Urgent need for seeds in Haiti

The migration of thousands of people from the earthquake-devastated areas around and in Port-au-Prince to rural areas of Haiti is threatening the security and sovereignty of rural food systems. The Joining Hands network FONDAMA is prioritizing the urgent need for an increase in rural food production. FONDAMA’s goal is to purchase 400 tons of local seeds for immediate distribution to 30,000 farmers nationwide. The local cost is estimated at roughly $1 million.

Donations for the purchase of these local seeds by our partners in Haiti can be made to the PHP account for Haiti H000014.

The planting season has started. Seeds are needed now.  

Heaven on Earth

Experience the good food revolution on this road trip from the vibrant small farms of Kentucky to the bustling Eastern Market of Detroit. Visit church and community initiatives along the way and join thousands participating in the historic second U.S. Social Forum. Join this delegation of college students, farmers, musicians, bloggers and other adventurous souls.

Learn more and sign up!
Download the flier.

Distorting the Integrity of Creation

A company called Nexia has managed to put the gene of a spider into goats. The "spider-goats" produce milk with a silk protein which is so strong and lightweight that the U.S. Army wants to make bullet proof vests out of it. Now fluorescent cats, human/pig hybrids and other exceedingly bizarre creatures are actually being created by our scientists. A genetically modified cat named Mr. Green Genes is the first fluorescent cat in the United States. If you get one of these, you will never have to turn the lights on to find your cat.

Read more from India’s Reverend Thomas John, who works with the India network of PC(USA)’s Joining Hands Against Hunger.

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Globalization we can grasp

Presbyterians are increasingly articulate critics of economic, social and environmental abuse. What is often missing for ordinary people in those critiques is an idea of what they can do to make a difference at home, in their congregations and in the broader community.

A newly released online curriculum package, Globalization We Can Grasp, offers timely examples in both print and video of individuals and groups who are making changes and making a difference. Developed by the North American Working Group for Covenanting for Justice of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), the package is divided into five parts: Globalization and the Churches' Response; Global Climate Change: Renewing the Sacred Balance; Farmworkers, Low Wage Jobs, and Living into a New Economy; Environmental Justice and Human Rights; Faithful Purchasing and the Global Economic Sweatshop Economy.

The curriculum is designed to be used as a package over a five-week period or used as individual modules. The package is part of the "Covenanting for Justice" program, a transnational movement launched by WARC to bring about a sustainable and just global community in which the PC(USA) is an active participant.

Monique Baïtal, a mother of six in Cameroon, has felt her burden lifted. Through One Great Hour of Sharing, when she needs grain to feed her family she can get it at the community grain bank. The grain bank helps her community resist selling when their crop prices are too low. With greater control, they’ve even begun building a cushion against hard times. Now her two youngest children are going to school so they will have the choices to which all children are entitled.  Read more by downloading the bulletin insert.

Fair trade: a simple choice for a better world

Rehima Hussein, 12 years old in this photo, is one of 15 children. She and her coffee-farming family live far from town, but thanks to the economic benefits of Fair Trade, Rehima completed high school and now attends college. PHP supports fair trade through our programs and grants. One of these grants was for $10,000 to the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition (LRC) to strengthen their Fair Trade Project. Learn more about the difference buying fair trade makes.

Responses to climate change could increase hunger

Biofuels (fuels made from plants like corn, palm oil trees and other biomass) are touted as a substitute for fossil fuels with fewer global warming emissions. But is it true? New research demonstrates that biofuels may actually increase greenhouse emissions.

Find out What's New and learn more about climate change and its impact on hunger.

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