Food Movements, Unite!

This article was originally published by AgriCultures

The world’s different food movements need to work together, argues Eric Holt-Giménez. The question facing them is “How can we, in all our diversity, converge to become powerful enough to transform the world’s food systems?” The answer is being forged daily, on the ground, as political alliances grow between producers, workers and consumers, and as social movements begin bridging North-South and urban-rural divides: “convergence in diversity”.

A detailed analysis of the corporate food regime dominating our planet’s food systems shows that it is environmentally destructive, financially volatile and socially unjust. Its central role in creating the global food crisis is well documented. What is most striking and disturbing is that the “solutions” call for more of the same destructive technologies, global markets and unregulated corporate power that brought us the food crisis in the first place. We need a vision for real solutions – not from those causing the problems, but from those who are most affected by poverty and hunger.

A dynamic global food movement has risen up to confront the corporate assault on our food. Around the world, food justice activists are taking back pieces of their food systems through local gardening, organic farming, community-supported agriculture, farmers’ markets and locally-owned processing and retail operations.

The question facing movements for sustainability and food sovereignty is: How can we, in all our diversity, converge to become powerful enough to transform the world’s food systems?

Food sovereignty advocates are organising for land reform, the end of destructive global-trade agreements and support for family farmers, women and peasants. Protests against – and viable alternatives to – the expansion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), agrofuels, land grabs and the oligopolistic control of our food are growing everywhere, everyday, providing a vision of hope, equity and sustainability that is “breaking through the asphalt” of a reified corporate food regime.

The global food movement springs from strong commitments to sustainability, food justice, food democracy and food sovereignty on the part of thousands of farmers’ unions, consumer groups, NGOs, faith-based and community organisations that spans the planet’s urban-rural and North-South divides. This remarkable “movement of movements” is widespread, highly diverse, refreshingly creative and politically amorphous.

There are many hopeful initiatives for fair and sustainable food systems. However, there’s been little strategic reflection on how to get from where we are – a broad but fragmented collection of hopeful alternatives – to where we need to be: the new norm. What is to be done? How can we roll back the corporate food regime and roll out healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems? This transformation of the world’s food systems requires political will – which comes about not just from good intentions and sustainable practices, but through the power of social movements.

The question facing movements for sustainability and food sovereignty is “How can we, in all our diversity, converge to become powerful enough to transform the world’s food systems?” The answer is being forged daily, on the ground, as political alliances grow between producers, workers and consumers, and as social movements begin bridging North-South and urban-rural divides: “convergence in diversity”.

See the original article at AgriCultures