Source - Family Farm Defender
http://familyfarmers.org/
What is Food
Sovereignty?
Many people in the
U.S., even activists involved in food/farm issues, are
unfamiliar with the
concept of food sovereignty. Food security is a much more
common term,
invoked in the interest of providing food to the poor and hungry.
Unfortunately, food security has also become a “Trojan Horse” for creeping
corporatization of the global food system. In fact, the term emerged in
the
1970s when food was used as a Cold War weapon during the super power
struggle
across the global south. As a watered down technical issue
of how best to get
food to those who need it, food security conveniently
avoids the deeper
political debate about why hunger exists at all in a
world that has plenty of
food – just not for the impoverished, landless, and powerless. According to the
USDA, there are officially no longer
any hungry people in the U.S., just those
who are “food
insecure.”
Outside this country, one seldom
hears the term food security unless one
comes across western trained
technocrats, academic researchers, and disaster
relief managers. Local
people in agrarian societies are much more likely to have
conversations
about food sovereignty. That is because they still believe food is
a basic
human right, not just another market commodity, and they treat peasant
farmers with respect and dignity, rather than dismissing them as backward and
anachronistic. Twenty countries even have the right to healthy,
nutritious,
culturally appropriate food guaranteed as part of their
constitutions!
Contrary to popular belief,
the majority of the world’s hungry actually dwell
in rural areas once known
for their agricultural expertise. This reversal of
human history has not
been an inevitable consequence of the “Green Revolution” –
rather it is due
to deliberate policies that have violently transformed local
food/farm
economies. To paraphrase the global “free trade” apologist, Thomas
Friedman, one can’t have McDonalds without McDonnell Douglas. During the
19th century Irish potato famine, food was
still being forcibly
exported and this catastrophe has been repeated time and
again. Under
the New World Order of the 21st
century, only those willing to play the
game and pay the going price can escape
hunger.
One thus finds powerful
institutions (World Bank, USAID, Rockefeller
Foundation, Gates Foundation)
compelling farmers to abandon native subsistence
crops (millet, taro,
quinoa, sorghum, maize) in favor of monocultures that are
often privately
patented and genetically engineered (cotton, soy, oil palm,
sugar cane),
while at the same time forcing communities to privatize their
common
property resources (seed, land, water, wildlife), and convincing
consumers
to “enjoy” dubious synthetic food byproducts (high fructose corn
syrup,
antibiotic-laden meat, milk protein concentrate, irradiated spinach,
hydrogenated margarine) – all in the name of competitive advantage and economic
efficiency.
Food sovereignty, on the
other hand, valorizes common sense principles of
community autonomy,
cultural integrity, and environmental stewardship – ie.
people determining
for themselves just what seeds they plant, which animals they
raise, how
they farm, and ultimately what they will eat for dinner. In fact,
some
would argue that genuine food security is impossible without first
achieving food sovereignty. As early as 1996 Via Campesina set forth its seven
principles of food sovereignty (see reverse) and these prompted much
discussion
at the Jan. 2001 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil
leading to a Sept.
2001 World Forum on Food Sovereignty held in Cuba, as
well as the Nyeleni Food
Sovereignty Conference in Selingue, Mali in Feb.
2007
Adopting food sovereignty would have
sweeping implications in a political
setting such as the U.S., which is
probably why they have been so strongly
resisted by corporate agribusiness
and their political supporters. Worse yet,
food sovereignty is a
“barrier” to trade and is thus “illegal” in the eyes of
the World Trade
Organization (WTO). For instance, preemptive legislation that
takes
away local control over the regulation of confined animal feeding
operations (CAFOs – aka factory farms) undermines food sovereignty, as does
White House and Congressional reluctance to implement comprehensive country of
origin labeling (COOL) that would allow U.S. consumers to actually know
where
ALL their food comes from. Similarly, the corporate patenting of
lifeforms, the
expropriation of indigenous knowledge, and the exploitation
suffered by family
farmers and farm workers when they are denied fair trade
prices, unions, and
living wages are all other flagrant violations of food
sovereignty.
