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Founders Why We Formed The Coalition From A Personal Perspective The Farm Food Freedom Coalition was formed by four woman in response to recent raids on their food clubs, (two members of the recently raided and shutdown RAWESOME food club in Venice, Ca and two coordinators from the Grassfed On The Hill buying club that also experienced a raid of their source farm, Rainbow Valley) in an effort to preserve American's food choices. We feel that the government is interfering in our daily lives especially related to our food options. March of this year (2011) the FDA released these statements after the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund filed a case against them regarding the interstate commerce laws on raw milk: These statements show a dangerous trend in this country of the government taking action against citizens in the name of "food safety" that have a clear bias seemingly influenced by agribusiness lobbying or the lack of anyone lobbying on behalf of consumers and independent farmers. After the Rally for Food and Farm Freedom we had a meeting with house representatives that enlightened us regarding the lack of lobbying on behalf of small farmers, independent producers and basic protection of the farm to consumer relationship. Liz and Karine feel called to fill this role given their proximity to the Capit0l and knowledge on raw milk and food politics. We all share fears as consumers and especially as mothers to loose access to the food of our choice for our families. We believe everyone has the right to health and should have access to the best food possible. The Founders: 
Karine Bouis-Towe is the founder of Grassfed On The Hill buying club, coordinating farm fresh food in the DC Metro Area since 2004 for over 1600 households and a co-founder of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition. She brings 6 years of experience in volunteer coordination, mostly attained from implementation of Community Garden's in the Nation's Capitol. She is passionate about food security, preserving and increasing local farms and is dedicated to securing access to farm fresh food for generations to come. Raising children has made a huge impact on where she puts her time and energy through this experience she realized the urgency in taking back our rights as American's to have access to the foods of our choice to promote health and wellness. She is passionate about helping others who seek whole, unadulterated food and is dedicated to creating these options and advocating for them. Prior to raising children and urban homesteading, Karine worked in the Information Technology Field and this Fall will turn her attention to her true calling, biodynamic farming.
Liz Reitzig is co-coordinator of grassfed on the hill buying club serving the greater Washington DC area and co-founder of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition. Liz has spent the past 6 years working on the state and National Levels representing small farms and consumers at the state legislature and in the halls of Congress lobbying for food and farming rights. She is the
principle organizer of an annual National Grassroots Lobby Day and Legislative Reception on Capitol Hill. Liz has worked on several political campaigns as well. She is a sought speaker on the topics of nutrition, food politics and food rights everywhere from community events to the Navel Academy in Annapolis. Experienced in media relations, Liz has appeared in multiple shows and interviews including the Food Network, NPRís Morning Edition, and the movie Farmageddon, defending the rights of farmers and consumers. In addition to her political work, Liz is a contributor to the Liberation Wellness blog, a certified Liberation Wellness Nutritionist and Wellness Educator and a Chapter Leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation. Liz is kept motivated by her five young children to whom she feeds nutrient dense foods from local farmers she knows and loves. She is driven to work to help secure for them a future of continued access to the foods and farmers they know and love.
Laurie Cohen Peters is a co-founder of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition and is a member of the recent egregiously raided RAWESOME food club in Venice, CA. She is also a blogger for their website, RealFoodRights and a contributing writer for bodyecology. A speaker on the topic of whole, enzymatically intact, gmo-free, organic foods and nutrition, Laurie offers insight on all things whole foods and chemical-free living. Having worn many hats (production manager, producer, senior VP of production in the entertainment industry for 13 years, owner of an organic lavender private label and retail company that furnished the hotel, spa and yoga communities, home-birthing, long term breast feeding mother and a certified health counselor), Laurie is familiar with building an effective alliance and is committed whole food freedom. Whole and real foods have always been her passion and she has a history of working in various capacities to this end. Knowing what she does about real nutrition and the politics of food, she could never go back to feeding her family commercial fare and sees no alternative but to dedicate her passion to correcting the gross distortion that has become America's laws regarding its food system.
Odette Springer, co-founder of Farm Food Freedom Coalition, has been devoted to promoting genuinely organic, nutrient dense, sustainable food for the past twenty years. She is a classically trained pianist and award winning documentary filmmaker. Odette's feature documentary about Hollywood's B-Movie industry premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. From the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times to Entertainment Weekly and Variety, Odetteís work has been hailed as ìthought provoking, insightful, provocative, impressive and required viewing.î She has been a performer and composer for more than 25 films and has written songs for numerous record labels, a number of which hit on the Pop and R&B charts. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythological Studies and Archetypal Psychology and teaches piano, voice, theory and composition in her West Los Angeles studio. |
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Farm Food Freedom Coalition | farmfoodfreedom@yahoo.com |
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