Kickin' it at the Fair Farm Bill kick-off meeting

Last week, I went to the Fair Farm Bill kickoff meeting with Gina, a roommate of mine who also cares about sustainability. The meeting came at the end of a long day for each of us. We were tired, not much in a campaigning mood.

But as soon as we made it to the meeting room in the Bethlehem Public Library, Mara Schechter, of Food & Water Watch, and other almost fifty other organizers welcomed us with huge smiles and even bigger enthusiasm.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed; we had laughed, nodded, brainstormed, enjoyed a handful of great conversations, and left with a plan for getting Moravian students engaged in the Fair Farm Bill (legislation that would protect small farms from and help farmers better compete with big buisness.)

When we got home, we even sat in my room for close to an hour talking more about environmental issues.

Those Fair Farm Bill organizers woke us up last night.

The crowd itself revealed the diversity of the movement; there were college kids, older and middle-aged people, a guy in suspenders, a lady in a “Frack That!” shirt, and a few people in nice slacks and shirts. Mara used social networking and plain old networking to get the word out. 

We all listened as guest speaker, Richard Lane, executive director for Focus International, took to the podium to tell his story about growing up on a Dairy Farm on the Hudson River. He described a tough but rewarding way of life, one he has watched disappear.

Why? “Less than half of the small farms in the US,” Lane said, “can break even.” Many farm he said, just because they believe in it.

The Fair Farm Bill would help prevent such injustices and would help small farmers more readily get their goods to local markets.

Used with permission of
Buy Fresh, Buy Local Greater Lehigh Valley.

It all goes back to one simple belief. “The shared resources we all rely on,” Mara said, should be “managed and regulated in the public interest.” Not in the interest of corporations.

Gina and I, along with a group of Lehigh students from Green Action, attended the breakout session on Grassroots Organizing. A young guy named Dan led it.

Our democracy works when we elect officials who do what we tell them, Dan said. So we have to, “ constantly remind them what they have to do. They listen to whoever they hear the most, whoever’s the loudest.”

The campaign wants to be the loudest voice. We’re looking for 2,000 signatures on a petition to pass the bill. We also hope to flood Senator Casey’s office on Tuesday, Sept 27 with calls supporting the bill. ECO, Moravian's Environmental Coalition will have a table in the HUB and will be urging students to make the call.


There will also be a table in front of the Bethlehem Brew Works (a local restaurant that uses locally grown food)

Moravian students: look up Gina and I to know what you can do on campus.

For more info on the movement, contact Mara Schechter @ mara.schechter@gmail.com.