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ANNOUNCE: US NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS ON FOOD SECURITY

Apologies for cross-postings.  Please circulate this example of one
country's efforts
to follow-up the World Food Summit, and encourage participation by all
interested US
groups as well as similar efforts in other countries.

US NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS ON FOOD SECURITY

Doing More to Achieve Food Security at Home and Abroad -

"Government and civil society building a common agenda"

*  Washington, DC (Telecast Uplink Site) and  several sites across the country*

MAY 21, 1997    - 9:00 a.m. -4:30 pm


*  Los Angeles and Davis, California
*  Fort Collins, Colorado
*  Atlanta, Georgia
* Minneapolis, Minnesota (to be held May 23rd)
* LIncoln, Nebraska
* Columbus, Ohio
* Chicago, Illinois
* Ames, Iowa
* Seattle, Washington
* Providence, Rhode Island
* Houston, Texas
* Other sites to be announced


YOUR PARTICIPATION IS NEEDED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS
 OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS ALL ASPECTS OF FOOD SECURITY

The World Food Summit, held in Rome last November, focused the
 world's attention on the continuing problem of global food insecurity.
The Summit is proving to be a catalyst for refocusing dialogue,
recognizing and building on existing efforts to achieve food security,
and identifying priorities for continued, concerted efforts.

The nations of the world adopted seven commitments as part of the
World Food Summit Plan of Action.  The objective of these commitments
is to achieve the Summit's goal of reducing by half the number of
undernourished people by no later than the year 2015.

The U.S. Government and representative non-governmental
organizations will hold consultations on May 21, 1997, at sites
around the country to formulate a U.S. Action Plan on Food Security.
The U.S. Action Plan will identify the priorities, actions, and
commitments to be undertaken collaboratively by the U.S. Government
and groups and sectors within the United States to achieve greater food
security at home and abroad.

PURPOSE

*  Build on current food security efforts at the international, national,
state, and local levels;
*  Broaden the involvement of civil society in follow-up to the World Food
Summit; and
*  Provide an opportunity for participants to review and respond to the
Food Summit Plan
        of Action as it relates to their work.

GOALS

*  Generate recommendations for priorities, activities, programs, and
policies to be included
        in the US. Action Plan on Food Security;
*  Develop ideas for promoting future dialogue on issues where consensus
for concerted
        action is insufficient;
*  Strengthen collaboration and identify possibilities for local follow-up; and
*  Identify resources needed to support on-going food security activities.

PARTICIPANTS

Government and non-government individuals engaged in food security issues
are targeted,
but interested members of the public ar also welcome.

OUTCOME

The results of the consultations will be reported and discussed at a
meeting in Washington, DC
on June 5 and will be used to develop a draft outline for the U.S. Action
Plan.  Rapporteurs
from each site will travel to Washington to participate in this meeting.


Additional information about the national consultations and
their results will be added on a regular basis to the U.S.
Government's World Food Summit Home Page at:

http://ffas.usda.gov/ffas/food_summit/summit.html

Questions may be addressed to:

Office of the National Food Security Coordinator
USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service
Room 3008-South Building
STOP CODE 1081
Washington, DC 20250-1801

Telephone:  (202) 690-0776
TDD:  (202) 690-4879
Fax:  (202) 720-6103

A preliminary list of site locations and contact persons is available.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linda L. Elswick
Director
Washington Office
World Sustainable Agriculture Association, 2025 I Street, NW#512, WDC, 20006
Phone: 202-293-2155
Fax: 202-293-2209
Email: wsaadc@igc.apc.org
Web Site:  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/wsaa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~