Food prices are soaring to record levels. Why? And why do so many people not have access to this basic necessity? Join scholar/activists Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar as they examine these questions and more, drawing on the insights collected in their new edited volume, “Agriculture and Food in Crisis: Conflict, Resistance, and Renewal.”

Fred Magdoff is professor emeritus at the University of Vermont and adjunct professor at Cornell University. He has written extensively on soil fertility, ecological approaches to agriculture, and political economy, and is co-author of The ABCs of the Economic Crisis (with Michael D.Yates) and The Great Financial Crisis (with John Bellamy Foster).

Brian Tokar is a long-time activist and author, and current director of the Institute for Social Ecology based in Plainfield, Vermont. He is the author of Toward Climate Justice, The Green Alternative, and Earth for Sale and lectures widely on a variety of environmental and political topics.

The Beehive Design Collective, a volunteer driven political arts organization from Eastern Maine, has highlighted important issues of our time by bridging the voices, ideas, and words of activists into art that inspires, educates, and creates buzz. We’ve loved the times that members of the Beehive Collective have visited Black Sheep Books and other places in Vermont to share their work – most recently with The True Cost of Coal.

In May, BSB has invited the Bees to come talk about how their hive operates as a model for community participation in a small, rural town. While the main hive is rooted in rural Eastern Maine, they operate as a decentralized swarm with autonomous cells throughout the Americas. We’ll talk about the different distinguishing points of the Bees rise in their community and ways in which they raise attention through solidarity organizing in rural areas.

As Vermont faces similar challenges to collective organizing in rural areas, we have a lot to learn from our brother and sister Bees. Please join us for a look inside the Hive.

Rural Vermont director Jared Carter will chronicle the recent dispute between Rural Vermont and the Agency of Agriculture about the legality of raw milk dairy processing classes. After detailing the background and current status of the dairy workshops, he’ll speak to how their shutdown infringes upon all of our rights to eat what we want in the privacy of our own homes, cuts at our fundamental right to freedom of speech, and creates yet another barrier to economic justice for Vermont’s farmers. Bring your questions, concerns, and friends! (After the lecture, continue the discussion with us at the Rural Vermont benefit at the Three Penny Taproom on Main Street in Montpelier. See below for more details!)

Rural Vermont Benefit at the Three Penny Taproom
Thursday, April 14th / 7 pm til close
Three Penny Taproom, Main St., MONTPELIER

The Three Penny Taproom will be generously donating a portion of their sales to Rural Vermont on this one special night! Join us at the Three Penny to enjoy a beer from their extensive menu of the finest and distinct draught selections. Or try them all — it’s for a good cause, right? Pair your beer with some late-night food from their tapas menu, which will of course include a variety of Vermont’s raw milk cheeses. Thanks Three Penny! (Before the benefit, come hear what’s happening with the raw dairy classes and work up an appetite for some raw milk cheese (legal of course) and beer. See above for more details!)

Closing the storefront is not an easy decision, but we *do* see a future for Black Sheep — with or without the books. We intend to continue working and organizing together toward an egalitarian, ecological, and nonhierarchical society. Don’t be surprised to receive future event notifications and invitations to participate in political dialogue and projects via our email list or facebook page into the future!

Thank-you for your support, participation, inspiration and please come in and help us close successfully by purchasing books and engaging in conversations that lead to organizing and liberatory social change.

Till soon;
Black Sheep Books Volunteer Collective

p.s. please join us in the evening on Friday, May 27th as we throw a little party to say goodbye to the Sheep.

Race, ethnicity and cultural identity in regards to health access:
http://healthvermont.gov/research/healthdisparities.aspx

Bias free policing action pack:
http://vtmfsp.org/sites/default/files/ActionPackforBiasFreeVT.pdf

Uncommon Alliance race and data community engagement forum:
http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/uncommon-alliance-race-data-collection-report-and-community-engagement-forum

Privilege, Allyship and Safe Space:
http://www.nyln.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/PandA.pdf

scroll down to: “Views on White Allship from a Person of Color”
whatwouldjohncollierdo.blogspot.com/

click on: “Allyship, White Guilt, and more”
racialjusticelearninggroup.blogspot.com/

Please join us for the screening of this recent TV broadcast of Uncommon Alliance’s Race Data Collection Report and Community Engagement Forum. Their primary goal is to dismantle racial and ethnic profiling in our criminal justice system. By building positive relationships between members of affected communities and criminal justice professionals they continue to provide opportunities for dialogue and study around issues of race. The objective of this data collection effort is to promote accountability and transparency of law enforcement officers, especially when dealing with members of minority communities.

Produced on 01/26/2011, roughly 90 mins.

This film is being shown in connection to an on-going discussion series at Black Sheep Books called “Salon”. The current topic is: Race and Racism in Vermont. Check our web site for links to more articles on this topic.