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Class Action
April 2007 E-news
1. Class & Food
2. Book of the Month: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle
3. April Action Against Classism
4. Resources: Class & Food Articles
5. Share your experience: Class Action Survey
6. Vote on our upcoming Manual title
7. Class Action article in The Diversity Factor journal
8. Jobs at Class Action
9. Guest edit an enewsletter
10. Bay and Twin City Area Volunteers Sought
1. Class & Food
Food. Everyone needs it. Everyone eats it.
Who gets to eat what in America is another matter, and while your class position can certainly influence how much you eat, it can also affect the quality of what you eat. While a largely middle & upper-middle class movement towards eating organic and buying local dominates the national media conversation about food consumption, low-income and working class people are left out almost entirely. Class perspectives on access to quality food are rare and the gap between the poor and the healthfood movement is not getting any smaller. Because obesity, diabetes and other nutrition-related illnesses affect the poor disproportionately, education about and access to healthy food is imperitive for our country's public health.
We found some interesting perspectives on all this and more, as well as some wonderful groups doing work towards ensuring that everyone eats well in America.
2. Book of the Month: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle, University of California Press, 2002
-Reviewed by Catherine Le
The food industry, like the tobacco industry, is directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of American deaths per year. Initially, this claim sounds alarmist verging on paranoiac but Marion Nestle, an academic nutritionist and professor at New York University, insists on drawing this parallel between the two industries. read more...
You can read more Book of the Month selections in our book corner.
3. April Action Against Classism
-Donate healthy and organic food, money or time to your local food bank or kitchen. Call them up and ask them what their needs are and follow through! Everyone needs to eat and deserves to eat well!
-Join a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and/or donate a share of a CSA to your local Food Pantry.
-Start looking for and buying from Farmers Markets in your area.
-Take the time to look at the following organizations' websites. They are doing incredible work! Go to our action page to read more about them.
America's Second Harvest
The Community Food Security Coalition
sustainabletable.com
Growing Power, Inc.
4. Resources: Class and Food Articles
Mass Natural
Michael Pollan, author of the Omnivore's Dilemma, writes about Wal-Marts recent decision to market a complete selection of organic products in nearly all of its 4,000 stores in this compelling article. read more...
Let Them Eat Crap
Susan Douglas provides a review and summary on the four-part New York Times series "Bad Blood" that examined the connections between diabetes, fast food, and a map of New York City. read more...
Food & Class
Tom Philpott, a founder of Maverick Farms, a sustainable-agriculture non-profit and small farm in North Carolina, begins his article with this provocative sentence: "The sustainable food movement has a class problem." read more...
Economics of Obesity
This online journal article examines the connection between poverty and obesity as well as the tricky task of encouraging low-income families to eat healthier food while not being construed as elitist. Don't let the academic speak scare you! read more..
5. Share Your Experience: Class and Food
How does your class position affect what you eat?
Let us know at our survey page.
6. Vote on our upcoming Manual title!
We are publishing a Cross-Class Dialogue Manual and need help picking a name. Help decide between:
TALKING ACROSS THE CLASS DIVIDE:
A Manual For Cross-Class Dialogue and Learning
BREAKING TABOOS:
The Cross-Class Dialogue Manual
WORKING CLASS PEOPLE ARE FROM MARS,
MIDDLE CLASS FOLKS ARE FROM VENUS,
RICH PEOPLE ARE FROM PLUTO
A Manual For Cross-Class Dialogue and Learning
or make one up!
Cut and paste your favorite in an email to Sarah .
7. Class Action Article in The Diversity Factor Journal
The latest issue of the journal The Diversity Factor included an article by Class Action's Executive Director, Felice Yeskel, urging diversity professionals to include issues of classism in their work. To read the article click here.
8. Jobs at Class Action
Class Action seeks talented and committed individuals to fill two new staff positions: Development Director and Race/Class Intersections Program Coordinater. Class Action is committed to a class and race diverse staff. Please visit our website to learn more about these positions.
Class Action also seeks summer interns. To learn more click here.
9. Coordinate and guest edit an enewsletter
Choose from topics such as class & gender, literature, media, leisure, or one of your choosing. Email us if you are interested!
10. Bay and Twin City Area Volunteers Sought
Do you live in the Bay Area or the Twin Cities Area? Would you like to help us find workshop and house party spaces? Do you know organizations that might help us coordinate our workshops and house parties in those cities? Do you know people who might attend a workshop or house party? Would you be willing to publicize an event in your city? We would love to hear from you. Please contact Dana. Thank You!
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