A3. Agroecology

“How is it that despite all the efforts made, in the 20th century in particular, to marginalize peasant farmers, despite all the land grabs, despite the huge public subsidies paid to industrial agriculture, despite the free trade agreements, despite the standards written by and for the industry and against peasant farmers, how is it that we are still here and that we still play such a fundamental role in feeding people, in the South of course, but also in Europe?”

In a passionate speech delivered at the Food and Agricultural Organization on January 23, 2024, Morgan Ody, the General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, put forth a fierce defense of the peasant way of life and the urgent necessity to defend peasant farming in the face of global crises.

(Transcript in English).

Hello,

I’m a peasant farmer, growing vegetables in Brittany, in the west of France. I also have a few sheep and chickens for my own consumption, not really declared to the authorities; otherwise, it would be a lot of hassle. I sell my vegetables to a consumer cooperative, which comprises families in my commune, and also at the market in the nearest small town, 10 km from my farm. I don’t receive any CAP payments because, with 1.3 hectares, my farm is considered too small, so all my income comes from selling my vegetables locally. Together with my parents and sisters, we make wood on the farm, which helps to heat us in winter. Officially, this isn’t part of the farm’s activities, but in reality, with the rise in the price of fuel and electricity in recent years, it’s important.

I also work with other neighboring peasant farmers. Every Monday, we go to a colleague’s farm to do some harder work. It’s not an official thing either, even though mutual aid is tolerated for peasant farmers by the French administration, and for me, this collective work gives a lot of meaning and pleasure to my daily life as a peasant farmer. When my greenhouse was blown away by a storm, everyone came to rebuild it. This sense of community is the basis of small-scale and family farming.

I think it’s important to start with these very practical details because if you just look at the figures for my farm, there’s no rational basis for its continued existence. According to some economists, my farm is unprofitable, and I’d earn a much better income if I went and worked anywhere else as a salaried employee, and even worse if I had to take into account the hours I work. We are still peasant farmers because this way of life meets our need to produce food, cut wood for heating, maintain links with our animals, maintain neighborly solidarity, and provide insurance for the whole family in times of hardship, as was the case during COVID.

According to the criteria of the dominant economic analysis, peasant and family farming should have disappeared long ago. And yet it is still there. Even in Europe, at the heart of capitalism and the modern Western world, it is still there. And it persists well beyond the official figures, in Europe too, through millions of families who continue a peasant activity that is essential to economic, social, and cultural life. In every region of the world, small and medium-sized peasant farmers continue to be essential in providing food for the vast majority of the population.

I believe that the question “Is peasant agriculture destined to disappear?” is not as relevant as this other question: “How is it that despite all the efforts made, in the 20th century in particular, to marginalize peasant farmers, despite all the land grabs, despite the huge public subsidies paid to industrial agriculture, despite the free trade agreements, despite the standards written by and for the industry and against peasant farmers, how is it that we are still here and that we still play such a fundamental role in feeding people, in the South of course, but also in Europe?

There are the individual strategies of each peasant farmer to try and keep our farms afloat economically. The prevailing view is that we need to grow bigger to produce more and thus compensate for the fall in the real price of agricultural products. This often involves taking over a neighbor’s land and investing, with exorbitant levels of debt and often an exhausting workload. It’s a process that is leading to the gradual disappearance of small-scale farming. Far from the triumphant discourse on these new agricultural entrepreneurs, the reality is often very harsh for those involved in this industrial agriculture, and the demonstrations in the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, and France in recent weeks express the distress and economic fragility of those who have made these choices and who are crushed by debt, rising production costs, and low prices.

But another group of peasant farmers is looking for other ways. They are looking for market segments where the price paid for their produce is better and more stable. That’s why many peasant farmers, myself included, have decided to produce organically and through short distribution channels: the prices are much better than if I had sold to industrialists or supermarkets. However, this strategy of seeking out ‘niches’ with remunerative prices, in which many people believed in the past decades, also has its limits. Manufacturers and supermarkets have developed organic ranges and are even developing short distribution channels, each time launching price wars. It’s often a similar story for cooperatives: these tools are useful, but in competitive markets where intermediaries are always looking for the lowest possible price to increase their margins, cooperatives have very few options for remunerating their members fairly.

This is the limit to all our individual initiatives: alone in the face of the “market” we are crushed.

Input prices are skyrocketing, and the prices of our products are stagnating. Many peasant farmers, whether in peasant or industrial models, are being driven to suicide. This is why we are organizing ourselves to collectively demand public policies to support and protect family farms. Only market regulation policies that guarantee that the prices paid to peasant farmers are higher than the costs of production can ensure that our farms prosper and that many young people take up farming. Only public policies can ensure that land and water are shared fairly and stop land grabs and the concentration of land in the hands of a few wealthy investors. Only public policies can ensure a change of scale to massively expand agroecology. Only public policies can move towards full implementation of the peasants’ rights recognized in UNDROP.

That’s why, all over the world, when peasant farmers mobilize, it’s to defend or demand structuring public policies, a protective political framework in the face of the market: the major mobilizations by Indian peasant farmers in 2021-2022 called for minimum intervention prices and public stocks; in Latin America and Indonesia, peasant farmers are demonstrating for a comprehensive agrarian reform to redistribute land; in Europe, peasant farmers’ actions are taking place just about everywhere to maintain strict regulations against GMOs. Strangely enough, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen peasant farmers demonstrating to demand ‘projects’, digitization, or carbon markets on land. You have to wonder why.

But do governments really want to support peasant and family farming? A few months ago, I heard an economist say: “In the 20th century, the main concern of those in government departments dealing with agriculture was: how do we get rid of all these peasant farmers? Now we’re looking at the decline in the number of farmers and wondering “how will we manage without them? Perhaps, in the face of the environmental crisis, geopolitical conflicts, social inequalities, and the immense malaise being expressed in the streets everywhere, from Berlin to Dakar, from Delhi to Quito, from Jakarta to Nairobi, the time has come for governments to stop wanting the end of peasant farmers and to take our peasant demands seriously.

Because we’re not just fighting for ourselves, for our incomes, and for our families. Our peasant project, based on food sovereignty, peasant rights, agroecology, agrarian reform, and peasant and popular feminism, our peasant vision is a vision of hope for all humanity. As we said at our 8th Via Campesina conference: “Faced with global crises, we build food sovereignty, to ensure a future for humanity”

The Decade of Family Farming, through its Global Action Plan that expressly recognizes the fundamental nature of UNDROP and its National Family Farming Committees, therefore offers an ideal framework for the creation of these public policies and an implementation that is horizontal, decentralized, and inclusive. Through its national organizations, La Vía Campesina is participating in the Decade in 17 countries, not to mention the many initiatives that, although not developed under this program, are nevertheless contributing to the achievement of its objectives. Despite these positive results, we very much regret cases where peasant organizations have been excluded from these National Committees: it is therefore essential to reiterate that the participation of all national family farming and peasant organizations is essential if the Decade is to be truly effective.

The FAO and IFAD, in cooperation with farmers’ organizations, must help to better identify which policies are harmful to farmers, in order to eliminate them, and which policies are beneficial, to encourage them.

The FAO and IFAD must support governments in putting in place structuring public policies to ensure that farmers everywhere make a decent living from their activity. For us, this is what the Decade of Family Farming is all about.

While we are gathered here today at the FAO, one of whose slogans is “a world without hunger,” according to the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme, 2.3 million people in Gaza are at absolute risk of starvation. Thousands of lorries full of food are blocked at the Rafah checkpoint. La Via Campesina is making an urgent appeal: let these aid-trucks through, stop the massacres, support the reconstruction of Palestinian agriculture. Let’s not let hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children die when the food is there, just a few kilometres away. We appeal to the FAO and its ability to intervene as a UN agency with a mandate to fight hunger.

The post Video: At the FAO panel on Family Farms, La Via Campesina fiercely defends peasant farms appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

The recently published Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Bobby J. Smith II spotlights the role of food as a political weapon and tool for resistance in the context of the Civil Rights Movement.

