Occupy Sandy Recovery

Using the same social media outlets that had fueled Occupy Wall Street protesters to create a grass-roots global movement last year, Occupy Sandy is proving to be a strength in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Members and organizers are fanning out across New York to deliver aid including hot meals, medicine and blankets.  Two weeks after the storm hit, food, supplies, and volunteers are still desperately needed in some of the most hard hit locations within New York and New Jersey. Find out where your time and/or money can be of service to those deeply affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

 Join 350.org in Washington to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline

After witnessing the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, it is hard to ignore the tragic ways in which climate change can, and will continue, to affect our lives. As the Arctic continues to melt, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a giant straw into the second biggest pool of carbon, moves forward. This pipeline will add 900,000 barrels of oil worth of carbon each day to the earth’s atmosphere. It will connect the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast, stretching 1,700 miles and cross 6 states, threatening freshwater supplies in America’s agricultural heartland and deepening our dependence on some of the dirtiest energy on the planet. According to NASA’s James Hansen, it would mean “game over” for the climate. Join 350.org this Sunday afternoon, November 18th at 3:00 PM, as they gather in the Freedom Plaza and march to the White House. More protests and more people mean more chances to stand in the way of this thing getting built.

GMO Labeling Bill Fails in California but the Fight Isn’t Over!

On November 6th, Californians voted down Proposition 37 , which would have required packagers to label foods containing genetically modified organisms (G.M.O.’s). The campaign was met with strong opposition from the food industry, particularly producers such as Monsanto and manufacturers such as PepsiCo, who spent nearly a million dollars a day — a total of $46 million, or about five times as much as the measure’s backers – to demolish it. Had California passed Proposition 37, it would have been the first state to pass GMO labeling legislation.  As discouraging as it is to see this not get passed, the fight is not over. A number of states, including Connecticut, are pushing for GMO labeling propositions on their state ballots.  GMO Free CT, a strategic partner of Slow Food Shoreline, is currently organizing in the state and the Just Label It Campaign is ramping up the fight to label genetically engineered foods.