[asia-apec 1772] Food First Anti-Poverty Bus Tour Kicks Off in Oakland

[Anuradha Mittal]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 29, 2001                    

CONTACT: Nick Parker, (510) 654-4400 ext. 229
Cell: (510) 469-5228                                                     

                                                                   David 
Lerner/Shona Carter, (212) 260-5000


U. S. Representatives Barbara Lee, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Stark & Earl 
Hilliard to Join Food First's Economic Human Rights Bus Tour

Economic Human Rights Bus Tour Challenges California's Growing Hunger 
and Homelessness 

"I'm a 71 year old disabled veteran and I'm homeless. I served my 
country well and now I do not have enough income to rent an apartment. I 
only get $700 per month for old age social security and I get $100 per 
month for fighting in the Vietnam War. That is not enough money to feed 
myself every day."
         - Freeman Davis, 71 Year Old Oakland Resident

(Oakland, CA, May 29, 2001): After the country celebrates the Memorial 
Day on May 28, veteran Freeman Davis will testify on how the U.S. has 
abandoned the veterans before national and local policy makers on May 
29, 2001, as they kick off the "Economic Human Rights Bus Tour" of 
California. The distinguished delegation will wrap up the tour in 
Salinas/Watsonville on May 31, 2001.

On May 29, the delegation will visit a soup kitchen at St. Mary's 
Center; participate in a walking tour of low-income housing in Oakland, 
organized by Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS); a 
public hearing at the St. Maryís Center; and a public event, hosted by 
BOSS at the First Congregational Church. The delegation will explore the 
nation's growing homelessness and hunger and hear personal testimonies 
from the working poor excluded from the economic growth of the 1990's. 

The Economic Human Rights Bus Tour will travel to San Francisco on 
Wednesday, May 30, and then head to Salinas/Watsonville on May 31. The 
tour will highlight the dire need of policy initiatives that could have 
a real impact on the well-being of Americaís poor. Stops will feature 
personal testimonies around economic human rights violations from 
veterans, single mothers, immigrant farm workers and members of living 
wage, workerís rights and health care coalitions. 

The tour is calling for: 
1. Adequate funding for a living wage, child care, health care, and 
education:
2. A reordering of federal priorities toward meeting the needs of our 
nationsí poor;
3. Recognition and implementation of economic human rights including the 
right to feed oneself, right to housing, and the right to just and fair 
conditions of employment.

Supported by over 200 groups across the country and endorsed by the 
Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Economic Human Rights Bus Tour is 
organized by Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy. For 
more information or to schedule interviews, please contact Nick Parker 
at 510-469-5228, or David Lerner at 212-260-5000.

###

Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst at foodfirst.org.

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