Building upon his dissertation at Cornell University, Food Power Politics sets out to understand the importance of food in the strategies used by activists in the Civil Rights Movement, Smith tells Food Tank. He explains that when communities use food as a tool of resistance, it grants them the agency to feed themselves on their own terms. By exploring power struggles over food, the book envisions a future where these communities have autonomy in creating and sustaining a self-sufficient local food system.

The book also highlights how present-day Black youth in the Delta are continuing this fight for food justice, addressing ongoing inequalities. Smith draws connections across disciplines, linking civil rights activism to contemporary food justice movements in Black communities.

“Bobby’s Food Power Politics tells a history that has often been overlooked or perhaps intentionally swept aside to show the ways in which Black communities fought for food access in the past and links these historical connections to contemporary struggles for food justice in Black communities,” Hanna Garth, co-author of Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice, tells Food Tank.

Food Power Politics marks the first installment in the University of North Carolina (UNC) Press’s “Black Food Justice” series. Ashanté Reese, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and Garth created the series to explore the intersection of Blackness and Food.

The Black Food Justice Series shows that there are so many layers to the way eaters think about food, Smith tells Food Tank. “The series marks a shift in how we think about food,” he says, “not only are we thinking about food in terms of justice and systems, but we’re also placing food at the center of Black life.”

The books published in the series are also intended to foster discussions that redefine the boundaries of “food justice,” according to Garth.

“Food justice is one of those terms that is used a lot, but what does it mean to define it through the lens of the lives of marginalized peoples—those who need justice to get food,” Smith tells Food Tank.

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The United States is now the second country, after Singapore, to approve the sale of cultivated meat. Cultivated meat is an application of the newest category of animal products: the animal cell itself. Like conventional meat, cultivated meat contains animal muscle, fat, and collagen. This muscle, fat, and collagen, however, are grown directly from animal cells, rather than by raising and slaughtering an animal.

While cultivated meat may hold promise for producing more humane and socially sustainable protein, it may also help solve some of the negative environmental impacts of industrial livestock production. Reducing waste from the meat industry is one area where cultivated meat has tremendous potential, according to CE Delft, an independent consultancy firm.

One of the biggest drivers for establishing Aleph Farms was to play meaningful roles in solving some of humanity’s biggest challenges, relating to food security, nature conservation, and climate action. Reducing food loss and food waste plays a major role in reaching such important goals. Cellular agriculture allows for a sustainable way of producing animal proteins, reducing not only the amount of environmental inputs and outputs associated with the final product, but also reducing potential food loss and waste due to the efficiency of the process.

According to CE Delft, 23 percent of all conventional meat that is produced goes to waste. Of this total amount wasted, 64 percent occurs at the consumption level, 20 percent during processing, 12 percent during distribution, and 3.5 percent during primary production and post-harvest.

Animal-based foods make up about 12 percent of global food loss and waste, according to a study from the Oxford University Press. While this is lower than some other commodities, the effects of that loss and waste are more significant than with other types of food, the report finds.

Another study on food loss and waste in the meat sector finds that most losses during primary production are because of rearing conditions, as well as how animals are transported to slaughterhouses. A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that meat, chicken, and fish make up 30 percent of the total negative value of food loss, higher than vegetables at 19 percent and dairy products at 17 percent. In addition, sickness can spread quickly among livestock housed in crowded conditions and lead to unnecessary animal deaths, another significant cause of waste. More so, in recent years, we are also witnessing that due to extreme climate events, such as heat/cold waves and droughts, increasing mortality of herds.

Cultivated meat may help eliminate the sources of waste that exist in the conventional meat industry, while enhancing efficiency in production overall, according to CE Delft life cycle analysis (LCA) that collected data from 19 companies with the cellular agriculture industry to assess the potential environmental impact cultivated meat will has once in mass production .

Cultivated meat has the potential to lower the environmental impact of meat production more broadly, according to CE Delft’s LCA. The LCA reports that cultivated meat would use land 60 to 300 percent more efficiently than poultry, and 2,000 to 4,000 percent more efficiently than beef.

And according to a report on human appropriation of land and food, poultry has a feed efficiency rate of 13 percent, pork 8.8 percent, lamb 4.4 percent, and beef only 1.9 percent. That means, for example, that only 1.9 percent of the calories in cattle feed inputs are effectively converted to boneless beef; the remaining 98.1 percent is lost during conversion. In addition, over one third of global crop production is for feed. Cultivated meat has a feed conversion rate (FCR) 5.5 times higher when compared to intensive livestock production and 36 times higher FCR when compared to grass-fed livestock, according to CE Delft. The fact that cultivated meat is still in its early stages makes this data especially encouraging—as technology develops and scales, efficiency is likely to rise.

“One key benefit of cultivated meat is that you only have to raise the part people want to eat, not the bones, skin, or other body parts,” Dana Gunders, Executive Director of ReFED tells Food Tank. “That essentially eliminates the ‘loss’ of needing eight pounds of feed to get just one pound of food.” This reflects the amount of feed needed for poultry, but even more is needed for beef. To produce one pound of beef, approximately 25 pounds of feed are required.

Cultivated meat is produced through three main steps. The first step is obtaining a sample of cells from a healthy animal. Then, the cells are put into a cultivator (imagine a large tank, like at a brewery) with growth media and a scaffold. Cultivators are temperature-controlled and clean environments for cells to grow. Inside a cultivator, cells repeatedly duplicate, quickly increasing in number. The starter cells can then mature into muscle and fat when attached to a solid material called a scaffold. Piping carries oxygen and liquid nutrients, called growth media or feed, inside of the cultivator to reach the cells and help them grow and mature. Growth media is a nutrient-rich liquid that feeds the cells; it typically contains the same carbohydrates, proteins, and other components used to help cells grow within an animal.

A scaffold provides the structure and surface for the cells to mature into muscle and fat and grow into the desired texture and form. It can be made of many types of edible biomaterial, such as gelatin, plants, algae, or fungi, and provides environmental cues to encourage the cells to grow in a specific way.

The final step is to harvest the cultivated meat and process it into commercial products, such as burgers, chicken nuggets, and steak. The production time typically takes about five to seven weeks, but varies depending on species, type of cells, growing conditions, scale, and desired product.

“The growing process of cultivated meat is controlled and provides the utmost precision,” Yoav Reisler, Senior Manager of Marketing Communications at Aleph, tells Food Tank. “It enables us to customize the product experience (including flavor, texture, color and cooking process) according to requirements or expectations of different chefs and end consumers.”

The technology developed for cultivated meat can also apply to other animal products. The cell lines and growth media currently being used to grow cultivated meat can also be used to grow collagen-based products like gelatin and leather.

In 2022, the total number of publicly announced cultivated meat companies rose to 156.

“For cultivated meat to drive a long-term impact, producers need to offer consumers an array of delicious products. This means accounting for different preferences, which vary between cultures and even from individual to individual,” Reisler says. “With more protein diversification and customization, cultivated meat can appeal to more taste buds. Wider appeal accelerates consumer acceptance, so it’s important to offer a diverse portfolio of options.”

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The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) is a new project that aims to boost agricultural productivity and nutrition by developing diverse, climate-resilient crop varieties and building healthy soils. Special Envoy for Global Food Security Dr. Cary Fowler recently launched the initiative in Africa in partnership with the African Union and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. 

VACS focuses on what Fowler calls “opportunity crops,” or crops that offer many benefits yet have “suffered from years and years of massive underinvestment.” These crops, which include cowpea, pigeon pea, mung bean, and lablab, provide protein and micronutrients while enriching the soil. “They have so much potential,” Fowler tells Food Tank.

Fowler explains that the VACS team identified approximately 60 traditional, indigenous, and underutilized crops that offered some of the greatest nutritional benefits. From there, they narrowed the list down further, working with experts to conduct modeling and determine the crops that can best withstand the changing climate. 

