General Body Meeting September 29, 6:30 PM: Agriculture Reform, Local Updates, & More

Our September club meeting has been moved to Wednesday, September 29th at 6:30pm. Check in begins at 6:15pm.

Please join us on Zoom to hear special guest speakers talk about the Farm System Reform Act, as well as local efforts to mitigate the traffic and pollution impacts from developments. There will also be reports on wildlife and climate action. General Body meetings are always open to both members and guests. Join or renew your membership at sdcdea.wildapricot.org.

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​Impacts of Industrial Agriculture
Over the past 40 to 50 years, our nation's agricultural system was transformed from one based mostly on smaller farms and pastures, to one increasingly consolidated under the control of titanic corporations like Smithfield, Tyson, Cargill, and Perdue. The emergence of CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations (commonly referred to as "factory farms") has brought 99 percent of farm animals in the U.S.--some 10 billion farm animals--under the hooves of these large-scale industrial agricultural facilities, whose focus is solely on producing the most products at the lowest cost. With the decline of small farms that had maintained some connection with the animals and the land, we've seen the rise of horrific animal cruelty, pollution into our waterways and rural landscapes from animal waste, increased GHG emissions, exploitation of factory workers, zoonotic diseases such as the avian and swine influenza viruses, and widespread blanket use of antibiotics and growth hormones. 

The Farm System Reform Act
The Farm System Reform Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Cory Booker (with co-sponsoring Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders), and introduced in the House by Rep. Ro Khanna of California, would overhaul our broken agricultural system by moving us toward one that is more humane with higher standards for animal welfare, worker safety, and addressing industry consolidation and unfair practices--the first step being a moratorium on factory farms. To better inform us and spark action on this critical legislation, our featured speaker will be Rebecca Wolf, senior organizer with Food & Water Watch, who will be presenting about the impact of factory farms and the promise that this bill holds to put an end to dangerous practices that cause harms to our environment, the animals being kept in this system, the workers in these factory settings, and consumers who are often kept in the dark about how their food is raised and what's in it. Click here for a current list of organizations endorsing the Farm System Reform Act.

Local Updates
We'll also get an update and presentation on how local leaders are implementing measures designed to mitigate impacts of development upon traffic and pollution, discuss the outcome of the recall election, as well as reports on President Biden's broken pledge to protect wolves by keeping them off the endangered species list, the student strike for climate action, and the groundbreaking decision by the city of Berkeley to divest from animal agriculture.

​See you there!

Zoom link: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89279753162?pwd=V0NoVU9nU2FEOFFxT1VNVWhjMzhEdz09
Meeting ID: 892 7975 3162