Mobilize for June 20-25 Sacramento Convergence

What: Bay Area Mobilizing Meetings for Sacramento Convergence 6/21-25 When: 7 PM Thursdays -- 6/5 & 6/12 Where: 6/5 @ Art & Revolution (Redstone Building), 16th & Capp St. San Francisco 6/12 @ NION office, 1611 Telegraph Ave. @16th, Oakland Spokes Council: Monday, June 16th 7pm @ St. Boniface Church, 133 Golden Gate Ave. San Francisco Contact: hungry_justice@yahoo.com Join with bay area affinity groups and NGOs that are mobilizing to create a festival of diverse resistance to big biotech, bioioimperialism, the Bush administration and "free trade". Non-violent direct action, marches, rally, teach-in, alternative expo and more to confront the corporate agenda and the war on the earth. Demand food sovereignty, safe food and farmers' rights. Mobilization planning includes: Art & Performance, Outreach, Transportation, Legal, Medical, Media, NVDA Training, Food, & Coms and More!! Get your affinity groups together and join us in planning an amazing resistence to Corporate ownership of the food supply! Why we're mobilizing --> --> --> The Ministerial: From June 23-25th 2003 the Ministers of Trade, Agriculture and Environment from 180 nations, including all member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will meet in Sacramento California at a summit hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), USAID, and the US State Department. The Sacramento Conference will be held at the same time as the "Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology" that will highlight the "benefits" of transnational agribusiness and biotechnology. The two events are not open to the public. From the Via Campasina Call to Action in Sacramento: ...Though the Conference and Expo the US government wants to impose its corporate agricultural agenda on the rest of the world, including new technologies such as genetic engineering. We understand that the US government is trying to usurp the process of the World Food Summit held in June 2002 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) by claiming that the Sacramento Conference is a "follow up to the Rome Summit." We understand that this Conference will be used by the US government to remove obstacles to US corporate interests on the road to WTO Ministerial Conference and the Summit of the Americas. Via Campesina calls upon its organisations and other social movements to: - denounce this event publicly and organise protest, - question their parliaments and governments and demand that they denounce this Conference and cancel their participation, - participate in protest actions organised by the US social movements and at the international level. What can you? - write to your agriculture, environmental and trade ministers to make your position know, - inform local and national media so that they will be aware how contentious this issue is, - ask Deputees to raise the issue in Parliament - make your proposals for action known and post them on www.sacramentoministerial.org Hungry for Justice? See you at the meeting -- see you in the streets! Resources: http://www.sacmobilization.org/