Late last month, a varied group of writers, scholars, and labor activists gathered in Portland for a panel discussion on labor, food, and immigration policy. Among the panelists were Larry Kleinman, Secretary-Treasurer for PCUN; Mary Mendez, Deputy Director of Enlace; and Paul Apostolidis and Aaron Bobrow-Strain, both authors and professors at Whitman College. While the [...]

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Photo: Adelante Mujeres
This week, The Oregonian ran a short article about an exciting pilot program taking off in Forest Grove. The new program - which is run by the Hispanic women’s development group Adelante Mujeres -  provides and farm land and training to Latinos who’d like to practice organic agriculture. While Latinos make up an [...]

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If you weren’t able to catch the sneak preview screening of Food, Inc. in late April, now is your chance to see the film and to make your ticket price work towards real, local change! On Tuesday, June 23 at 7:00 pm, Cinema 21 will host a special “pack the theater” fundraiser for Slow Food [...]

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On an early Saturday morning, along with a group from Slow Food Portland, I drove down the familiar I-5 corridor to visit a large, local community that few Oregonians have ever considered. It is a community in which 7 languages are regularly spoken, and where residents hail from multiple countries. It is also a community [...]

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Utne Reader recently named Ramón Ramírez, of the Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers Union (PCUN), as one of “50 Visionaries who are changing your world.”
From Utne:
Ramón Ramírez knew that Spanish-language radio stations were instrumental in reaching and mobilizing Latino immigrants. So when his union bought its own low-power FM station in Oregon two years ago, they opted [...]

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The panelists involved in last night’s inaugural food labor event offered us sobering perspectives on agricultural workers, as well as hopeful and heartfelt encouragement to continue advocating about these issues. Food labor is an issue that should be important to all eaters, but it is one that can be intimidating to address. Nevertheless, it is [...]

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Last week, we mentioned the exciting progress being made in this country to bring about a broader awareness of food issues. But despite the increase in press and the New York Times’ coverage of food politics, food labor (both as a subject and a population) remains largely excluded from the discussion. It’s time to bring [...]

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