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Urge a Yes Vote on the Urban Ag and DC Food Security Bill of 2014 September 8th, 2014
The Garden at 391 Michigan Ave., NE at the Oblate headquarters in Washington, DC
If you live in Washington, DC, please join us in supporting the Urban Agriculture and DC Food Security Bill of 2014. The legislation is moving through the City Council this month, and your voice is needed!
DC City Council Member David Grosso, who spent time visiting the Garden at 391 last April, introduced this legislation, with the idea of building on the legacy of the urban farming act of 1986 and the DC Healthy Schools Act of 2010. This bill takes those initiatives a step further by opening up more public and private land to grow healthy food. Passage of the Urban Agriculture bill is very important as a way to develop local food growing capacity.
Gail Taylor, the farmer of the lower field at the Oblate headquarters in Washington, DC has been building the soil and productivity on the city plots that make up Three Part Harmony Farm for the last 3 years, but she and her fellow farmers need these policy changes to take the next step to really grow (in so many different ways!).
Please get involved in this brief grassroots effort to make sure the City Council knows how important this issue is to residents of DC.
Contact the Chairman and members of the DC City Council Finance and Revenue Committee. They are currently in the mark up phase of the bill.
Please feel free to use these points as a guide:
“Hi, My Name is:
I live in Ward:
I’m calling/ emailing to let you know that the D.C. Urban Agriculture and Food Security Act of 2014 is an important piece of legislation for our city and that I hope it will be passed soon.
• The Act encourages private, District landowners to lease their land for agricultural purposes and encourages urban farming on unused city owned land in response to problems of blighted property.
• The Act responds to the District’s continued struggle to address chronic hunger amongst residents with a local solution: encouraging urban farmers to donate a portion of their produce to District-based food banks and shelters.
• The Act enables urban farmers to sell their produce both on and off the leased land, bringing easy, fresh food access to neighborhoods across the city, including those currently identified as food deserts.
Thank you!”
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Please write or call:
- Chairman Phil Mendelson: (202) 724-8032; pmendelson@dccouncil.us
- Jack Evans: (202) 724-8058; jackevans@dccouncil.us
- Muriel Bowser: (202) 724-8052; mbowser@dccouncil.us
- Marion Barry: (202) 724-8045; mbarry@dccouncil.us
- David Catania: (202) 724-7772; dcatania@dccouncil.us
Thank Grosso and Cheh for their leadership, and the other supporters of the bill as well:
- David Grosso: (202) 724-8105; dgrosso@dccouncil.us
- Mary Cheh: (202) 724-8062; mcheh@dccouncil.us
- Jim Graham: (202) 724-8181; jgraham@dccouncil.us
- Kenyan McDuffie: (202) 724-8028, kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
- Tommy Wells: (202) 724-8072; twells@dccouncil.us
Thanks to Three Part Harmony Farm for the information in this post. For more information on Three Part Harmony Farm, visit: http://threepartharmonyfarm.org
Fr Seamus Finn, OMI Elected Chair of ICCR Governing Board September 2nd, 2014
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI and Sr. Judy Byron, OP
at ICCR meetings in NY
Our own Seamus Finn, OMI has been elected Chair of the Governing Board of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. This is an acknowledgement not only of his substantial experience in the field of faith constant and socially responsible investing, but also of the value of his strategic thinking in this area, for ICCR and other faith-based investing initiatives.
Oblates and ICCR Meet with Walmart CEO August 30th, 2014
Oblates and ICCR meet with new Walmart CEO Doug MacMillan at company headquarters in Bentonville AK in July
Angry Mob Invades Assembly of Families of Disappeared at Oblate Center in Sri Lanka August 12th, 2014
On the afternoon of August 4th, a group of Buddhist monks with a large number of civilians and media personnel forced their way into a meeting being hosted by the Oblate Centre for Peace and Justice in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The mob was intent on disrupting a meeting of families of the disappeared that were meeting in the place to tell their stories to an assembled group of priests, nuns, human rights activists, and representatives of civil society organizations as well as of diplomatic missions. The aim of the meeting was to pinpoint methods and strategies for helping the families of missing people locate their loved ones. The center, which is currently led by Oblate priest, Fr. Ashok Stephen, has been helping civil war victims for years.
Read more at: http://www.ucanews.com/news/sri-lankan-buddhists-up-in-arms-over-papal-visit/71654
Despite repeated requests from the organizers and the diplomatic corp present, the police failed to disperse the mob, but suggested rather that the meeting be disbanded and representatives from both parties attend an inquiry at the police station. Fr. Ashok Stephen, OMI, Director of the CPJ, filed a complaint of criminal trespass against the one Buddhist whose name he was able to determine, but does not think anything will come of it. The families present, which included children, were frightened but the mob, which shouted abuse and took photographs of those present.
Statements on the incident from Fr Ashok Stephen, OMI and Fr Rohan Silva, OMI are available on the website of the Colombo Province.
The Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Sri Lanka have also issued a statement condemning the incident. (Download PDF here)
Shareholder Proposal Succeeds in Bringing Google to the Table to Talk about Corporate Taxes May 23rd, 2014
The Oblates supported a shareholder proposal filed by Domini Social Investments with Internet giant, Google, seeking a responsible code of conduct on global tax strategies. Google has agreed to sit down with the investor group and discuss this issue, which is an important element in the conversation around the role of government and the revenue sources available to it to meet its responsibilities.
Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel at Domini, wrote an Op Ed to explain the thinking behind the investor position that corporations need to pay their fair share of taxes. In it, he dispels a few myths about US corporate taxes, and argues that a deeper analysis shows that “Corporate tax minimization strategies present serious threats to long-term wealth creation and might pose greater risks than corporate taxation itself.”
Click here to read more »
