[More liveblogging on Food Fight: A Teach-in On the 2007 Farm Bill]

After Food Fight author Dan Imhoff, Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley school system, took stage.

Ann spoke about the connection between the rise in childhood obesity and the subsidization of corn and soybeans. She ended her talk by encouraging listeners to get involved.

Then, Carlos Marentes, Director of Sin Fronteras Organizing Project, took the podium. He noted the link between the way NAFTA devastated farmers in Mexico, and the immigration of Mexican farmers into the US. He ended by saying:

The point that I’d like to make to end is that while we all struggle for a farm bill that is good for everybody, that is good for small farmers, for consumers, but also very important for the environment, it’s very important that we also include the protection of the basic rights of migrant farmer worker and their families. If we won’t do that, we will never be able to create a good farm policy in the United States.

Next up: Ken Cook of what Ken Cook and George Naylor, president of the National Family Farms Coalition, had to say.]

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