Food
for Thought
Food sovereignty is about the
right of peoples to define their own food systems. Advocates of food
sovereignty put the people who produce, distribute and consume food at the
centre of decisions on food systems and policies, rather than the demands of
markets and corporations that they believe have come to dominate the global
food system. Although some groups and individuals are supporting the call for a
food system that respects people and the planet, there are still people who have no knowledge of this cause. Reading and sharing
this article will be useful to learn and get involved in this movement.
There are six pillars which
explain what food sovereignty is about. The first focuses on food for people. The right to food which is healthy and
culturally appropriate is the basic legal demand underpinning food sovereignty.
Guaranteeing it requires policies which support diversified food production in
each region and country. The second is related to the valuation of food
providers. Many smallholder farmers suffer violence, marginalisation and
racism from corporate landowners and governments. People are often pushed off
their land by mining concerns or agribusiness. Agricultural workers can face
severe exploitation and even bonded labour. Food sovereignty asserts food
providers’ right to live and work in dignity.The third claims that food
must be seen primarily as sustenance for the community and only secondarily as
something to be traded. Under food sovereignty, local and regional provision
takes precedence over supplying distant markets, and
export-orientated agriculture is rejected. The fourth pillar says that
food sovereignty places control over territory, land, grazing, water, seeds,
livestock and fish populations on local food providers and respects their
rights. They can use and share them in socially and environmentally sustainable
ways which conserve diversity. The fifth pillar nentions the building of
knowledge and skills. Food sovereignty calls for appropriate
research systems to support the development of agricultural knowledge and
skills. And the last pillar informs that food sovereignty requires
production and distribution systems that protect natural resources and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding energy-intensive industrial methods that
damage the environment and the inhabitants’ health.
Maybe you are wondering why the creation of this international movement was necessary. The
problem has to do with the current food system. This system, which includes all those activities involving the
production, processing, transport and consumption of food, is mainly controlled
by a few corporations. The support for farmers are affected as well as the
establishment of food prices. This concentration of power
enables these businesses to wipe out competition or dictate tough terms to
their suppliers. This has resulted in greater poverty and hunger.
There are several countries that have already started with this movement.
For example over 100 growers, co-operative workers, researchers, campaigners
and activists joined to help build the food sovereignty movement in the United
Kingdom. They were outraged because of cuts in milk prices paid by the
processing companies. In the case of Usa, it is celebrated the Food Week of Action, where the US Food Sovereignty
Alliance (USFSA) and the Presbyterian Hunger Program join with allies and
partners globally in actions that raise awareness and help end hunger and
poverty by building more just food and farm systems everywhere.
In the face of a global food crisis,
it is clear that we have been forced to swallow far more than what's on our
plates. Our global food system is terribly broken, with nearly a billion hungry
people around the world. Big companies policies brought us to this place. The
answer to such a massive and urgent
problem is, according to small farmers, farmworkers, fishers, consumers,
environmentalists and indigenous peoples throughout the world, is food
sovereignty.
Works
cited
Food for Thought and Action: A Food
Sovereignty Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grassrootsonline.org/publications/educational-resources/food-thought-action-a-food-sovereignty-curriculum on October 30, 2014
Horton, A. (2012, July 12). A new
movement is born: Food sovereignty in the UK. Retrieved from http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-and-hunger/new-movement-born-food-sovereignty-uk
on October 31, 2014.
What is food sovereignty? (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-sovereignty on October 31,
2014.
South West Food Sovereignty Skillshare. (2011,
October 4). Retrieved from http://transitionglastonbury.org.uk/?p=1137
on October 31, 2014.
