriculture. Everyone in the room agreed that soil loss, climate change, water scarcity and the end of cheap oil will change the agricultural system and the best scenario is for the nation to have good policy in place to allow a constructive transition. ROC will remain in touch with Wes and Wendell as they continue the sojourn and we will report to you ways that Changemakers might lend a hand.

Overall, these three events clarified that the Changemakers Network is impacting not just the state, but also the nation. We have linked ourselves to the national good food movement and demonstrated that we are a powerful ally. We have provided a rallying point in the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture and a tool for increasing our shared learning through Changemakers Day.

These milestones reflecting progress would mean nothing and would not have happened at all without the Changemakers Network, which doubled in size over one three-day weekend. I want to thank all the volunteers who helped reach out to touch the crowds and encourage them to sign on as Changemakers. Wearing their “vote with your fork” tee shirts and straw hats, the sixty volunteers that roamed the event made a lasting impression on the crowds strengthened our common effort to create a sustainable food system in the State and nation. Thank you to all involved.

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