For years, Family Farm
Defenders has sought to spread and popularize the
concept of food
sovereignty in hopes of bringing U.S. food/farm activists into a
closer
solidarity relationship with their allies overseas. To find out more
about how you can get involved, please
contact:
Family Farm Defenders,
1019 Williamson St. #B, Madison, WI 53703 tel./fax.
#608-260-0900
25 Things You Can Do
To Promote Local Food
Sovereignty!
1.) Create a food
policy council! Agriculture is too important to be left in
the hands of
faraway officials (elected or not). Through a state or local food
policy council, you can directly help determine the future of what you grow and
eat in your own community. For a directory of links to current food
councils,
visit:
http://www.law.drake.edu/academics/agLaw/?pageID=agFoodPolicy
2.) Promote socially responsible food procurement policies for your school,
church, or hospital which give preference to fresh local produce and fair trade
products! Back in 1995 Northland College in Ashland, WI became one of
the
pioneers in this area. To find out more:
www.northland.edu/sustainability-campus-initiatives-food-systems Over 40
hospitals in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC now have policies to
purchase
more local fruits and vegetables – to find out more, visit:
http://mdh2e.org/
3.) Patronize your local
farmers’ market! Between 1994 and 2009 the number of
farmers markets in the
U.S. nearly tripled to over 5200. Not only will you get
the freshest
produce possible, but you can also put your hard earned money right
into
the hands of a hard working farmer. To find the market nearest you, check
out the USDA’s national directory at:
www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets
4.) Invest in a community landtrust! Over 1700 landtrusts now protect 37
million acres across the U.S. from urban sprawl and reckless development. That
is a land area equal to the size of the state of Michigan. Family
farmers
benefit when land is set aside for agriculture and not subject to
the whims of
speculation. For more info, visit:
http://www.landtrustalliance.org/
5.)
Implement local policies encouraging conversion to sustainable organic
agriculture! Woodbury County, IA recently passed a property tax rebate program
to encourage farmers to covert to organic. Conventional
farmers often cite the
expense of the three year transition period as a
reason to not switch, but this
policy addresses that. To find out
more:
www.woodbury-ia.com/departments/EconomicDevelopment
6. ) Compile a farm fresh atlas to help connect local consumers with family
farmers! There are now five different such atlases just in Wisconsin – for
an
example check out the one for southern WI compiled by REAP available at:
www.reapfoodgroup.org A national local food directory organized
by zip code
can also be found at:
www.foodroutes.org
7. ) Cultivate a
garden! During WWII over 40% of U.S. produce was grown in
Victory Gardens,
and according to the National Gardening Association over $18
billion worth
of food is now grown in U.S. gardens each year. In 2008 alone seed
sales
were up 30%, meaning more people are discovering gardening as a survival
strategy in the face of the global economic crisis. If you don’t know how
to
garden, talk to your neighbor down the street who does. They will
be happy to
teach you and maybe even give you some
seeds!
8.) Organize a local food fair
trade holiday fair! When it comes to
celebrating the true
spirit of the season, no gift can compare with one that
embodies good
karma. Community Action in Latin America (CALA) has hosted such
local
food fair trade holiday fairs in Madison the first Sat. of Dec. for over
decade now, attracting thousands of people annually. Info?
www.calamadison.org
9.) Launch a local
food fair trade fundraising project for your school,
non-profit, or faith
community! Just Coffee and Family Farm Defenders both
began such an
effort a decade and a half ago. Does it make sense to have
children selling
junk food or sweatshop products for their marching band or
extracurricular
activity? – no, it doesn’t! To find out more, visit:
www.justcoffee.coop/fundraising or
http://familyfarmers.org/?page_id=244
10.)
Purchase development rights (PDR) to protect farmland! Between 1999 and
2004 alone there were over 600 local and state ballot measures passed,
dedicating $18+ billion towards land conservation efforts. All told, over
400,000 acres of farmland has now been protected through PDR efforts. Some
especially successful initiatives include Lancaster County, PA
(http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=371&Q=384772) and the
Town of Dunn in Dane County, WI
(http://town.dunn.wi.us/townofdunn/land+use/purchase+of+development+rights/default.asp).
