One of the most prominent voices fighting corporate control of food and water, Food and Water Watch, recently teamed up with international development and human rights organization Grassroots International to issue an important paper, “Towards a Green Food System” (PDF), about how the food sovereignty movement (the right of peoples to define their own food, agriculture, livestock, and fisheries systems independent of market forces) emerging from Asia to Africa is good for both people and planet. It discusses the building of a food system that protects rather than degrades the environment, and explores this rather important link well.
At the core, they say that there are common techniques that both food sovereignty advocates and U.S. environmentalists employ: managing natural resources sustainably, promoting environmentally friendly technology, and building the eco-economy. They make the point that food sovereignty might not only benefit small producers all over the world, but also give us what the “free trade” agenda has failed to deliver … not unlike having your cake and eating it, too.
