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November 2006 |
Food Sovereignty
E-Newsletter |
Issue 1 |
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Welcome to the
first Food Sovereignty E-Newsletter! The National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC)
is building support for a growing international food sovereignty movement—one
which seeks to guarantee the basic right of communities to choose where and
how their food is produced and what food they consume. Fighting for a fair
price, farmers are leading the way to change the food system. A simplified
definition of Food Sovereignty is the right of peoples, countries, and
nations to decide their own food and agricultural policies, the right to
produce food for their own domestic markets, and the right to protect those
markets from being destroyed by the dumping of cheap imports sold below the
cost of production in the country where they were grown. We seek to achieve food sovereignty through everyday actions to reclaim control of our food system. Join us in working towards a fair food system that ensures health, justice, and dignity for all. Please share this resource to empower others to celebrate food sovereignty with every forkful! Click here to subscribe to the Food Sovereignty E-Newsletter. |
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What’s on the Table in this Issue: Defining Food Sovereignty Food & Water Watch Consumer Take Take Action Legislation Impacting Food
Sovereignty NEW Resources: Food Sovereignty Brochure and Books Tune in to
NPR on Thanksgiving Morning! George
Naylor and other food justice allies will be highlighted by The Kitchen Sisters on
NPR’s Morning Edition, Nov. 23rd. Click here to listen! Upcoming Food Sovereignty Events: February
18-20 Food
Justice: NFFC Winter Meeting, Washington, DC February
22-27 Via
Campesina Nyeleni Food Sovereignty Conference, Mali Share your food sovereignty events! E-mail Deb 7 Basic Principles of Food Sovereignty: 1. Food: A Basic Human Right 2. Agrarian Reform 3. Protecting Natural Resources 4. Fair Trade 5. Ending Global Hunger 6. Peace 7. Democratic Control For More Information on Food Sovereignty: National Family Farm Coalition |
Culture in Agriculture…
By John Peck, Family Farm Defenders The
holidays are when many people happily rediscover that there is still culture
left in agriculture, especially during Thanksgiving. A delicious homemade meal of traditional
bioregional fare in a relaxed “slow food” atmosphere is often the highlight
of any gathering among friends and family this time of year. In fact, it is almost hard to imagine a
seasonal celebration without turkey, wild rice, mashed potatoes, cranberry
sauce, pumpkin pie – all foods that have become a proud part of the culinary
heritage of the Americas. Where
does food sovereignty fit in? READ ON... |
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As You Walk Down the Grocery Aisle…
By Patty
Lovera, Food & Water Watch Ask a
shopper in any supermarket aisle if they support “food sovereignty” and
you’ll probably get a blank stare in response. But ask most consumers some basic questions about what kind of
food they want to feed their families, and they’re probably closer to understanding
food sovereignty than they think. So how
does this get us to food sovereignty?
Consumers may not know which corporations or trade agreements are
responsible for the sorry state of the industrialized food system, but they
are worried that the food they’re eating isn’t good for them. And if an alternative like food
sovereignty shows them that another food system is possible, and benefits
them as well as small producers all over the world, they’ll be interested. |
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Food Is . . .
By Dena Hoff, Montana farmer NFFC
Board Member Food
is a right, a responsibility, a gift, a life, a mystery, a puzzle of unequal
distribution of resources, which must be solved right now. When I think of
food, all these diverse images come to mind: Food
is . . . A
healthy pregnant mother. A
treasured baby at its mother's breast. The
sun blessing a newly sprouting field of wheat. A
cookie at Grandma's house. Biting
into a fresh peach and juice running down your chin. Pouring
over seed catalogues during a January blizzard. Planting
a garden with a bunch of children. Setting
out tiny seedlings and imagining the glorious, productive plants they will
become. Fuzzy
baby chicks, ducks and geese. Gathering
newly laid eggs. Eating
the first apple off the tree. Digging
up a carrot, wiping the dirt on your pant leg and eating it right in the
garden. Putting
more berries in your mouth than in your basket. Rain
after a long dry spell. Thanksgiving dinner with four generations of
family present. Potluck
picnic with the neighbors. Hoeing
a bean field in 100 degree weather. Feeding
the soil so it feeds me in return. I want people everywhere to be able to grow,
gather, hunt, fish, harvest, enjoy and share food the way I am blessed to do.
The only way I know how to do this is to share resources locally so that by
using less and sharing resources, other families will have more. |
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Legislation
Impacting Food Sovereignty
Emergency Disaster Assistance for Farmers and Ranchers Can you imagine losing at
least six month’s of work and having no way to recover the loss? And then
imagine being dependent on that lost work for survival. Farmers and ranchers
that were victims of floods, fires, and droughts may face this reality if the
U.S. Senate does not take action the week of December 4th when
Congress reconvenes. Last year 88 percent of U.S. counties
were declared disaster areas by USDA with more than 66 percent being declared
this year. It is time to take care of
those that provide the food and fiber for our tables. Senator Kent Conrad (ND) has fought
relentlessly for farm aid and has been blocked by point of orders until after
Thanksgiving recess. Please contact your Senators and their staff to
urge them to support the Conrad legislation to provide disaster assistance for
2005 and 2006 losses and to support
Senator Conrad on a vote to override a budget point of
order. Click here to TAKE ACTION! |
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NEW
Resources!
Food
Sovereignty Brochure
National
Family Farm Coalition and Grassroots International developed a food
sovereignty brochure to empower family farmers across the world. Click here to view. (It is a gigantic file and takes quite
some time to download, even with a fast connection, so give it a minute.) NEW Food Sovereignty Books Food is Different: Why the WTO Should Get Out of Agriculture by Peter Rosset Forward by George Naylor, President of NFFC Peter Rosset argues that what is at stake is the
very future of our global food system, of each country’s unique agricultural
and farming systems, and the livelihoods of rural people in both the rich
industrial countries and the South. He unravels the complex ways in which
agriculture in the North is supported, subsidized, etc. and argues for the
future of agriculture to be taken completely out of the WTO’s ambit since
food is not just another commodity, but something which goes to the heart of
human livelihood, local cultures and national security. Agroecology and the Struggle for Food Sovereignty in the Americas This new book
explores emerging alliances among farmer organizations, environmentalists,
and scholars working to promote ecologically sound and economically just food
and agriculture systems across the Americas.
Along with Corrina Steward from Grassroots International as an editor, authors and contributors include: - Kathleen McAfee, University of California at Berkley -
George Naylor, National Family Farm Coalition - Karl Zimmerer, University of Wisconsin - Alberto Gomez Flores, UNORCA-National Union of Autonomous Regional Peasant Organizations - Eric Holt-Gimenez, Food First The book is available in English and Spanish for free download or purchase at the website of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Publication Series: http://www.yale.edu/environment/publications. |
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If
you want your e-mail address removed from our list or new addresses added, please
contact Deb Eschmeyer.
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Tel: 202-543-5675 |
Fax: 202-543-0978 |
E-mail:
nffc@nffc.net |
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110 Maryland Ave. N.E., Suite
307, Washington, DC 20002 |
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