According to Fowler, the process has been driven by African stakeholders. “The leadership for this…has to come with local people. It has to come with African institutions and with African scientists and African farmers.” Some of their partners include the African Orphan Crops Consortium and the African Plant Breeders Association.

Fowler adds that the team is mindful that VACS is building on work that has been in progress by local leaders for many years. “This is not something that we created out of thin air.”

At its core, Fowler believes that VACS is really about going “back to the basics…We’ve got to get the fundamentals right,” he tells Food Tank. “And the fundamentals are always going to be soils and crops.”

With this work, Fowler emphasizes that they are not trying to create a project with a start and end date. Rather, they are hoping to “kick start a movement, a different way of thinking about this issue.” 

Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Cary Fowler on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about the relationships that VACS is developing with African farmers, the private sector and civil society partners that VACS is working with, and why it’s important for development agencies and non-governmental organizations to integrate more opportunity crops into their programs.

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Photo courtesy of David Stanley, Wikimedia Commons

The post VACS Is Going Back to Basics for a Climate Resilient Future appeared first on Food Tank.

On February 7 at 1:00PM ET, Food Tank and Traditional Medicinals will host a special herbal education webinar. The event will touch on topics including food as medicine; quality, efficacy, and medicine; wild harvesting; and the intelligence of the Earth.

Communities around the world have long used edible plants to promote health and healing. The event is designed to elevate an understanding around plant medicine and its role in food and agriculture systems.

Speakers will discuss the benefits of edible plants used for medicinal purposes and the value of dietary diversity, the natural intelligence of the Earth, and the story behind the growth, harvesting, and preparation of herbal medicine to yield products of the highest quality. They will also explore the practice of wild harvesting, the threat that human activity poses to flora and their environment, and sustainable approaches to support the growth of herbal medicine.

Speakers include Taryn Forrelli, chief science officer at Traditional Medicinals; Guido Masé, principle scientist and chief formulator at Traditional Medicinals; Deborah Vorhies, CEO of FairWild; Jocelyn Boreta, executive director of The Botanical Bus: Bilingual Mobile Herb Clinic; Dr. Nadja Cech, professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina Greensboro; Dr. Holly Johnson, chief science officer at the American Herbal Products Association; Dr. Kevin Spelman, renowned phytotherapy researcher at PhytoPharmacology Review; and moderator Chloe Sorvino, food journalist at Forbes.

The event is free to attend, but registration is required. For more information and to register for the event, click HERE. 

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Katherine Hanlon, Unsplash

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For two nights only, Food Tank is presenting special workshop performances of the new play “Little Peasants” in Somerville, Massachusetts. The story takes audiences behind the closed doors of a union organizing campaign at a chain coffee shop.

“Little Peasants” is written by Food Tank Co-Founder Bernard Pollack, directed by Dori A. Robinson, and produced by Elena Morris. The performances will take place at 7:00PM on February 7 and 21 at The Burren (247 Elm Street, Somerville, MA). 

Designed to be an immersive experience that puts audience members in baristas’ shoes, the play reveals the tactics employers use to thwart organizing efforts. 

“This is a rare opportunity to experience a heated food workers’ union campaign from the inside,” says Robinson. “The audience is invited to see the struggles from both sides of the table—the struggling workers, and the thoughtful organization.”

In March 2023, a one-act iteration of “Little Peasants” premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim. The new workshop is made possible thanks to support from the Somerville Arts Council. 

“Little Peasants” represents a continuation of Food Tank’s work situated at the intersection of food systems, the environment, and the arts. In 2021, they brought “WeCameToDance”—an interactive musical production that imparted an urgent message about the climate crisis—to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, where it was performed for a one-month sold-out run.

“To truly transform our food systems, we need the power of the arts,” says Food Tank President and Co-Founder Danielle Nierenberg. “‘Little Peasants’ is a unique opportunity for all of us to understand the momentum food workers are creating for just and fair treatment.”

For more information about “Little Peasants” and to purchase tickets for the workshop on February 7 or 21 click HERE. Food Tank members can also receive complimentary tickets to attend one of the upcoming workshops by emailing Kenzie Wade at kenzie@foodtank.com. To become a member, click HERE.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

The post ‘Little Peasants’ Takes Audiences Behind the Closed Doors of a Workers’ Organizing Campaign appeared first on Food Tank.

In Africa, farmers’ seeds are the basis of agricultural production, diverse and healthy food systems across the continent. The Farmer managed seed system (FMSS) is the dominant system for food crops and agrobiodiversity conservation for family farmers. They persist – and thrive – despite well-funded programs promoting corporate seed and the industrial food and agriculture […]

The post AFSA LAUNCHES 21 SEED CASE STUDIES FROM 10 COUNTRIES first appeared on AFSA.

Climate Caucus—a Canadian non-profit—recently held a webinar on climate-resilient food security. The webinar was part of a series called “Increasing Affordability Through Municipal Climate Action.” Laura Schnurr from the Tamarack Institute, Alex Lindstone from Climate Caucus, and Justine Dainard from Guelph’s County of Wellington spoke about Canadian municipalities’ role in climate resiliency and food access, stressing the need for partnership. 

In 2024, the Agri-Food Analytics Lab predicts that average Canadian families of four will spend CAD 701.79 more on food—up from CAD 15,595.21 in 2023. The higher costs are due in part to natural disasters related to the climate crisis, like flooding and wildfires. The speakers say that advocates recognize the need for sustainable food systems, and municipal governments may be powerful in implementing change. 

The webinar’s organizers highlighted the City of Guelph’s efforts in creating a local, circular food system. With a population of 120,000 and a passion for converting food waste into food security, the city won Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge in 2020. 

The winning project, Our Food Futures, “ties together goals of access to affordable, nutritious food, climate action and sustainability, healthy communities, business innovation and social enterprise, and social partnerships,” says Schnurr. One hundred and fifty organizations, such as the SEED, the Second Harvest Food Rescue App, and Community FEWD, collected food waste and distributed food. They also worked with the municipality’s health organization to prescribe produce to patients. It was important for the project to “bring everyone’s perspective into the picture,” says Dainard, who serves as the Smart Cities Project Manager in Wellington.  

Our Food Futures also supported a regenerative agriculture pilot program in Alberta. Dainard explains, “Being able to support farmers as they transition to regenerative agriculture is a part of regional security. It’s going to make us more resistant to the shifts that are coming because of climate change.” As the global food system strains to feed over 8 billion people amid war, pandemics, and political upheaval, local food systems will be at the forefront of the effort to feed communities. 

Building on the pilot’s success, Wellington compiled lessons into a handbook for other municipalities. Speakers reinforced that collaborative efforts with organizations, companies, indigenous leaders, and governments throughout Canada are essential to helping communities access food amidst the climate crisis.

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Photo courtesy of Randy Fath, Upsplash

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The weather in New York City can sometimes be extreme with events such as heat waves, blizzards, and hurricanes, and it can all change in a New York minute. In fact, extreme weather has caused New Yorkers to cope in a myriad of strategies from visiting one of our many umbrella vendors to stopping by a public cooling center. But communities that have been historically deprived of public resources risk greater health and economic threats from our climate, and, as the Executive Director of New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, I believe it’s going to take more than a three-dollar umbrella to protect these communities in a meaningful way. Whether you believe it or not, an essential factor in the fight against climate change starts with what we put on our plates.

The urgency to combat climate change demands a multifaceted approach, and it’s increasingly clear that our food choices wield significant influence. At this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, world leaders gathered to decide how to save our planet—and finally, food consumption was included as part of the solution. About a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food, with the largest portion of food-related greenhouse gases (GHGs) coming from agriculture and land use. Specifically, animal-based foods, especially red meat, dairy, and farmed shrimp, are associated with the highest greenhouse gas emissions on the globe.

This is why New York City promotes a plant-forward approach to our food policy. We find that centering our policies around food holistically, from food insecurity to food infrastructure, has a profound effect on our constituents’ health, environment, and way of living. So, today, we are calling on mayors across the nation to protect our planet, starting with their city’s food consumption.

