The following article, written by Peter Rosset, is an excellent analysis on some of the causes and potential solutions of the current food crisis. Dr. Rosset is a food rights activist, agroecologist and rural development specialist. Currently working in San Cristobál, Mexico, he is the former co-director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy in Oakland, California.
The original article, translated by Peter Rosset, was originally published in Spanish in La Jornada:
May 9, 2008
The Time has Come for La Via Campesina and Food Sovereignty
Peter Rosset
Around the world it seems more and more that the time has come for La Via Campesina. The global alliance of peasant and family farm organizations has spent the past decade perfecting an alternative proposal for how to structure a country’s food system, called Food Sovereignty. It was clear at the World Forum on Food Sovereignty held last year in Mali, that this proposal has been gaining ground with other social movements, including those of indigenous peoples, women, consumers, environmentalists, some trade unions, and others. Though when it comes to governments and international agencies, it had until recently been met with mostly deaf ears. But now things have changed. The global crisis of rising food prices, which has already led to food riots in diverse parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas, is making everybody sit up and take note of this issue.
But, what are the causes of the extreme food price hikes? (more…)
Small Farmers. Big Change. 