People Putting Food First #101

1. Upholding organic standards in the U.S.
2. Gunmen attack MST encampment at Syngenta GMO farm
3. VENEZUELA: 7,000 people struggle for food sovereignty
4. Sow What? series featured on GRIST blog

1. Upholding organic standards in the U.S.

Class action lawsuits have been filed in 27 states and in U.S. federal courts in St. Louis, MO and Denver, CO against Aurora Dairy Corporation, one of the largest organic dairy operations in the U.S. In April 2007 the USDA gave Aurora a slap on the wrist for multiple and “willful” violations of federal organic law uncovered by federal investigators including not providing mandatory pasture access and bringing non-organic cows onto their massive feedlots.

Commenting on the suits being brought by Organic Consumers Association, Cornucopia Institute and the Center for Food Safety, Ronnie Cummins, the National Director of OCA said, “If the USDA refuses to properly enforce organic standards, then organic consumers have no choice but to act as their own enforcement body, using the courts to punish those corporations, like Aurora, that put profits ahead of organic integrity.”

More information at:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob120.cfm
http://cornucopia.org/index.php/lawsuits-announced-against-nations-bigge...

2. Gunmen attack MST encampment at Syngenta GMO farm

On Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 1:30pm, 40 armed gunmen stormed a Via Campesina encampment at an illegal Syngenta experimental GMO farm in Santa Tereza de Oeste, in the southern state of Paraná, Brazil. The gunman pulled up at the front gate in a micro bus and opened fire on workers at the camp, executing leader/activist Valmir Mota de Oliveira of the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and Via Campesina with two close-range shots to the chest. MST workers Gentil Couto Viera, Jonas Gomes de Queiroz, Domingos Barretos, Izabel Nascimento de Souza and Hudson Cardin were also seriously injured.
Via Campesina’s initial occupation of the experimental farm in March 2006 brought worldwide attention to Syngenta’s illegal production of GMO seeds at this location. In July 2007, Via Campesina families left the area and relocated to another temporary site. On the morning of October 21st, roughly 150 Via Campesina workers reoccupied the Syngenta site. Shortly thereafter, a confrontation with Syngenta’s hired security guards took place. Workers disarmed the guards and forced them to leave the area. Via Campesina believes that the militia of 40 gunmen was called in to kill the leaders and retrieve the guns of the hired security company. The Swiss multinational Syngenta has been using these hired security guards and the militia to protect their illegal experimental GMO soy and corn seed cultivation facility. According to Via Campesina, “The peasants continue with their struggle to transform Syngenta’s illegal GMO testing area into an Agroecology Center for the reproduction of native seeds for family farmers and for agrarian reform.”
In response to this assignation, Via Campesina has demanded the prosecution of those responsible and that the armed militias and hired security company be disarmed and disbanded. It also calls for the protection of other Via Campesina leaders and workers in the region. Via Campesina will continue their occupation and pressure the government to shut down the illegal farm and its GMO experiments that harm workers’ health, traditional seed production, and their autonomous food system.

More information at:
http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=valmirmotadeoliveiraakakeno42
For additional background,look back at We Are Fighting Back issue #80 in this section of the website. http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1566

3. VENEZUELA: 7,000 people struggle for food sovereignty

Thirty three articles of the Venezuelan National Constitution are being publicly discussed by the Venezuelan people, who want the law of the land to respond to their needs and aspirations. Seven of these articles are related to agriculture. That’s why seven thousand Venezuelan farmers, students, activists and consumers have gathered in Caracas demanding the modification of article 305.

Their proposal for the article states: “The State will promote agroecology as the science on whose principles sustainable tropical agriculture should be based. Agroecology provides the strategic base or integrated rural development, guaranteeing the food sovereignty of the population. This goal will be reached developing and privileging national production of agricultural products, cattle, fishing and aquaculture. Food production is of national interest and fundamental for the economic and social development of the nation. To attain this objective, the State will dictate the measures of financial and commercial order, interchange of knowledge, land access, infrastructure, training of professionals and peasants and other aspects necessary to reach strategic levels of self-sufficiency. In addition, the government will provide the framework to promote actions for a national and international “solidarity” economy that will foster a more sustainable agriculture both within the country and in other regions.”

In a recent presentation at the University of California in Berkeley, Miguel Angel Nuñez, the international coordinator for IPIAT (Instituto para la Produccion e Investigacion de la Agricultura Tropical) and an advisor to the presidential office of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, explained that even though the actual Constitution provides for “food security,” it is not enough for the Venezuelan public. “We don’t just need to guarantee enough food for the population,” said Nuñez, “We need to democratize the whole system of food production, including commercialization, distribution, and consumption. The struggle for food sovereignty and agroecology is very important because it represents the best alternative to permit the population to be free, self sufficient, and the owner of their food system.”

To learn more, read Nuñez’ article “How Far is the Venezuelan Revolution Advancing” at www.inmotionmagazine.com

4. Sow What? series featured on GRIST blog

http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/10/09/intro/?source=food

Take a seat at the Grist table as we venture to the U.S. Farm Belt to talk with farmers, economists, and chefs; check in with leading writers like Michael Pollan and Elizabeth Royte; and give you a chance to ask for advice from the folks at Sustainable Table, a national group that connects shoppers with local suppliers. We'll also take a close look at confined-animal feeding operations and at a sustainable-food revolution in Iowa, share some tasty recipes, and even give you a chance to quiz yourself on your edible IQ.

For sustainable food sources, go to the Eat Well Guide at http://www.eatwellguide.org/
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This edition of People Putting Food First! e-newsletter was written by Food First staff members Eric Holt-Gimenez and Marilyn Borchardt, and Food First interns Zach Zimbalist and Rachel Fields . If you have stories, questions or feedback, please contact: info at foodfirst.org. To subscribe to this People Putting Food First e-newsletter go to www.foodfirst.org