Climate change may feel like a larger-than-life issue, but municipalities can—and must—play their part. For example, here’s how New York City has taken small, but impactful, reforms to reduce our footprint while still delivering healthy and tasty food.

The Mayor’s Office of Food Policy laid out Food Forward NYC, a comprehensive 10-year food policy plan to reach a more equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system. As signatories of the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration and the Coolfood Pledge, New York City is committed to tracking its food-related GHG emissions and reducing by 33 percent the carbon footprint of the food it purchases by 2030. In fact, our K-12 schools serve culturally relevant, scratch-cooked, plant-based meals, while our public hospitals surpassed one million default plant-based meals—leading to a 36 percent reduction in carbon emissions in the first year of its implementation alone.

The strength of New York City’s food policies lies in our collaborative approach to change. As leaders in climate justice, we unite our city’s agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and constituents to form robust, invaluable, partnerships for driving sustainable development. Now, our Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge is inspiring the private sector to join us. Just last week, we welcomed Columbia University as an inaugural partner in this critical plant-powered climate action. Imagine the change we could make if our cities came together to protect the environment through the foods that we eat and supply.

The initiatives spearheaded by the urban centers of ideas and industry vividly illustrate the transformative potential of our culture when plant-based food policies take center stage. And city by city, these collaborations have resulted in an impact on a global scale: Here in New York City, our Framework for Good Food Purchasing has become a model for public procurement nationally and internationally (and won us the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact Award for Governance in 2022).

The path forward can be as close as tomorrow. If other urban leaders accept New York City’s challenge now, we’ll get there sooner than expected. Forward-thinking food system strategies and inclusive partnerships for equity and excellence have been a beacon of hope in New York City, and they can be the same for your city too.

More importantly, from our collective endeavor, we can alleviate the profound impacts of climate change. Our commitment to a cleaner environment stands as our safeguard, ensuring a sustainable future for our planet and future generations to come. So, let’s commit to protecting the future of our communities, who rely on us for so much and whose cultures and contributions have given us even more in return. Let’s do it for them…one plate at a time.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Benny Rotlevy, Unsplash

The post Op-Ed | Sustainable Plates, Sustainable Cities: Urban Leaders Are Taking Climate Action with Transformative Food Policies appeared first on Food Tank.

This winter, Food Tank is highlighting 20 book to help you broaden your understanding of food and agriculture systems. In Barons, Austin Frerick focuses on the careers of seven corporate titans who altered the U.S. food system. Generation Dread offers a new perspective for readers grappling with climate anxiety. And What if CAFOs Were History? offers a vision of an agriculture system that is regenerative and free of factory farming systems. Whether you’re diving into the world of food systems for the first time or looking to stay up to date on the latest research, this list has a book for every reader.

Here are 20 books to add to your 2024 winter reading list.

1. A Bold Return to Giving A Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food by Will Harris

When author Will Harris inherited his family’s farm, he also took on the conventional practices that came with it. But Harris found himself desiring an alternative way of producing food that works with nature, not against it. His book tells the story of this journey as he bets the farm and embraces a regenerative approach to agriculture. Described as memoir-meets-manifesto, A Bold Return to Giving a Damn urges readers to reconnect with the farmers who grow their food and the land they steward.

2. Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry by Austin Frerick

Barons follows the story of seven different corporate titans in their rise to power while exposing the deregulation of the food industry that enabled their financial success. Austin Frerick uses these examples to show how the concentration of power has harmed local communities in the United States. He also offers a different path that can lead to healthy and equitable food systems.

3. Food, Inc. 2: Inside the Quest for a Better Future for Food edited by Karl Weber

This collection of essays is the companion book to the new film Food, Inc. 2, the sequel to the 2008 award winning Food, Inc. Contributions explore the development in food systems since the first film’s release and the steps eaters can take to change food and agriculture for the better. Authors include author Michael Pollan, Senator Cory Booker, One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman, and Food Tank.

4. Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks by Daniel N. Warshawsky

Daniel N. Warshawsky draws on 15 years of research conducted across four continents to unpack the proliferation of food banks around the world. In Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks, he suggests that the food banking offers a limited solution and a reformulation of their model is needed. Warshawsky argues that if strategic changes are implemented, food banks can play a smaller but more targeted role in food systems.

5. Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray

Britt Wray, Director of Stanford Medicine’s Special Initiative on Climate Change and Mental Health, believes people must connect with their climate emotions to become a steward of the planet. In Generation Dread, Wray brings together scientific research, insight from therapists, and personal experience to help readers connect with others, find purpose, and thrive during these times of a changing climate.

6. Globalisation and Livelihood Transformations in the Indonesian Seaweed Industry edited By Zannie Langford

This collection explores the exponential growth of seaweed production in Indonesia. Essays touch on the rural communities that have adapted to the growing industry, the role of women in the sector, and how Indonesia fits into the global seaweed market.  Together, they highlight the interconnected social, environmental, and economic dynamics of seaweed production as well as opportunities to improve sustainable rural development.

7. Good Eats: 32 Writers on Eating Ethically edited by Jennifer Cognard-Black and Melissa A. Goldthwaite

Good Eats brings together 32 essays that cover topics from factory farming to labor practices in the chocolate industry to community gardens. The collection encourages readers to be more mindful of the food on their plates and think about the broader systems that they are a part of when they choose what to eat. Contributors include author Ross Gay; farmer, writer, and Co-Founder of Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman; and Chef Thérèse Nelson.

8. How to Start a Farm Stop: A Pattern Language for Local Food Systems by Kathryn Barr

Farm stops are year-round markets that support small-scale farmers and strengthen local and regional food systems. In this open-access e-book, Kathryn Barr looks at The Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan as a model that yields economic and cultural benefits and contributes to the resilience of producers and their communities. How to Start a Farm Stop also highlights best practices and resources to support the establishment of more Farm Stops around the country.

9. Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food by Fuchsia Dunlop

In Invitation to a Banquet, award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop dives into the rich history, philosophy, and techniques of Chinese culinary culture. Dunlop draws on decades of on-the-ground research, integrated with descriptions of the dishes she has enjoyed along the way. Chapters highlight dishes from Cha Siu Pork and Mapo Tofu to Steamed Rice and Fish Stew, celebrating the diversity of the region’s foodways.

10. My Side of the River: An Alaska Native Story by Elias Kelly

My Side of the River looks at the practice of traditional Native subsistence hunting that often goes unrecognized by government regulations. Author Elias Kelly weaves personal stories of friends, family, and community members into the narrative, as he writes of the legal attempts to assimilate Native Alaskans into white U.S. fishing and hunting culture. And throughout the book, Kelly underscores the effects of policy on traditional life and resource conservation.

11. Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future: The Case for an Ecological Food System and Against Manufactured Foods by Chris Smaje

In Saying NO to a Farm Free Future, farmer and academic Chris Smaje presents an argument in defense of small-scale farming. The book offers a response to George Monbiot of The Guardian, whose vision is for an urban and industrialized future. Smaje presents an alternative that is grounded in local communities.

12. School Food Politics in Mexico: The Corporatization of Obesity and Healthy Eating Policies by José Tenorio

José Tenorio’s book looks at how food corporations have prioritized their gains over the wellbeing of communities, and the implication this has for the preparation, sale, and consumption of school food in Mexico. Through an analysis of obesity politics, Tenorio argues that the concept of healthy lifestyles places too much blame on individuals while downplaying the structural forces shaping human health.

13. The Preserving Garden by Jo Turner

The Preserving Garden offers guidance to help eaters create a garden that will provide food year round. The book profiles 43 different plants, which are featured alongside recipes to make the most of the ingredients and beautiful color illustrations. Jo Turner also offers techniques to help preserve their bounty through drying, bottling, fermenting, and more.

