Veganic For Climate

MARCH WITH SMALL FARMERS

JOIN THE VEGANIC FOR CLIMATE CONTINGENT AT THE PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH

SAN FRANCISCO, SEPTEMBER 8

The Global Climate Action Summit was convened by governor Jerry Brown to tackle climate change and inspire commitments from national governments in support of the Paris Agreement. It will take place in San Francisco on Sep 12-14, and will draw decision-makers, environmental advocates and grassroots activists from around the world. As San Francisco gears up for mass mobilizations, agriculture is conspicuously absent from the conversations. Seed the Commons believes that agriculture should be a primary focus and we’re making sure that it’s on the table this September.

Agriculture is a principle contributor to greenhouse gas emissions–even conservative estimates show that animal agriculture is responsible for more emissions than all forms of transportation combined. Conversely, climate change negatively impacts our capacity to grow food, exacerbating related problems such as hunger, food injustice and forced migration. Agriculture also offers solutions to cool the planet: shifting to vegan agroecological farming practices would curb greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon by rebuilding soils and protecting forests.

Of the few voices in the environmental movement who focus on agriculture, most are promoting small-scale animal agriculture as a default or even a necessary feature of organic, agroecological and regenerative systems. Holistic grazing, in particular, is touted as a magic bullet. While we must move away from industrial agriculture, promoting animal agriculture as the alternative is misguided. Animal agriculture at any scale in unnecessary, requires more resources than plant-based systems, and reproduces some of the same problems that its proponents purport to solve. We must move away from both the false solutions of tech-fixes and animal agriculture, be it organic, grass-fed, holistic or any other number of trendy adjectives.

While the vegan movement is successfully shifting eating habits, it has not yet contributed much to conversations on sustainable farming. It is not enough to focus on the consumer side nor to only speak about what not to do; we must also put forth a model of ecological farming that eschews animal exploitation.

This is why Veganic For Climate is so important. Seed the Commons is part of a growing coalition of grassroots organizations planning a Climate March and other activities around the Summit, and we are the only organization that is bringing veganic farming to the forefront. The Veganic For Climate contingent will be led by small farmers from around the US – because small veganic farmers are showing the way towards a cooler planet.

We believe that veganic farming is the future: the basis of a climate-friendly food system. Help us make this vision a reality–join us in San Francisco this September as we mobilize with small farmers for a veganic food system.

#VeganicForClimate #GrowVegan

EVENTS

June 10 Plant-Based Planning Meeting for Climate March
Open meeting for the Bay Area vegan community to plan the vegan contingent(s) at the Climate March.

Aug 3 Veganic for Climate Panel and Reception
Mona Seymour, Nassim Nobari and Chema Hernández Gil will speak about why we should center veganics in our activism, what a veganic future would look like, and the current state of veganic farming and the veganic movement.

Aug 26 Veganic Gardening Workshop
Disconnect from Big Ag! Learn to grow your own food sustainably and compassionately at our third and last gardening workshop of 2018.

Sep 3 & 5 Veganic For Climate Art Builds
Show up to make signs and art for the climate march! Supplies and snacks provided.

Sep 8 Veganic Bloc at Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice
Join the veganic contingent at the biggest climate march in history!

Sep 9 Rise for Climate: Food, Agriculture and the Environment
This full-day conference will explore the connections between agriculture and the environment and feature a roundtable with veganic farmers.

Sep 10 Veganic Farming: Growing the Movement for Climate-Friendly Agriculture
Seed the Commons will present a veganic panel at Soil Not Oil, a grassroots environmental conference that explores alternatives to industrial agriculture.

Sep 12-14 Global Climate Action Summit
The Veganic For Climate campaign will be in full swing – stay updated!

OUTREACH

In addition to the above events, we are mobilizing folks to show up for veganics by tabling at events around the Bay, including the Sunday Streets leading up to the summit.

Mobilize With Us!

We invite you to join us in San Francisco between September 8 and September 14 to put veganics on the table. Join our #VeganicForClimate contingent at the Climate March and join our other activities during that week.

Use hashtags #VeganicForClimate and #GrowVegan to mobilize and share.

Check back on this page, RSVP to the campaign, follow us on Facebook for updates, and share this information widely.

Volunteer

Here are just some of the ways you can support this campaign:

Table or leaflet with us
Invite STC to speak or table at an event
Social media and outreach
Organizing and logistics