11.) Join community supported agriculture (CSA)! Originating from Japan, CSAs
enable consumers to buy a share upfront in a local farm and in exchange get
a
basket of produce each week during the growing season. According to the
USDA
there are now over 12,000 farms marketing through CSAs across the U.S,
supplying
food to over a quarter a million families. This is a great way to
put a face
behind your food by building a direct relationship with a family
farmer in your
community. To find a CSA near you, check out the
listings at:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
12.) Encourage urban agriculture! According to the U.N., over 15% of the
world’s food is now grown in cities (three times the amount that is traded
across borders). The notion that family farming should be relegated to rural
areas is not true or even practical. Cuba is a world leader when it
comes to
urban farming (see the video: www.powerofcommunity.org). For encouraging U.S.
examples, check out: www.growingpower.org, www.intervale.org, www.greeningofdetroit.com or
read the new book by Robin Shulman – Eat the City (Crown
2012)
13.) Take the100 mile diet
challenge! If not for an entire year, then for at
least a few months or for
a single day like Thanksgiving. The objective: to only
eat food grown or
raised within a 100 radius of your home. What better way to
meet local
family farmers! For more details, visit:
www.100milediet.org
14.) Learn how to
freeze, pickle, jam, and preserve your own food – like your
grandparents
did! Only about a third of people in the U.S. now put up food at
home, so
you can be at the cutting edge of the latest do it yourself (DIY)
trend. If
you need help, there often local extension “how to” classes and great
canning/freezing books at your public
library!
15.) Talk to your healthcare
provider about local food as a form of
preventative medicine! Physicians
Plus, Group Health Cooperative, Dean Care and
Unity Plus in Madison,
WI all offer a “Eat Healthy” rebate for any member (up
to $100 per
individual or $200 for families) that get a CSA share. For more
details,
visit:
http://www.csacoalition.org/our-work/csa-insurance-rebate/
16.) Implement comprehensive Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for all
food!
Consumers in over 40 other countries, including the European
Union and Japan,
have the right to know where their food comes, but not
consumers in the U.S.
Several versions of the Farm Bill have included
COOL, but it only applies to
seafood, meat, and a limited range of fruits
and vegetables. To find out more
about what is wrong with “mystery” food,
check out the Poisoned Fruit of
American Trade Policy report from Food and
Water Watch:
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/the-poisoned-fruit-of-american-trade-policy/
17.) Help raise the market profile of local food! Back in the 1980s MN
farmers created their own label to help consumers find their homegrown produce
in the marketplace. Today, MN Grown is an official state program, issuing a
trademarked logo to qualified farmers and producing a popular directory
available at every state highway rest stop. Other states have now started
similar buy local efforts. More info:
www.mda.state.mn.us/MNGROWN
18.) Support
farmworkers rights! The largest and lowest paid workforce in the
U.S. is in
the farm/food sector. This is due in part to the fact that
farmworkers were
specifically excluded from the 1935 National Labor Relations
Act, and thus
do not have the federal right to organize a union. Nonetheless,
grassroots
pressure campaigns such as that by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
(CIW)
on behalf of immigrant tomato pickers in FL have forced fast food giants
like Taco Bell to raise wages and respect workers rights. More info:
www.ciw-online.org
19.) Get healthy local
food into school cafeterias! There are an estimated
2500 farm to
school programs in the U.S., providing an important institutional
marketing
opportunity for family farmers. Children deserve the healthiest food
possible and that is exactly what family farmers provide. For
more info on the
National Farm to School Network:
http://www.farmtoschool.org/
20.) Support
community gardens! There are now an estimated 18,000 community
gardens
throughout the U.S. and Canada. Community gardens not only provide
people with nutritious produce, but have many other spin-off benefits such
as
higher property values, lower crime rates, and a better overall quality
of life
in often stressful urban settings. For in inspiring history
of community
gardening in the U.S., check out: City Bountiful by
Laura Lawson (Univ. of CA
Press
2005).
