US Food Sovereignty Alliance

Category: Food Sovereignty

Contains all pages under the Food Sovereignty menu item.

  • USFSA organizing its IV National Assembly

    USFSA organizing its IV National Assembly

    Our food is being used as a weapon, and we are living in a political moment that demands coordinated action.

    Currently, we are seeing how political borders are being used to attack workers and families. Whether it’s the more than 500,000 people who were cut from the food stamp program over the last 3 years, the fact that four of the six largest agribusiness corporations have merged, or that farmers across the country are losing their lands while food chain workers are working under exploitative and dangerous conditions, and often fear deportation.

    We must continue to dream of a better world and work to build a new food system. We need a system that respects communities and human rights and nourishes rather than ravages the land. That system is based on food sovereignty, the human right to food, and the rights of Mother Earth.

    On October 12 – 15, 2018, grassroots organizations, activists, faith-based community, scholars, union members, farmers and fisherfolk, and other food chain workers from around the US and the world will converge on Bellingham, WA, for the IV National Assembly of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA). The Assembly will provide a space to learn about food sovereignty, share struggles and collective wins, and build solidarity.

    The USFSA has a goal of bringing together as many people as possible in a World Social Forum style gathering that will encompass a range of panels, political education, arts and other cultural exchanges to pave the way for stronger political action in the United States. The space will be an opportunity for mutual learning. Please stay tuned for information on how to submit a proposal for a panel, registration, and more. Together, we’ll deepen relationships across sectors and geographies to build a path for community liberation and reclaim our food system.

    The Assembly will also include the 2018 Food Sovereignty Prize awards ceremony honoring movements in the US and internationally. Lauded as an alternative to the World Food Prize, the Food Sovereignty Prize champions real solutions to hunger and is recognized by social movements, activists and community-based organizations around the world.

    Please save the date and sign up (or follow us on Facebook or Twitter) to get the latest updates on the organizing and registration process. If you are interested in participating in the planning of the Assembly, please email info (at) usfoodsovereigntyalliance (dot) org.

  • USFSA IV National Assembly

    The IV National Assembly of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance was held in Bellingham, Washington, and the following declaration and statement of solidarity was created. The Food Sovereignty Prize ceremony also took place during the Assembly. The press release can be found below.

    The Bellingham Declaration
    US Food Sovereignty Alliance
    October 2018

    PDF of Bellingham Declaration |  PDF de Declaración en Español

    The US Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA) held its IV National Assembly from October 12th thru 14th in Bellingham, Washington with the participation of 117 members, allies, and individuals from 71 organizations and 7 countries.  The theme “Defending Mother Earth for an Agroecological Life:  No Walls, No Capitalism” was enacted through art, drama, music, dance, organizing, debate, analysis, healthy locally-sourced food, and spirited “mística” ceremonies.

    Anchored by the farmworker-led organization Community to Community Development (C2C), the assembly overflowed with a joyous, intelligent, and diverse rainbow of origins, identities, and organizers of all ages from various sectors of the food system, including farmworkers, food chain workers, fishers, family farmers, urban agriculturalists, food providers, and social justice advocates fighting for their livelihoods, freedom, and dignity through food sovereignty, and an end to patriarchal, capitalist, and colonial ways of thinking and acting.  Building on regional assemblies in the Northeast, the South, the Midwest and the West, the IV National Assembly vibrated with an expanding and deepening energy!

    Challenged by the current political and ecological moment—characterized by the rise of right-wing, racist populism allied with neoliberal, corporate economics, coupled with massive impoverishment and oppression of peoples, and the threat of climate catastrophe—our motivation intensified.  Those assembled discussed and the Alliance’s national coordination proclaims the following solidarity positions of the USFSA:

    * In solidarity with La Via Campesina, we call on the United States and other members states to support the Declaration of Peasants Rights being pushed forward at the U.N.  The struggle for Food Sovereignty depends on the protection of the rights of peasants and small- and medium-sized family farmers.

    * We oppose the expansion of the H2A visa guest worker program, particularly when used as a means of displacing farmworkers organizing themselves into unions.  H2A workers tied to a single employer have not been able to unionize themselves, and are often subject to wage theft, extortion by labor contractors and foremen, and other abuses.  We denounce in the strongest terms efforts to expand and weaken existing safeguards and housing provisions in guest worker programs by establishing a proposed H2C visa, which would spread and intensify the defects of H2A to food processing industries.  We also support the boycott of Reynolds American Tobacco VUSE e-cigarettes until that corporation signs an agreement to guarantee the right to organize without retaliation to all farmworkers in the tobacco fields, whether H2A or undocumented.