14. TOXIC: From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food Is a Risky Business by Phyllis Entis

Phyllis Entis’s scrutiny of the world of pet food covers some of the most scandalous stories from the industry over the last 100 years. TOXIC sheds light on the contaminants from pentobarbital to Salmonella that have been found in canned food, kibble, and more. And the book offers advice for pet owners looking to protect their pets and nourish them safely.

15. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken

In Ultra-Processed People, Chris van Tulleken reveals the governments, scientists, and medical professionals who have altered the food supply and contributed to the rise in diet-related diseases. Tulleken argues that the solutions that move eaters away from ultra-processed foods are not rooted in individual action, but in the global systems that have made them so prevalent in many contemporary diets.

16. Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice by Daniel Jaffee

Sociologist Daniel Jaffee opens readers’ eyes to the bottled water industry, representing a US$300 billion market. Unbottled examines what the growth of the market means for social inequality and sustainability, the growing crisis of plastic waste, and the movements in North America and around the world that are working toward water justice for all communities.

17. University Engagement with Farming Communities in Africa: Community Action Research Platforms edited by Anthony Egeru, Megan Lindow, and Kay Muir Leresche

University Engagement with Farming Communities in Africa explores how African universities can strengthen partnerships with farming communities to address real world challenges. The essays draw on experiences and lessons learned from 21 projects in countries from Benin to Malawi to Zimbabwe, offering solutions that increase productivity, address the climate crisis, and contribute to the resilience of rural communities.

 18. What We Sow: On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds by Jennifer Jewell

What We Sow comes from gardener, writer, educator, and advocate Jennifer Jewell, who since 2016 has hosted the award winning radio program and podcast Cultivating Place. Her book takes readers on a journey of the seed, helping readers understand the link between seeds, history, and culture; the influence of agribusiness on the seeds the world relies on; and the advocates working to reclaim seeds stolen from their communities.

19. What if CAFOs Were History?: The Rise of Regenerative Farming by Leo Horrigan

Written by Leo Horrigan of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, What if CAFOs Were History? is an e-book that presents a vision for a transition from industrial to regenerative farming. Horrigan breaks down the harmful effects of CAFOs—concentrated animal feeding operation—on the environment, equality, and economies. And he shows how a regenerative approach to agriculture can counteract the damage they have done.

20. Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South by Diane Flynt

In the southern United States, from Virginia to Mississippi, producers have cultivated over 2,000 apple varieties. Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived tells the story of the apple and how it changed the South and the country as a whole. Author Diane Flint shows how the fruit’s history intersects with that of the Oregon Trail, slavery, and the theft of Indigenous Land, while also sharing her own journey as a farmer in the southern Appalachians.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

The post 20 Books Shaping Our View of Food Systems to Read this Winter appeared first on Food Tank.

Governor Newsom’s recently proposed 2024-25 budget spares Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) programs from clawbacks from previous years’ funding while allocating no new funding for the CSA programs in 2024. The proposed budget also includes tough cuts for other programs serving

The post Climate Smart Agriculture Program Funding Remains Despite Governor’s Other Sustainable Agriculture Budget Cuts appeared first on CalCAN.

Brussels, 11 January 2024 – At the end of 2023, two major events further called into question the proposal for new regulations on GMOs obtained using new genomic techniques (NGT):

1. The French Health and Food Safety Agency (ANSES) published an opinion stating that the criteria for defining GMOs to be excluded from all assessment, labelling and traceability, (known as NGT 1), are not based on any scientific justification and that the lack of clarity will make it impossible to verify this categorisation.
2. The Council of the EU failed to reach any consensus on the text, with the main stumbling block being the issue of patents covering all these NGTs. Faced with this impasse, the Council and the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee are proposing a ban on the patentability of these GMOs, which in practical terms is unenforceable under current patent law.

No official European agency has been asked to give an opinion on the scientific relevance of the Commission’s proposal. Only ANSES has looked into the matter, on its own initiative, and has issued an opinion that totally calls into question the scientific basis of this proposal, despite claims it is “based on science”. The Parliament and Council cannot adopt a law that goes against scientific opinion and, what’s more, unworkable in practice. They must therefore demand a clarification of this scientific controversy before resuming their work.

Furthermore, while the Member States of the European Union may wish to ban the patentability of GMOs obtained using NTGs, the ability to call into question the European Patent Convention or the rules for its application lies beyond the European Union, as this is defined by the European Patent Office, to which non-EU countries belong.

According to this Convention, NGTs are unquestionably patentable processes, and the scope of a patent relating to a process extends to all products resulting from the use of that process. The only unanimous decision and proposed solution of the European Council – to prohibit the patentability of these GMOs – is therefore quite simply inapplicable according to both European patent law and the EU’s international commitments.

This solution is a mere illusion, and in no way addresses the legitimate concerns of small-scale farmers and of small and medium-sized European seed companies about the potential spread of patented and untraced GMOs in the EU. European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) therefore calls on the European Parliament and the European Council to suspend their examination of the GMO-NTG deregulation proposal until these two key issues have been resolved.

Also Read:

Translation of the conclusions of ANSES opinion

ECVC welcomes the absence of a majority in favour of the deregulation of new GMOs in the Council of Ministers

The post Europe: “Parliament and Council must suspend consideration of the proposed new GMO deregulation”, ECVC appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

Relive the main moments, debates, and mysticism that took place during our 8th International Conference, held from December 1st to 8th in Bogota, Colombia. Take a look at our videos produced during this significant event that brought together hundreds of peasants from all over the world.

As global peasants, we renew our commitment to the struggles for Food Sovereignty, peasant rights, Integral Agrarian Reform, Peasant Agroecology, NO violence against women and diversity, climate justice, Peace, and social justice for our peoples. Let’s globalize the struggle; let’s globalize hope!

Closing Ceremony | 8th International Conference

Press Conference : Harvesting ideas: Unveiling the results and visions for the future of LVC.

Struggles for Food Sovereignty in the Global Hunger Context

Tribute to Lee Kyun-hae and struggles against Free Trade Agreements

Anti-patriarchal struggles: 6th Women’s Assembly – 1st Meeting of Diversities – Men’s Meeting against Patriarchy

Discussions of the 5th International Youth Assembly

Message from the peasant children during the 8th International Conference

La Via Campesina’s Inaugural Press Conference

The post The 8th International Conference in videos: watch our audiovisual memory appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

This can be a tough time of year—but it’s one I always look forward to. Yes, it’s chilly where I live. I can’t look out the window and see a vibrant garden.

But it’s also a time of optimism, where we look to the year ahead and think about what we want to do, who we want to be, and what we want to achieve. In short, it’s a time of year where we’re sustained by the hope of a better future!

That’s why I always look forward to January, because we head to Utah during the Sundance Film Festival to showcase powerful storytelling, through film, of the people who are making meaningful food system progress.

Sharing stories has been core to Food Tank’s mission since the beginning. And I’ve always appreciated film as one of the most accessible—and visually striking—ways to connect people on the ground of food system change with viewers and advocates at home.

It’s one thing to tell someone about the unexpected partnerships and bold, resilient strategies that people around the globe are using to protect the planet. But it’s infinitely more powerful to show them Wild Hope, a new series of short films that takes viewers directly to the sites of local action, from New York City to Mozambique.

By discussing the hunger crisis on college campuses, we can raise awareness. But by gathering together to watch Abundance, we can be inspired by a real-world example of college students dropping everything to feed local families—and we can learn how we can emulate that direct action in our own communities.

I can talk all day about the power of regenerative agriculture. And trust me, I often do! But in the film Common Ground, celebrities including Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mamoa, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, and Donald Glover all use their platforms to elevate the importance of soil health and the forward-thinking farmers fighting to preserve it.

And all of these films—plus the documentary project Susan Feniger. FORKED, which follows a chef as she strives to open her first solo restaurant, and Feeding Tomorrow, by celebrity chefs and filmmakers Simon English and Oliver English—will be screened at our Food Systems and the Environment Summit, which we’re presenting during Sundance alongside 360 Communications.