21.) Support smart growth
development! One of the greatest threats to
family farmers relentless
urban sprawl and speculative land grabbing. Smart
growth helps set an
urban growth boundary, promotes in-fill and clustered
development, and
helps preserve open space, wildlife habitat, and productive
farmland in the
process. For more details:
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/
22.) Use tax increment financing (TIF) for local food/farm projects!
Contrary to some assumptions, sustainable agriculture is a form of economic
development and should enjoy the same incentives that other projects
receive.
For example, the Plant in Chicago – an innovative vertical
farming/agro-processing project was able to leverage TIF funding and other
public support – along with private “green” capital – to transform an
abandoned
meat processing warehouse into a multi-use production space and
retail outlet
that will create 125 jobs. For more info:
http://www.plantchicago.com/
23.)
Create an urban garden district! Many city residents and urban
planners are familiar with the idea of a historic district or a business
improvement district, but how about an urban garden district?
Cleveland, OH
just created such a zone, allowing urban farmers to
have greenhouses, chicken
coops, composting toilets, even off street
parking and roadside market stands.
For more details, visit:
http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/cwp/opp_oview.php
24.) Oppose global “free” trade deals that hurt family farmers!
Family
farmers should have the right to grow food at a fair price for their
own people
first – yet that food sovereignty idea is illegal under global
“free” trade
deals that literally force countries to open their borders to
food imports they
often don’t even want. Worse yet, it is not family
farmers (or consumers) that
benefit from this trade, but a handful of
agribusiness corporations who dominate
and manipulate global commodity
markets. Fair trade should be the hallmark of
all economic activity,
whether domestic or international. To find out more:
http://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/, http://www.fairtradefederation.org/,
http://www.thedfta.org/
25.)
Celebrate local food when gathered with your family, friends, and
community! Think back to when you were growing up… What were some of your
fondest memories of such holidays as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa,
Ramadan, Fourth of July, Labor Day? Chances are they
included food – a special
family recipe, a unique ethnic dish, fish caught
by an elder, corn grown by a
relative. Generic fast food cannot
replicate this unique experience. We’ll all
eat better (and respect
family farmers more) if we put the culture back into
agri-culture.
http://familyfarmers.org/
What is Food
Sovereignty?
Many people in the
U.S., even activists involved in food/farm issues, are
unfamiliar with the
concept of food sovereignty. Food security is a much more
common term,
invoked in the interest of providing food to the poor and hungry.
Unfortunately, food security has also become a “Trojan Horse” for creeping
corporatization of the global food system. In fact, the term emerged in
the
1970s when food was used as a Cold War weapon during the super power
struggle
across the global south. As a watered down technical issue
of how best to get
food to those who need it, food security conveniently
avoids the deeper
political debate about why hunger exists at all in a
world that has plenty of
food – just not for the impoverished, landless, and powerless. According to the
USDA, there are officially no longer
any hungry people in the U.S., just those
who are “food
insecure.”
Outside this country, one seldom
hears the term food security unless one
comes across western trained
technocrats, academic researchers, and disaster
relief managers. Local
people in agrarian societies are much more likely to have
conversations
about food sovereignty. That is because they still believe food is
a basic
human right, not just another market commodity, and they treat peasant
farmers with respect and dignity, rather than dismissing them as backward and
anachronistic. Twenty countries even have the right to healthy,
nutritious,
culturally appropriate food guaranteed as part of their
constitutions!
Contrary to popular belief,
the majority of the world’s hungry actually dwell
in rural areas once known
for their agricultural expertise. This reversal of
human history has not
been an inevitable consequence of the “Green Revolution” –
rather it is due
to deliberate policies that have violently transformed local
food/farm
economies. To paraphrase the global “free trade” apologist, Thomas
Friedman, one can’t have McDonalds without McDonnell Douglas. During the
19th century Irish potato famine, food was
still being forcibly
exported and this catastrophe has been repeated time and
again. Under
the New World Order of the 21st
century, only those willing to play the
game and pay the going price can escape
hunger.
