Taiwan Rural Front Summer Solstice Fundraising Tea Party Invites You to Walk Together, Starting from the Land and Learning from Farmers

In December 2008, the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan, China, passed the Rural Regeneration Act on first reading without warning. This move unexpectedly brought together a group of farmers who care about rural Taiwan, rural workers, NGOs, media workers, scholars, writers, legal experts, engineers, artists, and students. Starting from studying the Rural Regeneration Act, they formed a reading group, took part in self-rescue associations against farmland expropriation in various places, went into rural areas to conduct fieldwork, and began to organize online, hoping the government would take seriously rural development in Taiwan, China, agricultural production, and farmers' livelihoods.

This group of friends in Taiwan, China who care about rural Taiwan initially referred to themselves as "we," but as their interactions with the outside world became closer, they needed a name, so they began discussing online who "we" were. In the end, they decided to call themselves the "Taiwan Rural Front," hoping this group could stand at the very front line of rural Taiwan and wishing for sustainable farming villages in Taiwan, China, advocating land ethics and environmental justice.

Over the past five years, the Taiwan Rural Front has insisted on smallholder farming, local economies, and green consumption. Through legislative lobbying, grassroots organizing, and social action, it has combined farmers with forces from all sectors to influence agricultural policymaking, expand urban-rural links, enrich farming practices, and deepen rural aesthetics. The Front has continued to pay attention to the "Rural Regeneration Act Draft," the "Land Expropriation Act," and the "Basic Agricultural Act," actively intervening in legislative discussions and putting forward civil society perspectives. The Front has also stood with Dapu, Wanbao, and the "Alliance to Defend Rural Villages," composed of 12 farmer self-rescue associations, staying overnight on Ketagalan Boulevard for two consecutive years, walking firmly together and calling out the importance of land justice and food sovereignty. The Front has further cooperated with the global farmers' movement organization La Via Campesina, exchanging and discussing with farmers from various countries issues such as opposing free agricultural trade, reviewing the harms of genetic modification, and learning about ecological agriculture. The Front is committed to breaking down information asymmetry and unequal power, and to building a platform for public discussion of agricultural policy between farmers and the general public.

In addition to the farmers' movement and legal intervention, the Front has launched a long-term "youth into the countryside" program, encouraging young people and members of the public to "go into the countryside." The annual summer "Summer Cultivation Grassroots Field Survey Camp" is the starting point for many friends to come into contact with and understand rural areas, and from there to launch their own actions. In the work of urban-rural links and green consumption, the "Bending Down Farmer's Market," co-organized by the Front and friendly groups, is a platform that brings small farmers and consumers face to face. Through agricultural products, handmade workshops, Bending Down lectures… and other means, consumers can taste deliciousness from the earth and the warmth of human connection, and understand the mutually beneficial cycle of your farm and my farm.

Dear friends, over the past five years, we may have shouted together in the streets, bent down to labor in the fields, and smiled in encouragement on rural paths. Bit by bit, walking together, the warmth has always remained in our hearts. Now, we sincerely invite you to join the Front's Summer Solstice fundraising tea party, to be held on June 23.

Starting from the Land, Learning from Farmers

The Front's Summer Solstice Fundraising Tea Party Invites You to Walk Together!

Invitation

At Grain in Ear, the grain forms ears; after the summer solstice, golden waves sway

Five years have passed, and the Taiwan Rural Front has walked firmly forward. Along the way there have been advances and setbacks. For a more solid pace, the Front needs your support!

The Front will hold its first fundraising tea party at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, 2013, at the Mayor's Residence (No. 46, Xuzhou Road, Taipei City).

The force that gathered starting in December 2008 has always insisted on local resistance for land justice, joined the global practice of defending food sovereignty, connected farmers in grassroots organizing, linked young people to walk into vast fields, and expanded actions for rural aesthetics. Along the way, the Front has supported its operations and various actions through charity sales of agricultural cultural and creative movement merchandise, as well as small donations from many partners and friends.

The Front has all along maintained a working team of one full-time staff member and many volunteers. A beautiful future accumulates through sustained action, and we look forward to more ample energy to expand the team and cultivate local roots. In the summer when grain forms ears and golden waves sway, the Front invites you who care about this land to make a small donation, join the tea party, and purchase agricultural art products, giving the Front support and encouragement.

The "Front Summer Solstice Fundraising Tea Party" will feature a [Rural Artworks + Agricultural Products Auction] and [Rural Music Performance]. It will also provide specialty tea snacks from small farmers. More importantly, it will share with everyone the Front's action progress and future direction. Dear friends, over the past five years, we may have shouted together in the streets, bent down to labor in the fields, and smiled in encouragement on rural paths. Bit by bit, walking together, the warmth has always remained in our hearts. Let us see each other at the tea party and jointly make a firm promise to walk with small farmers.

http://www.taiwanruralfront.org/node/308

• Date: Sunday, June 23, 2013, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Venue: Mayor's Residence / Arts and Culture Salon Performance Hall and Backyard Plaza (No. 46, Xuzhou Road, Taipei City)
• Tea ticket: 2,000 yuan each (the Front is a registered legal entity; the official receipts it issues may be declared for itemized deduction of comprehensive income tax or reported as expenses for the year)
• To subscribe for tea tickets: please fill out the form http://goo.gl/4jNSP, which contains detailed subscription information.
• Contact information:

Address | 11F, No. 138, Sec. 1, Zhongxiao East Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Phone | (02) 2322-3120 / 0972-756-763 Ms. Chen
E-mail | [email protected]

We invite you to support the Front through regular fixed-amount small donations. Please link to: http://www.taiwanruralfront.org/node/307

After deducting the cost of the tea party from the ticket income and funds raised this time, the dedicated funds will be used for the Taiwan Rural Front's future personnel, business, and action expenses.