Terra Madre 2010

I approached Slow Food’s Terra Madre with ambivalence.  My fellow young farmers in New York called the organization an “eating club.”  I was frustrated because my Thai friends from the Alternative Agriculture Network were not attending the event due to problems with paperwork.  I didn’t know what to expect from the event – would the people I meet really care about food being “good, clean and fair”?  Or, would the “good” take up most of their effort?  Yet I also admired Slow Food for it’s explicit belief that “good food” (or “sustainable” or “fair”) should actually taste good.  This same value is one that I see within the AAN and other farmer-based organizations working for a better food system.

AAN Regional Collaboration: SAEDA Workshop in Xiang Khouang, Lao PDR

Sustainable agriculture is growing throughout Southeast Asia, and in some countries, government support and coordination with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is producing positive results.  The work currently being carried out by the Sustainable Agriculture and Environment Development Association (SAEDA), a Lao organization committed to sustainable agriculture and community development, is an example of this movement.

Food Sovereignty Now!

The Peoples’ Declaration, 17 November 2009:

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To Rome: No GMOs or Increased large-scale production!

Press Release

November 13, 2009

U.S. groups call for leadership from the Obama administration at the World Summit on Food Security

Administration’s support for genetic engineering and trade deregulation are troubling

Rome – As the World Summit on Food Security begins next week in Rome, U.S. civil society organizations expressed concern with the Obama administration’s support for increasing intensive, large-scale agriculture production and trade expansion as a solution to rising global hunger—failed approaches that have actually contributed to the global food crisis.

In a letter signed by 23 U.S. organizations, the groups thanked the administration for its efforts to increase foreign assistance and to better coordinate government agencies in responding to the global food crisis. But they questioned why the administration has not recognized the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD) report, supported by over 50 countries, “which represents a global consensus about what course international investment in agriculture should take to meet social and environmental goals.” Instead, the Obama administration aggressively promoted the use of patented genetically engineered seeds and increasing large-scale production practices, the groups charged.