One thus finds powerful
institutions (World Bank, USAID, Rockefeller
Foundation, Gates Foundation)
compelling farmers to abandon native subsistence
crops (millet, taro,
quinoa, sorghum, maize) in favor of monocultures that are
often privately
patented and genetically engineered (cotton, soy, oil palm,
sugar cane),
while at the same time forcing communities to privatize their
common
property resources (seed, land, water, wildlife), and convincing
consumers
to “enjoy” dubious synthetic food byproducts (high fructose corn
syrup,
antibiotic-laden meat, milk protein concentrate, irradiated spinach,
hydrogenated margarine) – all in the name of competitive advantage and economic
efficiency.
Food sovereignty, on the
other hand, valorizes common sense principles of
community autonomy,
cultural integrity, and environmental stewardship – ie.
people determining
for themselves just what seeds they plant, which animals they
raise, how
they farm, and ultimately what they will eat for dinner. In fact,
some
would argue that genuine food security is impossible without first
achieving food sovereignty. As early as 1996 Via Campesina set forth its seven
principles of food sovereignty (see reverse) and these prompted much
discussion
at the Jan. 2001 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil
leading to a Sept.
2001 World Forum on Food Sovereignty held in Cuba, as
well as the Nyeleni Food
Sovereignty Conference in Selingue, Mali in Feb.
2007
Adopting food sovereignty would have
sweeping implications in a political
setting such as the U.S., which is
probably why they have been so strongly
resisted by corporate agribusiness
and their political supporters. Worse yet,
food sovereignty is a
“barrier” to trade and is thus “illegal” in the eyes of
the World Trade
Organization (WTO). For instance, preemptive legislation that
takes
away local control over the regulation of confined animal feeding
operations (CAFOs – aka factory farms) undermines food sovereignty, as does
White House and Congressional reluctance to implement comprehensive country of
origin labeling (COOL) that would allow U.S. consumers to actually know
where
ALL their food comes from. Similarly, the corporate patenting of
lifeforms, the
expropriation of indigenous knowledge, and the exploitation
suffered by family
farmers and farm workers when they are denied fair trade
prices, unions, and
living wages are all other flagrant violations of food
sovereignty.
For years, Family Farm
Defenders has sought to spread and popularize the
concept of food
sovereignty in hopes of bringing U.S. food/farm activists into a
closer
solidarity relationship with their allies overseas. To find out more
about how you can get involved, please
contact:
Family Farm Defenders,
1019 Williamson St. #B, Madison, WI 53703 tel./fax.
#608-260-0900
25 Things You Can Do
To Promote Local Food
Sovereignty!
1.) Create a food
policy council! Agriculture is too important to be left in
the hands of
faraway officials (elected or not). Through a state or local food
policy council, you can directly help determine the future of what you grow and
eat in your own community. For a directory of links to current food
councils,
visit:
http://www.law.drake.edu/academics/agLaw/?pageID=agFoodPolicy
2.) Promote socially responsible food procurement policies for your school,
church, or hospital which give preference to fresh local produce and fair trade
products! Back in 1995 Northland College in Ashland, WI became one of
the
pioneers in this area. To find out more:
www.northland.edu/sustainability-campus-initiatives-food-systems Over 40
hospitals in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC now have policies to
purchase
more local fruits and vegetables – to find out more, visit:
http://mdh2e.org/
3.) Patronize your local
farmers’ market! Between 1994 and 2009 the number of
farmers markets in the
U.S. nearly tripled to over 5200. Not only will you get
the freshest
produce possible, but you can also put your hard earned money right
into
the hands of a hard working farmer. To find the market nearest you, check
out the USDA’s national directory at:
www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets
4.) Invest in a community landtrust! Over 1700 landtrusts now protect 37
million acres across the U.S. from urban sprawl and reckless development. That
is a land area equal to the size of the state of Michigan. Family
farmers
benefit when land is set aside for agriculture and not subject to
the whims of
speculation. For more info, visit:
http://www.landtrustalliance.org/
5.)
