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<h1>Look out Monsanto: The Global Food Movement Is Rising</h1>

<div><div><div><p></p>  <p>Chewing on a mouthful of locally grown lettuce, I wondered if the claims I&rsquo;d heard about the global food-justice movement were true. Was there a line to follow, however crooked, between my purchase of these greens, <a href="http://www.mstbrazil.org/">land reform </a><a href="http://www.mstbrazil.org/">in Brazil</a> <a href="http://www.labelgmos.org/">and </a> <a href="http://www.labelgmos.org/">opposition to genetically modified seeds in California.</a> Or was it all just empty calories?</p>  <blockquote>Reading about how people transform the way they farm and eat makes you  want to cook up your  own plans     with your neighbors.</blockquote>  <p>As a somewhat conscientious consumer and occasional Taco Bell boycotter, I&rsquo;ve hoped that the movement was real. But it hasn't always been easy to perceive     the connection between marching for improved farmworker rights, signing a petition against factory feedlots, and cooking up beets from a CSA (that is,     community supported agriculture, which usually comes in the form a box of assorted veggies delivered to people who contribute to a local farm&rsquo;s financial     well-being).</p>  <p>Those connections form a tight weave in the new book, <a href="http://www.harvesting-justice.org">Harvesting Justice: Transforming Food, Land, and Agriculture in the Americas</a><i>.</i> Using &ldquo;food sovereignty&rdquo; as the secret sauce, the book saut&eacute;s the individual ingredients of sister movements into a coherent, flavorful whole.</p>  <p><figure><img src="/wp-content/uploads/imports/408b1c1236f84e26891e1e7282a2d1fb.jpg"><figcaption><span><p><span>Young Rar&aacute;muri women select corn for next year&acute;s seed after a farmer-to-farmer workshop on seed selection in the community of Rekusachi Chihuahua. Photo by David Lauer.</span></p></span></figcaption></figure></p>  <p>The book was created for the <a href="http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org/">U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance</a>&mdash;a network of organizations allied with    <a href="http://viacampesina.org/en/">La Via Campesina</a>, which advocates for culturally appropriate (think tortillas in Mexico instead of bread),     ecologically sound (no GMOs), and small-farmer friendly food systems.</p>  <p>The book&rsquo;s authors, Tory Field and Beverly Bell, do a lot more with food than just write about it. Field is a farmer who co-manages the Next Barn Over Farm, a CSA program in western Massachusetts. Bell has worked for decades with small farmer organizations in Haiti, including those who    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/haitian-farmers-commit-to_b_578807.html">set fire to </a>agricultural aid after the 2010 earthquake.     The farmers didn't see the donated seeds as aid, but as a Monsanto &ldquo;trojan horse&rdquo; undermining their control over their own food.</p>  <p>Both authors are also members of <a href="http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/">Other Worlds</a>, an organization that educates the public about citizen     movements and builds community alternatives to corporate globalization. Introducing us to farmers speaking in their own voices, they describe how fighting     the dominance of agribusiness and relocalizing the food system are indeed two sides of the same coin.</p>  <p>The book merges five years of field research and interviews, and describes more than 100 case studies of advocacy campaigns and alternative food systems in the United States and around the world. The authors interview New Mexican farmer and teacher    <a href="/issues/food-for-everyone/ideas-for-a-better-food-system-water">Miguel Santistevan</a>, who insists that &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like     the way the food system treats the earth and its negative health effects on the people, [and] we are working to actualize an alternative.&rdquo;</p>  <p>They introduce us to Rosnel Jean-Baptiste of Heads Together Small Peasant Farmers of Haiti (T&egrave;t Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen), who says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not houses that     are going to rebuild Haiti, it&rsquo;s investing in the agriculture sector.&rdquo;</p>  <p>And they encourage consumer action through the words of Ben Burkett, president of the National Family Farm Coaltion. &ldquo;No matter what us farmers plant, the     consumer&rsquo;s got to change the system, &rdquo; Burkett says. &ldquo;As long as they don&rsquo;t complain, there&rsquo;s no need even talking about it. The marketplace dictates.&rdquo;</p>  <p><figure><img src="/wp-content/uploads/imports/cd98d7bc074542a79879bedee6ebd166.jpg"><figcaption><span><p><span>A group of Haitian peasants meets to discuss strategies for rebuilding agriculture after the earthquake of 2010. Photo by Roberto (Bear) Guerra.