“You have to find a way to balance information and stories that move people,” says Melissa Robledo, one of the filmmakers of “Food Inc., 2.” “It’s a constant back-and-forth.”

Here are some other films you should add to your ‘to watch’ list:

Organic Rising, the first feature-length film that aims to demystify how organic agriculture actually works.

The Smell of Money, a film that follows the fight for justice among those living near factory hog farms in eastern North Carolina.

Food Inc., 2, the sequel to the award-winning 2008 documentary, which takes a fresh look at how our food system has become more corporatized and vulnerable in recent years.

 The Grab, a work of film-length investigative reporting that uncovers the forces trying to seize control of vital resources like land and water.

Holy Shit Film, an examination of the very real problems—and possibilities—that come with treating wastewater, feces, and the contents of our sewers

Making Waves, a short film from Driscoll’s about how farmers in California are adapting to the climate crisis and recharging aquifers.

Farming While Black, a film about young Black farmers based on the important book of the same name, by farmer and activist Leah Penniman.

What I love about these film projects is that they’re more than movies—they can turn into movements. The Common Ground film, for example, has launched a campaign to regenerate 100 million acres of land in the United States, and “Abundance” offers fellowships and fundraising campaign support for future changemakers.

“People take action when they see there can be results and impact,” says Geoff Luck, Executive Producer and Director of Impact for the Wild Hope Initiative. “We know the way to change behavior most effectively is through narrative storytelling.”

“So let’s tell some stories about the kinds of ways we can make change, and get them out to a broad and wide audience,” he told me at SXSW last year.

Our film screening programming during Sundance in Utah, taking place Saturday, January 20th, is sold out. Although, as always, Food Tank members get in free, even to sold-out events. Here’s the link, and email Kenzie@FoodTank.com for a member code.

But that’s another amazing reason to celebrate film: You can be part of the conversation wherever in the world you are!

Once you have had a chance to view these films, let’s talk about them! Share your thoughts on social media using #FoodTank, and email me at danielle@foodtank.com. I look forward to being able to share stories with one another!

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of San Knight, Unsplash

The post Using Storytelling in Film to Showcase Food Heroes appeared first on Food Tank.

The nonprofit One Fair Wage is working to move legislation and ballot measures to raise wages and end subminimum wages in 25 states by 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States.

For more than three decades, the federal minimum wage has remained stagnant at US$2.13 per hour for tipped workers. But One Fair Wage, representing nearly 300,000 restaurant and service workers, 2,500 restaurant owners, and dozens of organizations, is working to change this. 

Recently, the organization has seen “a historic moment of worker power,” One Fair Wage’s President Saru Jayaraman tells Food Tank. 

One Fair Wage’s 25 by 250 Campaign kicked off in Washington D.C., where “we won a huge increase for tipped workers from US$5.00 to US$16.10 for a huge number of tipped workers in our nation’s capital,” Jayaraman says.

And in Chicago, Illinois the organization recently celebrated another victory when the city council voted to end subminimum wages, which will be phased out over the next five years.

“We’re finally winning,” Jayaraman tells Food Tank. 

The win in Chicago was particularly notable for Jayaraman, due in part to the presence of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA) at the negotiating table. Businesses, she says, are taking action before policies change, recognizing the need to offer workers a livable wage. And in Chicago, the IRA found that roughly a third of their members were already offering employees better pay. 

One Fair Wage is now looking ahead to future wins. Wage increases are on the ballot in Michigan, Ohio, and Arizona, Jayaraman says. “And what’s so exciting is that all of this policy victory is really the result of workers saying: Enough is enough, we won’t do it anymore. Employers have to raise wages to recruit staff.”

And Jayaraman believes there is no realistic alternative. At the same time that workers are advocating for fair pay, the National Restaurant Association is advocating for legislation that will weaken child labor laws—changes that would allow children as young as 13 to serve alcohol in bars. 

“Either we work with our independent restaurants and support them to figure out how to raise the wage so adults can work sustainably in these jobs, or we have children working in bars. Is this real?” Jayaraman asks. “There’s really only one future for this industry, and it has to be providing life-sustaining wages.”

Listen to the full conversation with Saru Jayaraman on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about One Fair Wage’s 25 by 250 Campaign, how the COVID-19 pandemic helped fuel the movement for workers’ rights in the service industry, and how eaters everywhere can support the organization’s fight for fair wages.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Natasha T

The post ‘We’re Finally Winning:’ One Fair Wage’s Fight to End Subminimum Wages Is Gaining Momentum appeared first on Food Tank.

Peasants around the globe find themselves at the forefront of the intensifying climate crisis, grappling with scorching droughts, heatwaves, torrential downpours, typhoons, and hailstorms. The adverse impacts of climate change is escalating rapidly, posing a direct threat to agriculture and food production worldwide. The 8th International Conference of La Via Campesina, held in Bogotá, Colombia, in December, provided a space for its members – small-holder farmers from more than 80 countries – to highlight the ongoing crises in their territories.

Chilean beekeepers, who spoke during the meeting, explained how they were among those who bore the brunt of this crisis. Extreme droughts had ignited forest fires, wreaking havoc on their livelihoods. In Turkey, according to peasant accounts, agricultural production plummeted by 50-60% in 2023 due to climate change effects, and the government’s responses, such as investing in solar panels on farmland and promoting electric vehicles, faced criticism for their inadequacy and unintended consequences – as they often came up on greenfield and fertile lands. In Sri Lanka, floods and droughts regularly disrupt farming, exacerbated by the government’s sale of natural resources to multinational corporations, leading to deforestation and hindering tea cultivation. Cambodian peasants explained how they grapple with the fallout of repeated typhoons, floods, and severe droughts, causing a 30% decline in agricultural production and forcing rural youth to migrate, jeopardizing food security.

Senegalese peasants also shared about their challenges. Fisherfolk and farmers are losing jobs due to flooding, prompting calls for international prosecution of transnational corporations responsible for climate impacts. Guatemalan peasants recounted how they are combating water resource depletion and forest loss, promoting agroecological farming to respond to climate change. Paraguayan peasants, facing deforestation and fires, are also advocating for agroecology as a solution. Those who came from Niger shared their experiences of severe food crises due to temperature increases, drought, and flooding, emphasizing the need to reduce carbon emissions and produce locally accessible agricultural products.

In Palestine, the combination of war and occupation accelerated climate change, diminishing agricultural production and food sovereignty. Palestinian peasants confront the accelerated impact of climate change under Israeli occupation, with olive trees being cut down, water resources seized, and high water prices imposed.

The Korean peasants who spoke at the Conference urged global unity against capitalist forces and multinational corporations to address the social and environmental aspects of the climate crisis. They also reflected on the global impact of the climate crisis, highlighting unpredictable losses for farmers and advocating against agrochemicals. This found echo among the French peasants who also called for international solidarity, prioritizing agroecology, and exposing false solutions and colonialist land grabs. Brazilian peasants who spoke at the event decried transnational corporations exploiting land and people, emphasizing the importance of concrete proposals and alternative solutions.

Congolese peasants asserted that the fight against climate change was a collective struggle, emphasizing biodiversity conservation and ecological agriculture for healthy food and planet protection. Honduran peasants stressed the importance of supporting agroecology schools and international aid to combat climate change. Peasants in the Dominican Republic emphasized the need to mobilize against neoliberal policies, capitalism, and imperialism in both rural and urban areas, advocating for large-scale campaigns to shift to ecological agriculture and achieve food sovereignty.

These testimonies of peasants worldwide revealed a shared struggle against the escalating climate crisis. From South America to Asia and Africa, the call for sustainable alternatives, such as agroecology, and the denouncement of inadequate responses and corporate exploitation echoed a united plea for global action to safeguard the future of agriculture and food production.

This is an edited version of a reporter’s note prepared by Jang Su-ji, who attended the 8th International Conference and covered it for IKP News in South Korea.