    * We denounce the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in implementing the racist policies of mass detention and deportation, and stand in solidarity with immigrant and refugee peoples currently residing and working in the U.S.

    * We add our collective voice to the Call to Protect Food Systems from Genetic Extinction Technology and call for a global moratorium on any release of engineered gene drives, which could contaminate ecological systems, species, and food webs with genetic traits designed to create species extinction.

    * We denounce proposals in the Farm Bill that would increase work requirements for SNAP eligibility, end the Double Up Bucks farmers market program, defund critical conservation programs, and reduce support for beginning and socially challenged farmer programs.

    * We reject the King amendment in the House Farm Bill, which would give agribusinesses greater control and restrict state and local governments from regulating agricultural products, and could nullify the Food Sovereignty Ordinances passed in Maine, as well as laws that curb pesticide use, regulate farmworker safety, prevent cruel livestock practices, and label GMO foods.

    * We call for an expansion of agroecological practices and the protection of our agroecological biodiversity in food, fiber, forest and aquatic systems across the planet, as one of the essential solutions to the climate catastrophes humanity faces.  We know that small farmers, family fishers and foresters all cool the planet.  Agroecology cools the planet!

    * Lastly, the USFSA stands in solidarity with our global allies, particularly members of La Via Campesina, suffering the overthrow or threat of overthrow of popular, democratic governments.  Whether in Honduras, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela or elsewhere, these “soft coups” are a threat to democratic processes and to food sovereignty everywhere.
    ____________

    The IV Assembly debated and affirmed the formation of the following national Collectives:  Political Education, Agroecology: Land and Water, Narrative Strategy, International Relationships, and Youth.   These collectives together with the regional bodies will carry forward the work of USFSA, coordinated by representatives from grassroots organizations from the regions, with the help of grassroots support organizers.

    With our collective strength, we shout “No!” to injustices in the food system everywhere and “Yes!” to the people rising up to radically transform unjust systems and practices, for the betterment and survival of humanity and defense of Mother Earth.   And to the inspiring sister movements across the planet working for food sovereignty, we sing out a resounding ¡VIVA!  WE STAND WITH YOU!  WE ARE PART OF YOU! 

    During the Assembly, the winners of the Food Sovereignty Prize were acknowledged for their powerful work to promote food sovereignty. Here is the release:

    Grassroots Movements Celebrated for Building Solutions to Food and Climate Crises

    Black Mesa Water Coalition, Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico Win the Food Sovereignty Prize

    FSP winnersJesus Vázquez and Dalma Colón from Organización Boricuá; Sheldon Natoni and Roberto Nutlouis from Black Mesa Water Coalition

    October 14, 2018 (Bellingham, Washington) – The U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA) honored Black Mesa Water Coalition and Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico on Sunday at the tenth annual Food Sovereignty Prize ceremony on Lummi and Nooksack land in Coast Salish Territory, in the city now called Bellingham, Washington.

    Black Mesa Water Coalition, the domestic honoree, was awarded the prize for restoring indigenous food sovereignty and uplifting youth leaders among Navajo and Hopi communities. Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico, the international honoree, was recognized particularly for mobilizing Food Sovereignty Brigades to assist farmers recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

    Presented as an alternative to the World Food Prize, the Food Sovereignty Prize honors steadfast commitment of food sovereignty. Social movements, community organizations, and activists around the world recognize the importance of the prize.

    “These grassroots organizations demonstrate how frontline communities most affected by social and ecological crises are the ones with solutions to society’s most pressing problems.” -Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth (coordinator of the Western Region of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance)

    Black Mesa Water Coalition utilizes green economic development and other diverse strategies, rooted in indigenous knowledge, to address issues of poverty, hunger, and environmental injustices driven by extractive industries and centuries of colonialism. “We need to notify humanity that we need to drastically change the way we do things, especially getting away from fossil fuels, and the food system is one way to begin that transition.” -Roberto Nutlouis, Black Mesa Water Coalition

    Organización Boricuá organizes farmers to transition to sustainable agriculture and sovereignty in Puerto Rico. “Agroecology as Puerto Ricans, coming from a colonial context, has given us a space to organize and deepen our struggles. This work is a vehicle of transformation for a sovereign, free, and just Puerto Rico.” -Jesus Vázquez, Organización Boricuá

    Media contacts:

    Liz Darrow (360) 220-9065, c2cmedia@foodjustice.org
    Ahna Kruzic, (510) 927-5379, ahna@panna.org

    www.usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org

  • Saad Dagher Talks Agroecology

    By Paul Molyneaux, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Paul is one of the USFSA regional coordinators for the Northeast Region.

