Lorette Picciano, executive director of the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, introduces the evening's speakers.

Last week, the Accokeek Foundation held the first event in its four-part Food Justice Series. In celebration of César Chávez Day, the event explored the struggles that are faced by farmworkers around the world and the significant role that small family farmers play in the fight for sustainability and social justice.

Put on in partnership with the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural and the National Immigrant Farming Initiative, this series brings together farmers, policymakers, and advocates to cultivate insight and conversation about the pressing matters of food justice that each of them witnesses firsthand. Speakers at our first event, Food Justice: A Global Issue, included Kathy Ozer, Executive Director of the National Family Farm Coalition; Angela Adrar, Field and Outreach Coordinator at the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural; and Tirso Moreno, Founder and Executive Director of the Farmworker Association of Florida.

The crowd that came together at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., cheered to chants of “Sí, se puede! (Yes, we can!)” and clapped the “farmworker clap” alongside special guests Oscar Gonzales, Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Julie Chávez Rodriguez, long-time human rights activist and granddaughter of César Chávez. Rodriguez encouraged the audience to come together in the fight for food justice. “When we’re working together, we’re louder,” she said. “We’re more powerful.”

For photos, video, and music by Rudy Arredondo, president of the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, take a look at the clips after the jump.

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