The Bi-National Farmer Forum will be held at Hotel Fort Des Moines on October 13th, 2003 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by the Second Annual Celebration of Sustainable Agriculture honoring Dr. Neil Hamilton, of Drake University's Agricultural Law Center from 6 to 9 pm. Please call 515 270 2634, NCRLC's offices to register: The following are the Mexican delegates: LIST OF MEXICAN DELEGATES TO U.S.-MEXICO FARMER DIALOGUE Servando Olivarria Saavedra, UNORCA. Mr. Olavarria is a farmer from the state of Sinaloa and a member of the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Regional Autonomous Peasant Organizations (UNORCA). UNORCA which was founded in 1983 by 23 peasant/small farmer organizations to provide technical, marketing, and economic development support to its members. UNORCA has some 200,000 members in 11 states of Mexico and has been a leading member of the Movement "The Countryside Cannot Bear it Anymore." J. Refugio Quintana Vera , CODUC. Mr. Quintana Vera is a corn and wheat farmer from the state of Guanajuato and the president of the Coalition of Democratic Urban and Peasant Organizations. CODUC has approximately 20,000 members who are ejidatarios, or farmers who own land granted them under the land reform law in Mexico, as well as indigenous producers, and is active in the states of Guanajuato, Veracruz, Tabasco, Tlaxcala y Campeche. Daniel Delgado Chavira, Frente Democrático Campesino: Mr. Delgado Chavira is the newly elected Coordinator for the Democratic Peasant Front (FDC), a state-wide association of small farmers, mestizo and indigenous, in the northern state of Chihuahua. The FDC was founded in 1986 out of a broad-based farmers movement to secure guaranteed prices for corn and beans, and then went on to organize its members to obtain greater access to credit and more just agricultural policies at the state and federal levels. The FDC currently has over 4,000 members in 20 municipalities of the state, most of which are located in the grain-producing plains region. Francisco Juárez Alonzo, CNPA. Mr. Juárez Alonzo produces beans in the state of Zacatecas and is a farm leader with the organization National Coordinator for the Ayala Plan (CNPA), an organization of several peasant/small farmer organizations founded in 1979 in response to the Mexican government´s announcement that there was no more land available for distribution under the land reform law. The organization is active in 12 states and has several thousand members. Emilio López Gámez, CIOAC. Mr. Lopez Gamez is the Press and Public Relations secretary for the Independent Union of Agricultural Workers and Peasants (CIOAC) in Mexico City. CIOAC was founded in 1975 as an organization of agricultural workers. It has 100,000 members in 25 states including Chiapas, Puebla, Guerrero, Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango and Sonora. The organization now includes small farmers, indigenous producers, and agricultural workers. Miguel Angel Colunga, Frente Democrático Campesino: Mr. Colunga is an adviser and leader of the Democratic Peasant Front in Chihuahua and has played a very active role nationally in the farmers¹ movement, "The Countryside Cannot Bear it Anymore" and its efforts to pressure the Mexican government to expand its support for small farmers and to re-open the agricultural chapter of NAFTA to re-negotiation. Dr. Armando Bartra, Mayan Institute for Rural Development Studies. Dr. Bartra is a sociologist who has conducted extensive research on peasant economies and rural development in Mexico, and directs the Mayan Institute for Rural Development Studies in Mexico City, an organization dedicated to the study and support of community-based rural development in Mexico. He has written expansively on the impacts of economic adjustment policies and trade policies on the family farm sector in Mexico, particularly the effects of increased U.S. corn imports to Mexico under NAFTA. Tania Molina, La Jornada. Ms. Molina is a journalist with the highly regarded Mexican daily newspaper based in México City, La Jornada. Ms. Molina has covered agricultural and rural development issues in Mexico for some time. Iowa Farmers Union PO Box 8988 528 Billy Sunday Rd Ames, IA 50014 800-775-5227 [log in to unmask] www.iafu.org Erin E. Jordahl Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 515-277-8868 [log in to unmask] www.iowa.sierraclub.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Make your voice heard! Find out how to get Take Action Alerts and other important Sierra Club messages by email at: http://www.sierraclub.org/email