</span></p></span></figcaption></figure></p>  <h3><strong>Designed for use as an organizing tool</strong></h3>  <p>Accompanying the book is a curriculum of teaching exercises called "Sowing Seeds," intended for use in community and academic settings. The curriculum is     dizzyingly comprehensive, a kind of &ldquo;best of&rdquo; in food systems education culled from sister organizations.</p>  <blockquote>The book connects the dots between community groups doing related work and breaks up any sense of going it alone.</blockquote>  <p>Have you ever wondered how many tons of tomatoes a picker needs to pick each day to earn minimum wage, or what the salary of David Novak&mdash;the CEO of the     company that owns Taco Bell&mdash;would add up to in tons of tomatoes at the same rate? It&rsquo;s all in here. Consumer, producer, and retailer perspectives are all     explored through engaging exercises. Suggested workshop formats may come in handy if you are an educator or organizer.</p>  <p style="text-align: center; "><figure><img src="/wp-content/uploads/imports/507fcb4066f14d5e8fb513449278b2b4.jpg"><figcaption><span><p><span>Mexican farm workers Aaron Expiridion Perfecto and Adan take a break at the Tawakoni Plant Farm in Wills Point Texas. Photo by Texas photographer <a href="http://matthewtrader.com">Matthew T. Rader</a>.<br></span></p></span></figcaption></figure><strong>Care about Your Food? Then Care about Your Farmworkers Too</strong><br>It&rsquo;s organic. It&rsquo;s local. But did the workers who picked it have health insurance?</p>  <p>You may want to nudge your local bookseller to carry <a href="http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/harvesting-justice">Harvesting Justice</a>. I'm     guessing they won't be sorry. It&rsquo;s not only highly readable but may catalyze actions such as getting local food into school lunches. The stunning photos     serve up inspiration to get off your duff and transform the local food system.</p>  <p>Because it provides that kind of inspiration, this is the kind of book that your local food co-op, farmer&rsquo;s market, or anti-hunger organization might     consider using as a study guide. It can help connect the dots between community groups doing related work and break up any sense of going it alone. The appendix fills nearly fifteen pages, introducing us to groups like the<a href="http://foodchainworkers.org/"> Food Chain Workers Alliance</a>, <a href="http://www.firstnations.org/NAFSI">First Nations Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative</a>, and the    <a href="http://ofraneh.org/ofraneh/index.html">Honduran Garifuna organization</a>. While these organizations are scattered around the planet, they form     the foundation of a localized, alternative food system.</p>  <p>Reading about how people transform the way they farm and eat makes you want to reach for a big soup pot, cut up some onions, and cook up your own plans     with your neighbors. <span>Harvesting Justice</span> gives you more than the recommended dose of civic engagement.</p>  <hr width="50%"><p><strong>Interested?</strong></p>  <ul><li><br>Haiti's way forward is tied to food sovereignty and a renewed focus on local agriculture.</li>  <li><br>How do we make sure that our food contributes to the health of our communities and ecosystems?</li>  <li><br>The resilience of our food supply is as much about the quality and  diversity of our food sources as it is about how much we produce.</li>  </ul></div><!-- <img src="3c84c98dadc14e548e1b367f8d473eb1"> --></div><!-- <p>Daniel Moss wrote this article for <a href="/">YES! Magazine</a>, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. As a     consultant, Daniel works with communities and organizations around the world to advance democratic and sustainable stewardship of our shared commons.</p> --></div><!-- <a href="resolveuid/b9d005238a37622ecb64ea502ac1837e">A Future for Agriculture, A Future for Haiti</a> --><!-- <a href="resolveuid/192880b69fdc688b99268da023bdf49d">Farmers, Workers, Consumers, Unite! New Visions in Food Justice </a> --><!-- <a href="resolveuid/1920d0b58260cf9b1f2971c8e5b82640">Feeding the World: It&#8217;s Not About Quantity </a> -->

<p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a> at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2013/04/11/look-out-monsanto-global-food-movement-is-rising">https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2013/04/11/look-out-monsanto-global-food-movement-is-rising</a>.</p><link href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2013/04/11/look-out-monsanto-global-food-movement-is-rising" rel="canonical"/><p>Yes! Magazine is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of ... . Learn more at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a></p><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=14058&ga4=G-74QJNNY44Z" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

Look out Monsanto: The Global Food Movement Is Rising