Implement local policies encouraging conversion to sustainable organic
agriculture! Woodbury County, IA recently passed a property tax rebate program
to encourage farmers to covert to organic. Conventional
farmers often cite the
expense of the three year transition period as a
reason to not switch, but this
policy addresses that. To find out
more:
www.woodbury-ia.com/departments/EconomicDevelopment
6. ) Compile a farm fresh atlas to help connect local consumers with family
farmers! There are now five different such atlases just in Wisconsin – for
an
example check out the one for southern WI compiled by REAP available at:
www.reapfoodgroup.org A national local food directory organized
by zip code
can also be found at:
www.foodroutes.org
7. ) Cultivate a
garden! During WWII over 40% of U.S. produce was grown in
Victory Gardens,
and according to the National Gardening Association over $18
billion worth
of food is now grown in U.S. gardens each year. In 2008 alone seed
sales
were up 30%, meaning more people are discovering gardening as a survival
strategy in the face of the global economic crisis. If you don’t know how
to
garden, talk to your neighbor down the street who does. They will
be happy to
teach you and maybe even give you some
seeds!
8.) Organize a local food fair
trade holiday fair! When it comes to
celebrating the true
spirit of the season, no gift can compare with one that
embodies good
karma. Community Action in Latin America (CALA) has hosted such
local
food fair trade holiday fairs in Madison the first Sat. of Dec. for over
decade now, attracting thousands of people annually. Info?
www.calamadison.org
9.) Launch a local
food fair trade fundraising project for your school,
non-profit, or faith
community! Just Coffee and Family Farm Defenders both
began such an
effort a decade and a half ago. Does it make sense to have
children selling
junk food or sweatshop products for their marching band or
extracurricular
activity? – no, it doesn’t! To find out more, visit:
www.justcoffee.coop/fundraising or
http://familyfarmers.org/?page_id=244
10.)
Purchase development rights (PDR) to protect farmland! Between 1999 and
2004 alone there were over 600 local and state ballot measures passed,
dedicating $18+ billion towards land conservation efforts. All told, over
400,000 acres of farmland has now been protected through PDR efforts. Some
especially successful initiatives include Lancaster County, PA
(http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=371&Q=384772) and the
Town of Dunn in Dane County, WI
(http://town.dunn.wi.us/townofdunn/land+use/purchase+of+development+rights/default.asp).
11.) Join community supported agriculture (CSA)! Originating from Japan, CSAs
enable consumers to buy a share upfront in a local farm and in exchange get
a
basket of produce each week during the growing season. According to the
USDA
there are now over 12,000 farms marketing through CSAs across the U.S,
supplying
food to over a quarter a million families. This is a great way to
put a face
behind your food by building a direct relationship with a family
farmer in your
community. To find a CSA near you, check out the
listings at:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
12.) Encourage urban agriculture! According to the U.N., over 15% of the
world’s food is now grown in cities (three times the amount that is traded
across borders). The notion that family farming should be relegated to rural
areas is not true or even practical. Cuba is a world leader when it
comes to
urban farming (see the video: www.powerofcommunity.org). For encouraging U.S.
examples, check out: www.growingpower.org, www.intervale.org, www.greeningofdetroit.com or
read the new book by Robin Shulman – Eat the City (Crown
2012)
13.) Take the100 mile diet
challenge! If not for an entire year, then for at
least a few months or for
a single day like Thanksgiving. The objective: to only
eat food grown or
raised within a 100 radius of your home. What better way to
meet local
family farmers! For more details, visit:
www.100milediet.org
14.) Learn how to
freeze, pickle, jam, and preserve your own food – like your
grandparents
did! Only about a third of people in the U.S. now put up food at
home, so
you can be at the cutting edge of the latest do it yourself (DIY)
trend. If
you need help, there often local extension “how to” classes and great
canning/freezing books at your public
library!
15.) Talk to your healthcare
provider about local food as a form of
preventative medicine! Physicians
Plus, Group Health Cooperative, Dean Care and
Unity Plus in Madison,
WI all offer a “Eat Healthy” rebate for any member (up
to $100 per
individual or $200 for families) that get a CSA share. For more
details,
visit:
http://www.csacoalition.org/our-work/csa-insurance-rebate/
16.) Implement comprehensive Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for all
food!
Consumers in over 40 other countries, including the European
Union and Japan,
have the right to know where their food comes, but not
consumers in the U.S.