     

    The term “agroecology” grew out of early 20th Century iterations like Girolamo Aziz’s “agriculture ecology” (1956), which were used to describe a more holistic approach to farming that utilized the best of the old an the new, both technically and philosophically.

    “I learned about it from Pierre Rabhi,” says Saad Dagher, who after decades of field work runs an educational farm, The Humanistic Farm-Ma’azouza. “He came to Palestine, and I went to see him. I was in the north of France and his secretary called and said he had a half hour for me. He was in the south of France. I traveled for twelve hours to talk to him for half an hour, but of course it turned into five.”

    It turned into five because Dagher did not go empty handed. He carried with him years of observation and a commitment to what he calls, “the deeper philosophy of agroecology.”

    “It’s a revolutionary philosophy with linkages to food sovereignty,” says Dagher.  to When I first started talking about it twenty years ago, my colleagues, the university trained agronomists attacked me. Now they ask me to come teach.”

    Dagher begins with the soil. “I talk a lot about soil health,” he says. “We have to think differently about the soil. It is much more than a vessel that holds the roots of the plants and supplies minerals.” Dahger has combined the soil building techniques of Jon Jeavons, who promotes ample use of compost, a deep loosening of the soil, and intensive planting to increase soil health and productivity, with traditional Palestinian farming methods.

    “I talk about water,” says Dagher. “We only get fifteen percent of our available water because Israel controls it. But agroecology uses less water because the soil holds it. We use mulch,” he says. “It’s funny when I started talking about mulch some people thought I meant the plastic. No. We get the straw.”

    “I also talk about maintaining biodiversity in the soil and in our seeds. I Palestine we have lost our cucumber, which we could grow without irrigation, the same for our watermelon. We need to get them back.”

    Dagher sees agroecology as a tool for liberation. “All these connect with food sovereignty. Agroecology could be for us what the spinning wheel was for Gandhi,” he says, refferring to Mahatma Gandhi encouraging Indians to spin their own cloth in order to confront the English system of domination.

    At the same time, interest in Agroecology is growing exponentially, and Dagher is concerned than in popularizing the concept organizations like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will lose touch with the philosophy that he believes defines agroecology.

    To reach an understanding of that philosophy, Dagher includes the history of agroecology. He talks about how Palestinian people practiced agroecology before the word existed. “We used to grow olives and figs and grapes together,” he says. “And we planted wheat in between. Then we would have a meal in winter of wheat and olive oil that we would scoop up with dried figs. In winter we ate that.” He goes on to give other examples of companion planting. “We would plant basil among the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. It would improve the flavor of these and mask their scent so that insects would get confused and not find them.”

    “I am writing a book,” he says. “Agroecology the Palestian Way.” Dagher believes that capturing the essentials of agroecology in books, articles and other media will help keep the movement on its true path. “If we write it down, talk about what it is, we can keep it from being corrupted,” Dagher says. “We can keep it connected to its deeper philosophy, which I can talk a lot about, but in one word, it is Freedom.” Dagher has adopted an image of an open hand as the symbol for agroecology with each digit representing the movement’s vital aspects. “First you have the thumb, which represents the people who practice agroecology,” he says. “Then you have knowledge, which is free. And then you have rainwater, which is free. And then the sunlight, which is free, and finally the hay and straw that grows freely, and which we need for mulch.”

  • USFSA organizes three Regional Assemblies

    The US Food Sovereignty Alliance is organizing four regional assemblies in preparation to its IV National Assembly that will be held in Bellingham, WA from October 12-15. To Pre-register for the National Assembly, click here.

    The dates for the regional assemblies are:

    Southeast Region: April 8th

    Northeast Region: August 9th-10th

    Mid-West Region: August 24th thru 26th

    If you are a USFSA member, ally organization or if your community/collective are interested in participating, please contact the regional coordinators for your region.

    Southeast Region:

    Ivan Vazquez, Farmworker Association of Florida – ivanvazkez90fl (at) gmail

    Northeast Region:

    Kathia Ramirez, Farmworker Support Center – kramirez (at) cata-farmworkers (dot) org

    Paul Molyneux, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance – moly213 (at) gmail (dot) com

    Mid-West Region:

    Stephen Bartlett, Sustainable Agriculture Louisville – estebanbartlett (at) gmail

    John Peck, Family Farm Defenders – familyfarmdefenders (at) yahoo