The post Peasants at the frontline of the climate struggle share testimonies appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

The newly-formed International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) issued a sign-on letter* on January 3, 2024 that garnered over 800 organizational endorsements from around the world in less than one week. In addition to the initiating organizations noted here, signing organizations represent broad social movements, including World March of Women and the International People’s Assembly, Palestinian-led and Palestinian solidarity movements such as Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and the Palestinian NGO Network, as well as human rights and legal groups, unions, and religious organizations of all faiths. La Via Campesina is also among the signatories.

“It is important for La Via Campesina to support the South African initiative. What is happening in Palestine is an atrocity. In particular, the use of starvation as a weapon of war is part of a strategy of genocide that we need to denounce. The expulsion of farmers and land grabs in Gaza as well as the West Bank, is also part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing,” said Morgan Ody of the Confédération Paysanne (France) and General Coordinator of La Vía Campesina International. “La Via Campesina calls upon the governments of the world, and in particular progressive governments and those in the Global South, to do everything in their power to stop Israel’s apartheid and colonization. Those governments have the responsibility to coordinate their efforts in order to ensure a future for Palestine and for all Palestinian people, and to make sure that those responsible for Israel’s crimes against humanity are held accountable.”

The coalition letter urges all signing organizations to press their “governments to immediately file a Declaration of Intervention in support of the South African case against Israel at the International Court of Justice to stop the killing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” So far, Malaysia and Turkiye, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 member countries on four continents, have publicly supported South Africa’s case. Jordan reports that it intends to take the more legally substantive step of submitting a Declaration of Intervention. Members of ICGSP are working closely with a number of other countries that are in the process of doing the same.

“The South African filing before the ICJ marks a critical juncture which tests the global will to salvage the laws and systems which were designed to safeguard not merely human rights; but to preserve humanity itself,” emphasizes Lamis Deek, co-founder of The Global Legal Alliance for Palestine and the PAL Commission on War Crimes. “Genocide is the highest crime and none has been so publicly documented as the Israeli Genocide in Palestine. The sincerity of states’ commitment to the principles of the Geneva and Genocide Conventions is now under heavy scrutiny. The very least states can do is to submit Declarations of Intervention as a small part of fulfilling their obligations under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, to assure their people—and humanity—that they have lost neither their moral compass nor abdicated their obligations under international law.

The sign-on letter states:

“Many countries have rightly expressed their horror at the State of Israel’s genocidal actions, war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed against Palestinians. Israeli Occupying Forces have bombed hospitals, residences, United Nations refugee centers, schools, places of worship and escape routes, killing and injuring tens of thousands of Palestinians since October 7, 2023. More than half of the dead are women and children. Israeli leaders have made brazenly genocidal statements openly declaring their intention to permanently and completely displace Palestinians from their own land.”

Despite the clear evidence of genocidal actions being committed daily by Israeli Occupying Forces, the State of Israel is actively soliciting nations to deny its atrocities and denounce South Africa’s case. At this moment, the United States, a major backer of the Israeli State that has vetoed three resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the United Nations Security Council, stands alone in denying that Israel is committing genocide.

Edith Ballantyne, former Secretary General and International President of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, warns, “I write from my personal experience over ten decades, spanning two world wars and living through fascism, with the absolute conviction that the basis of the conflict must be solved in a legal, political and non-violent way as the only means to achieve permanent peace desperately needed by the world’s peoples and for the survival of our planet.” She adds, “Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom was involved in the Middle East conflict since the 1920s when it recognized that what was happening in Palestine was destined to be catastrophic. The genocidal war the government of Israel is waging in the Occupied Palestinian Territories against the Palestinian People must be stopped. I urge all to challenge their governments to live up to the principles of the UN Charter and international law, including human rights and humanitarian law.”The International Court of Justice, also called the World Court, will hear South Africa’s case against the Israeli State on January 11 and 12, 2024. The ICSGP is calling on endorsing organizations to join actions of support at The Hague during the hearing and to hold local rallies and vigils, including expressions of gratitude and solidarity at South African embassies, this week.

Details about the hearing and where to watch it are here. The full text of the letter and an updated list of signers can be found here.

The post 800+ Organizations Globally Sign On To Letter Supporting South Africa’s Genocide Case Against the State of Israel appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

Eric Boor took over his great-grandfather’s nine-acre farm in southern Iowa four years ago. He and his wife Mikala transformed the property and now raise pigs with their two young children. And they do it differently than their neighbors by raising pigs in a more environmentally sustainable and humane way. When they first started, many in their family and community doubted that they could successfully farm this way.

“My dad told me I couldn’t raise pigs without antibiotics because he wasn’t able to in confinement settings,” says Eric. “And then my grandpa told me I couldn’t raise them without farrowing crates. I’m doing both of those things now.”

On conventional farms, pregnant sows (female pigs that have given birth to a litter of piglets) are often placed in metal farrowing crates before giving birth. There isn’t enough room in these crates for sows to turn around or perform their natural behaviors. Several states in the United States have banned using these crates because of animal welfare concerns. As a more humane alternative, many farmers use huts and houses to shelter the sows.

“When I was looking into making my farrowing house, I told a contractor my idea and he said, ‘You sound a little crazy,’” says Eric.

The Boors are currently the only farmers in their county raising hogs outdoors, according to Eric. While this was common practice in the 1970s and 80s, the hog market consolidation and high land prices mean it’s no longer financially feasible for independent farmers to raise hogs and sell on the open market, and it’s extremely rare to see hogs outside of a confinement environment, the Boors say. Many family farmers have had to leave the hog industry or find other jobs.

Eric and Mikala both knew that they could raise hogs outdoors, but it wasn’t until they started partnering with Niman Ranch that they could make it work financially and begin to grow their business.

“I couldn’t be where I’m at today without Niman,” says Eric.

Niman Ranch is a network of more than 600 small and mid-size farmers and ranchers across the U.S. that uphold high standards of sustainable and humane farming practices in exchange for a guaranteed market for their product, in addition to a strong support system. As the Boors faced various obstacles starting their own farm, fellow Niman Ranch farmers and Niman Ranch’s field agent team helped to get answers or connect them with others who could.

“Niman Ranch offers a lot of resources that you wouldn’t think of,” says Mikala. “No matter what kind of question you have or issue you have, there’s always somebody there to help.”

For example, the Boors received grant funding in 2023 through the company’s philanthropic arm, the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation. The grant matches farmer investments in breeding stock, or gilts (female pigs that have not given birth to a litter of piglets), to expand their hog herd and provides business planning support, regular education sessions, and farmer mentorship.

Today, the Boors’ farm “looks completely different,” according to Mikala. Eric spent months refurbishing his grandfather’s various farm buildings—and putting up new ones—to house hogs and make the most of nine acres.

“I have people that come tell me all the time, some older people that raised hogs back in the 1970s the way I do, how they sure like to see them and hear them outside again,” says Eric. And according to Mikala, neighbors love to drive by and see a young family raising hogs outdoors again—a rare sight in their part of Iowa.

Eric loves working with pigs and grew up raising them outdoors with his father. While he worked in a confinement setting for a few years after high school, he always knew that for his own farm, he didn’t want to raise pigs in confinement.

“It’s completely different raising pigs outside. I see a whole different animal, in the way they act,” says Eric. “When you lock them up in hog confinement, they get aggressive. I don’t have that on our farm, I can go get into any lot with them.”

“And the meat definitely tastes better…it tastes completely different,” Mikala adds.

For Eric and Mikala, it’s important to preserve the land for the next generation. They enjoy that their children can safely run around the farm, interact with the pigs that are raised on pasture, and even help with their parents’ work.

“Our son says all the time that he wants to farm with his dad when he gets bigger,” says Mikala.

It gives Mikala hope that “we’re able to get somewhere with farming because of Niman Ranch.” As eaters become more interested in how their meat is sourced, she expects more farmers to get involved with companies like Niman Ranch and be able to nourish their families with small, sustainable farms.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of the Boors

The post Young Farmers Bring Small-scale, Humane Hog Farming Back to Iowa appeared first on Food Tank.

