What is the Healthy Food Coalition?

 

"Safe" food is not enough.  What we need is healthy food.

Healthy food is always safe but "safe" food is not always healthy.  And when regulations and legislation define what is "safe" and "unsafe" a lot of us disagree.  So, it is healthy food that needs to be our goal not "safe" food.

The grassroots organic movement which grew out of the work of J. I. Rodale helped start the modern "healthy food" movement.  Its goals included safe and nutritious food grown in a safe and ecologically sound way.

Unfortunately, as institutionalized by federal law, the National Organic Program (NOP) is only a marketing program administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA and, like the various leafy greens marketing agreements, can be re-shaped by its signatories.  The NOP will always be subject to political pressure from the industrial food system; so "certified organic" can never become the standard for healthy food.  Also, though probably every "certified organic" grower is concerned about the safety of the food it grows, "certified organic" is not a synonym for "safe" nor for "healthy."

The cheaper the food, the harder it is for it to be "safe"...much less healthy.  Growing, harvesting and processing food to primarily minimize the price and maximize its appearance has lead to the unhealthy and risky food prevalent in America today.  Cheap priced food usually means cheap quality food, too.

The Healthy Food Coalition is an ad hoc, informally organized group.  We are self-named and self-chosen.  Our structure is similar to that of groups within the recovery/12 step movement.  We have no formal legal structure. 

The local food movement doesn't need another perennial non-profit asking for money to support its program.  Rather, we join together to mutually inform ourselves and then use that knowledge to support healthy food.  We not only include individuals but also participating businesses and non-profits concerned about current issues affecting how healthy food is.  We are particularly concerned about proposed new laws and regulations-federal, state and local.  Our ultimate goal is to empower each other so that can we can join together in appropriate actions that will make our food healthier and available to all Americans. 

Harry and Elaine Hamil are the "conveners" of our coalition not its "founders."  Our coalition is able to exist only because of the pre-existing, unorganized community of people interested in healthy food.  The Hamils are simply pointing out that our community already exists, the need for us to organize ourselves, a bit, and the opportunity to strengthen our community via the Healthy Food Coalition.

No one speaks for the Healthy Food Coalition (including the Hamils) because the Healthy Food Coalition doesn't have any opinions or take any positions.  Rather, our coalition helps people, businesses and non-profits to become more fully informed about healthy food and the issues affecting it and to further organize to express our support of the goal of healthy food for everyone.  It is we, the members, who act, not the Healthy Food Coalition.

Actions and, even, campaigns are proposed by individual members and participating businesses and non-profits, organized by volunteers and then proposed via e-mail and the website.   Those who wish to participate in the actions or campaigns will and those who don't won't.

"The Healthy Food Coalition Agreement"[This will have a hyperlink.] contains the full details of membership and participation.

 

Money & Contributions

The Healthy Food Coalition is committed to full transparency regarding money.  This is necessary because of the fact that all members make a monetary donation, subject to our 2 cent minimum.

All money contributed to the Healthy Food Coalition will be passed through to the 501c(4) advocacy organization, the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. These donations are not tax deductible.  We, also, forward money to formally organized non-profits supporting local, healthy food for local people.  And we urge our members to join one of more of these non-profits.

The Hamil's portion at the top of "The Healthy Food Coalition Agreement"[This will have a hyperlink.] contains the full details of the handling of money & contributions.

 

(2-15-10)