Food Security v. Food Sovereignty

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Farmageddon - Movie Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.


Alex Beam's article in the Boston Globe has some shortcomings.  Food Sovereignty is a movement that necessarily goes beyond food security.

Food security is near-sighted and, in my opinion, has been used by industrial agriculture, like Monsanto, as a propaganda tool.  It is based on the idea that food needs to be produced BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY to support the exponential growth of the human population.  "Any means necessary" means that Big Ag can pump cows, chickens, pigs, you name it, full of growth hormone.  The animals produce more or grow plump in a completely morphed and unnatural time frame so that people can eat meat 2-3 times per day (instead of a recommended 1-2 times per week).  It means animals can be cramped into awful, inhumane, disgusting and unhealthy living conditions in which chicken's feet may grow around the cage or cows have to take antibiotics to offset the current disease-infested conditions they're exposed to.  It means genetically modified seeds and products account for 60-70% of processed foods found on grocery store shelves.

When capitalism takes hold of our food system it makes plans for a "terminator gene" or Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURT) that congenitally sterilizes second generation seeds.  This means that farmers cannot save seeds to grow food the next season.  They are locked in to buying new seeds from Monsanto every year.  A little counter-intuitive when discussing food security, don't you think?

Then there are systemic pesticides that are absorbed by the plant as it grows and become part of the plant (they cannot even be washed off like some sprays can).  These pesticides may be the very reason for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) or the record die-off of the U.S. bee population.  Honey Bees = the creatures that help pollinate our food so that it grows and fruits.  Long-term food security?  I think not.


Vanishing of the Bees - Trailer from Bee The Change on Vimeo.

Within the U.S., food sovereignty has translated into disenchantment with the USDA and FDA, when the U.S. Farm Bill and NAFTA has allowed industrial farming practices to swallow sustainable, local farms whole.  But, food sovereignty goes beyond the U.S.  In Haiti, food sovereignty means a food revolution.  It is an act of resistance against behemoths, like Monsanto, when farmers save healthy heirloom seeds to grow food for years to come.  It is a move towards political stability when Haitians don't have to rely on imports to feed their people.  Therefore, it is an act of sustainability and resilience in the face of looming climate catastrophes, economic failures and world food shortages.  (From http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6337/)

Haiti

Bear Guerra — "Peasant Bounty" narrated slide show from Orion Magazine on Vimeo.

This success story of food sovereignty in Haiti is reflected in other countries like Brazil and Cuba.  And the tide is just rising.

Brazil

Cuba

Beam states, "If ever a story had two sides to it, it’s this one. While it may be true that the USDA and the FDA kowtow to Big Farma and hogtie small farmers with red tape, food safety laws exist for a reason," I don't think anyone, food security or food sovereignty advocates, would disagree that food needs to be safe, but perhaps food also needs to be regulated fairly.

That may start with equally subsidizing healthy, organic food as opposed to pesticide covered, genetically modified, mono-crops, like corn.  It may start with having labels on all foods that are genetically modified or use genetically modified ingredients.  It may start with banning a terminator gene and systemic pesticides.  Locally grown food does not mean unsafe food and industrial, nationally regulated food does not mean safe food.  Locally grown food DOES generally mean a lesser climate impact when food does not have to be trucked in from across the country of world. With any of those beginnings, my hope is that an end to industrial agriculture will be the conclusion.

~Shreena