Several versions of the Farm Bill have included
COOL, but it only applies to
seafood, meat, and a limited range of fruits
and vegetables. To find out more
about what is wrong with “mystery” food,
check out the Poisoned Fruit of
American Trade Policy report from Food and
Water Watch:
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/the-poisoned-fruit-of-american-trade-policy/
17.) Help raise the market profile of local food! Back in the 1980s MN
farmers created their own label to help consumers find their homegrown produce
in the marketplace. Today, MN Grown is an official state program, issuing a
trademarked logo to qualified farmers and producing a popular directory
available at every state highway rest stop. Other states have now started
similar buy local efforts. More info:
www.mda.state.mn.us/MNGROWN
18.) Support
farmworkers rights! The largest and lowest paid workforce in the
U.S. is in
the farm/food sector. This is due in part to the fact that
farmworkers were
specifically excluded from the 1935 National Labor Relations
Act, and thus
do not have the federal right to organize a union. Nonetheless,
grassroots
pressure campaigns such as that by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
(CIW)
on behalf of immigrant tomato pickers in FL have forced fast food giants
like Taco Bell to raise wages and respect workers rights. More info:
www.ciw-online.org
19.) Get healthy local
food into school cafeterias! There are an estimated
2500 farm to
school programs in the U.S., providing an important institutional
marketing
opportunity for family farmers. Children deserve the healthiest food
possible and that is exactly what family farmers provide. For
more info on the
National Farm to School Network:
http://www.farmtoschool.org/
20.) Support
community gardens! There are now an estimated 18,000 community
gardens
throughout the U.S. and Canada. Community gardens not only provide
people with nutritious produce, but have many other spin-off benefits such
as
higher property values, lower crime rates, and a better overall quality
of life
in often stressful urban settings. For in inspiring history
of community
gardening in the U.S., check out: City Bountiful by
Laura Lawson (Univ. of CA
Press
2005).
21.) Support smart growth
development! One of the greatest threats to
family farmers relentless
urban sprawl and speculative land grabbing. Smart
growth helps set an
urban growth boundary, promotes in-fill and clustered
development, and
helps preserve open space, wildlife habitat, and productive
farmland in the
process. For more details:
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/
22.) Use tax increment financing (TIF) for local food/farm projects!
Contrary to some assumptions, sustainable agriculture is a form of economic
development and should enjoy the same incentives that other projects
receive.
For example, the Plant in Chicago – an innovative vertical
farming/agro-processing project was able to leverage TIF funding and other
public support – along with private “green” capital – to transform an
abandoned
meat processing warehouse into a multi-use production space and
retail outlet
that will create 125 jobs. For more info:
http://www.plantchicago.com/
23.)
Create an urban garden district! Many city residents and urban
planners are familiar with the idea of a historic district or a business
improvement district, but how about an urban garden district?
Cleveland, OH
just created such a zone, allowing urban farmers to
have greenhouses, chicken
coops, composting toilets, even off street
parking and roadside market stands.
For more details, visit:
http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/cwp/opp_oview.php
24.) Oppose global “free” trade deals that hurt family farmers!
Family
farmers should have the right to grow food at a fair price for their
own people
first – yet that food sovereignty idea is illegal under global
“free” trade
deals that literally force countries to open their borders to
food imports they
often don’t even want. Worse yet, it is not family
farmers (or consumers) that
benefit from this trade, but a handful of
agribusiness corporations who dominate
and manipulate global commodity
markets. Fair trade should be the hallmark of
all economic activity,
whether domestic or international. To find out more:
http://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/, http://www.fairtradefederation.org/,
http://www.thedfta.org/
25.)
Celebrate local food when gathered with your family, friends, and
community! Think back to when you were growing up… What were some of your
fondest memories of such holidays as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa,
Ramadan, Fourth of July, Labor Day? Chances are they
included food – a special
family recipe, a unique ethnic dish, fish caught
by an elder, corn grown by a
relative. Generic fast food cannot
replicate this unique experience. We’ll all
eat better (and respect
family farmers more) if we put the culture back into
agri-culture.
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