I hope your new year is off to a good start!

I’m thinking about what changes this new year will bring: Will we take meaningful national and global policy action on food systems? Will we bring our eating patterns into alignment with what’s healthy for the planet?

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the transformations I’d like to see in the world—and reading some very smart people’s predictions for the food system in 2024.

Climate and sustainability are top-of-mind, of course, as are food prices, which could start to go back down after years of inflation. Technology and food, especially artificial intelligence, is a big topic, too: Companies like Winnow are using it to help cut food waste, and other analysts are talking about ways it can be integrated into farm tech and even meal planning.

Personally, I want to do more than try to predict the future—I think we can make a better future come true. So as the world continues to change over the next year, here are five concrete steps that’ll put us on the right side of history and help build meaningful change right now.

1. Eat planet-healthy foods, because they’re good for our own bodies, too.

One of the most common questions people ask me is what foods they should eat—or should avoid!—if they care about food and agriculture systems, farmers, food workers, and the planet. The answer is almost deceptively simple: The foods that are healthy for the planet are healthy for people, and vice versa.

Millets are a great example of a nutritious, resilient grain. Buckwheat, too, is an easy cover crop that’s also high in protein and fiber. “It’s gonna be buckwheat’s year,” Cathy Strange, the Whole Foods Market Ambassador of Food Culture, told the New York Times. Or, just go to your local farmers market, so you can find fresh ingredients that haven’t been too processed.

The Food is Medicine movement will be crucial to helping us achieve better diets in an equitable way. From the White House to local clinics, we’re seeing significant growth in strategies and programs that empower medical providers to incorporate the power of food into health care, which has the potential to address barriers toward accessing foods that are healthy for people and planet.

2. Make carbon “the new calories.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from experts’ predictions: “In 2024, carbon will be the new calories,” Julia Collins, Founder and CEO of Planet FWD, told Forbes.

So, let’s count carbon. Let’s be aware of the environmental impacts of the food we eat—and let’s put pressure on food corporations to use true-cost accounting to be transparent about their practices. Some chefs are even talking about “climate-change cuisine,” which could involve climate labels on menus or more frequently rotating out dishes.

3. Recognize that water gives us life.

Many communities around the world are already facing water shortages, and the current climate trajectory is set to make that problem even more serious. In 2024, let’s continue to make water a top priority.

That means buying crops from regenerative and organic farms, because healthier soils use water more efficiently. It also means eating more sustainable blue foods—fish, seafood, ocean plants, and more—which are particularly healthful and have a significant potential to help feed a growing world population.

I want to remind you of the words of Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe: “This society, this modernization, has decided that it’s OK to dump everything and anything into waterways. Whereas the old way was that this water is precious, this water is life. You take care of this water. You don’t go throwing things in there. You pray to this water.”

4. Stand up for food system workers’ rights and embodied knowledge.

Movements to organize food system workers have made significant progress over the past few years, from Starbucks employees fighting for a union to groups like the Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s efforts to ensure that farm workers are treated justly and paid fairly.

These forms of community mobilization around the globe are all rooted in food sovereignty, through which local communities have direct control over the production of their own culturally relevant foods. As Ousmane Ndiaye of the African farmers’ organization ASPRODEB told me when I visited Senegal last year, “farmers are knowledge producers too.”

We can support unionized food businesses, not cross picket lines, and honor traditional and Indigenous knowledge systems. We can also use art to show solidarity and share stories: If you’re in the Boston area in February, I hope you’ll join us for a reading of Food Tank’s play, “Little Peasants: A Behind the Scenes Look at Union Organizing in the Food Sector.” You can get tickets HERE, and Food Tank members can join us free by emailing Kenzie@FoodTank.com.

5. Take care of one another.

Going into 2024, we’re faced with devastating challenges, from the climate crisis to year four of Covid-19 to global hunger. Food insecurity, undernourishment, and hunger are getting worse, which is appalling, and climate-based resource shortages could make the situation even more tragic.

But in the face of difficulty, we can all make a difference by creating what the economist and food systems expert Raj Patel calls an economy of care. This means taking steps to build a society that incentivizes and facilitates community support, rather than exploitation. Our work can take many forms—and Food Tank’s list of 124 impactful organizations in 2024 is a good place to start!

Building an economy of care is more than just a kind way to exist in the world—it can actually help make us healthier.

This year, let’s uplift our local communities and build deeply rooted, resilient food systems. This year, let’s make our predictions for a better world come true!

On last week’s episode of the Food Talk podcast, I shared more of our own predictions for what’s to come in 2024, and several special guests joined me to discuss the opportunities they hope to see during the year. I hope you’ll listen to the show here.

What do you think is in store for food systems in 2024? What changemakers in your community are already stepping up to make change? Email me at danielle@foodtank.com to share your thoughts and stories. I look forward to hearing from you!

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Kasturi Laxmi

The post How To Make Your 2024 Food Predictions Come True appeared first on Food Tank.

Careit: Transforming Food Donation  Careit, a food donation and rescue software, is working to empower nonprofits and communities across the United States by providing equal access to surplus food and resources. Through a free matching marketplace, Careit connects businesses and institutions with excess food to local nonprofit organizations addressing food insecurity.

“We have seen an uptick in food insecurity in the past year, so now we’re opening up to new types of food to come into this starving food system,” Alyson Schill, Co-Founder and CEO of Careit, tells Food Tank. “That’s happening across the U.S. right now and it’s enabling more nonprofit organizations to source relationships between donors that they previously didn’t even know about.”

Careit operates through a mobile app, where businesses can create profiles and share details about surplus food they have. Nonprofit organizations with a Careit account then receive timely notifications when a donation in their area is posted or assigned to them. Upon notification, the organization has the option to either accept or decline that donation. If it is rejected, the donation becomes available again for other potential partners. Once a match is made, both parties can use the app’s chat features to confirm the donation, record details including the weight and temperature of the food and coordinate the logistics for pickup.

“Our focus is to create an ease of use with the technological features that Careit can offer businesses that previously haven’t had the ability to donate as frequently or ever before and allow them to actually start a food donation program or expand a food donation program they previously had,” Schill tells Food Tank.

Schill says Careit is also helping grocery stores increase the amount of food they can deliver to the community through donations. Grocery stores typically have a relationship with a food bank that is connected to a variety of smaller, local organizations.

Schill says these smaller organizations are usually only able to pick up food from the store once or twice a week, and occasionally miss the pickups altogether. Careit has been able to fill in some of these gaps of missed pickups by building food donation relationships between larger grocery stores and smaller organizations. “We have been helping Sprouts Farmers Market to make sure that they have the right partners in each area so that food is distributed equitably,” she says.

Careit is also helping all of Sprouts Farmers Market locations to become compliant with SB1383, a California law requiring organic waste facilities and operations to measure and report organic waste material activity.

And the platform is broadening its focus beyond food to include household goods, including kitchen equipment, hand sanitizer, and other products. They are also exploring animal feed and have already helped farms in multiple states receive donations that they can use to care for their livestock. According to Schill, Careit’s approach toward animal feed donation is particularly notable due to longstanding issues of traceability within the industry.

“Careit is helping these smaller farms that are at the cutting edge of this old practice, that’s also new in terms of modern society’s way of viewing it, to make it visible and the norm,” Schill tells Food Tank.

Schill envisions Careit evolving into a vital resource for redistribution among nonprofit organizations, with the potential to contribute to effective emergency rescue relief as well. Careit is also initiating two partnerships in Portland, Oregon and Memphis, Tennessee aimed at establishing food donation programs and measuring their successes for future scalability.

“We’re doing some really big projects where we are helping groups of stadiums, event centers, or public places like zoos and colleges to collaborate to increase the amount of food they’re donating, to increase their composting, and then just in general, to have more sustainable practices around food systems,” Schill tells Food Tank.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Alyson Schill

The post Careit: Turning Food Surplus into Community Solutions appeared first on Food Tank.