Food Sovereignty and Agroecology: Growing Movements for Constructive Resistance

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up.” — Dr. Martin Luther King

As we witness the global assault on our food systems by corporate profiteers, it is easy to be overwhelmed. But at Food First, we believe Dr. King’s bold words still ring as clear today as they did 40 years ago. What “profit-centered” agrifoods corporations are busy tearing down—rural livelihoods, healthy diets, forests, soils, and water sources—“people-centered” movements for Agroecology and food sovereignty are building up.

The 2007 Farm and Food Bill is mired in the no-man's land between the recently passed House version ("Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007) and the yet to be agreed upon Senate version, which lawmakers say may take well into October. Then the two versions must be reconciled in House—Senate conference before going to the president to be signed into law—perhaps as late as next year. Every step of the way, Republicans and Democrats, urban and rural lawmakers will fight over what is to be done and who will pay for it.

Immigration, the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill, and the Transformation of our Food and Fuel Systems

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The current immigration legislation attempts to balance the fears of a post-9/11 electorate with the management of the largest single migration in the modern history of the Americas. At this writing, this bill focuses on symptoms rather than causes and faces strong opposition from all sides.

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Food Sovereignty Tops Food First's Agenda

This year Food First dug in its heels for Food Sovereignty defined as people's right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through equitable, ecologically sound and sustainable methods. Food sovereignty is our right to determine our own food systems. It puts people - not international markets or corporate megaprofits - at the heart of food and development policies.

Good Reporting?
The Economist Attacks Ethical Consumption

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A Dec. 7th article in The Economist entitled "Good food?" attacks organic food, fair trade and buying local with the sub-title, "If you think you can make the planet better by clever shopping, think again. You might make it worse." The arguments presented are provocative, but largely gratuitous.

30 Years of Fighting for the Right of All to Feed Themselves and Their Families

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This year marks the thirtieth anniversary for the Institute for Food and Development Policy, founded by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins “to engage in research, studies, seminars, and the preparation and dissemination of publications and other educational activities in the field of agricultural policy, food distribution, world development, and foreign and domestic policy issues relating thereto.”

As the Bush administration works to garner congressional support for the Dominican Republic–Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), grassroots groups throughout the Americas continue to rally in opposition.

This has been an historic year. Grassroots groups around the world are continuing their organizing to pressure for changes to bring about greater equity, and we at Food First are proud to partner with some of these movements.

News of food shortages and hunger in Indonesia, reported to be caused by drought, alarmed the world in 1998 and 1999. According to the Minister of Food Affairs and Horticulture, Indonesia was the world's biggest recipient of food aid in 1998. But in recent months news has filtered out that many agricultural communities are prospering in the midst of the crisis.