Chewing on a mouthful of locally grown lettuce, I wondered if the claims I’d heard about the global food-justice movement were true. Was there a line to follow, however crooked, between my purchase of these greens, land reform in Brazil and  opposition to genetically modified seeds in California. Or was it all just empty calories?  Reading about how people transform the way they farm and eat makes you  want to cook up your  own plans     with your neighbors.  As a somewhat conscientious consumer and occasional Taco Bell boycotter, I’ve hoped that the movement was real. But it hasn't always been easy to perceive     the connection between marching for improved farmworker rights, signing a petition against factory feedlots, and cooking up beets from a CSA (that is,     community supported agriculture, which usually comes in the form a box of assorted veggies delivered to people who contribute to a local farm’s financial     well-being).  Those connections form a tight weave in the new book, Harvesting Justice: Transforming Food, Land, and Agriculture in the Americas. Using “food sovereignty” as the secret sauce, the book sautés the individual ingredients of sister movements into a coherent, flavorful whole.  Young Rarámuri women select corn for next year´s seed after a farmer-to-farmer workshop on seed selection in the community of Rekusachi Chihuahua. Photo by David Lauer.  The book was created for the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance—a network of organizations allied with    La Via Campesina, which advocates for culturally appropriate (think tortillas in Mexico instead of bread),     ecologically sound (no GMOs), and small-farmer friendly food systems.  The book’s authors, Tory Field and Beverly Bell, do a lot more with food than just write about it. Field is a farmer who co-manages the Next Barn Over Farm, a CSA program in western Massachusetts. Bell has worked for decades with small farmer organizations in Haiti, including those who    set fire to agricultural aid after the 2010 earthquake.     The farmers didn't see the donated seeds as aid, but as a Monsanto “trojan horse” undermining their control over their own food.  Both authors are also members of Other Worlds, an organization that educates the public about citizen     movements and builds community alternatives to corporate globalization. Introducing us to farmers speaking in their own voices, they describe how fighting     the dominance of agribusiness and relocalizing the food system are indeed two sides of the same coin.  The book merges five years of field research and interviews, and describes more than 100 case studies of advocacy campaigns and alternative food systems in the United States and around the world. The authors interview New Mexican farmer and teacher    Miguel Santistevan, who insists that “We don’t like     the way the food system treats the earth and its negative health effects on the people, [and] we are working to actualize an alternative.”  They introduce us to Rosnel Jean-Baptiste of Heads Together Small Peasant Farmers of Haiti (Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen), who says, “It’s not houses that     are going to rebuild Haiti, it’s investing in the agriculture sector.”  And they encourage consumer action through the words of Ben Burkett, president of the National Family Farm Coaltion. “No matter what us farmers plant, the     consumer’s got to change the system, ” Burkett says. “As long as they don’t complain, there’s no need even talking about it. The marketplace dictates.”  A group of Haitian peasants meets to discuss strategies for rebuilding agriculture after the earthquake of 2010. Photo by Roberto (Bear) Guerra.  Designed for use as an organizing tool  Accompanying the book is a curriculum of teaching exercises called "Sowing Seeds," intended for use in community and academic settings. The curriculum is     dizzyingly comprehensive, a kind of “best of” in food systems education culled from sister organizations.  The book connects the dots between community groups doing related work and breaks up any sense of going it alone.  Have you ever wondered how many tons of tomatoes a picker needs to pick each day to earn minimum wage, or what the salary of David Novak—the CEO of the     company that owns Taco Bell—would add up to in tons of tomatoes at the same rate? It’s all in here. Consumer, producer, and retailer perspectives are all     explored through engaging exercises. Suggested workshop formats may come in handy if you are an educator or organizer.  Mexican farm workers Aaron Expiridion Perfecto and Adan take a break at the Tawakoni Plant Farm in Wills Point Texas. Photo by Texas photographer Matthew T. Rader.Care about Your Food? Then Care about Your Farmworkers TooIt’s organic. It’s local. But did the workers who picked it have health insurance?  You may want to nudge your local bookseller to carry Harvesting Justice. I'm     guessing they won't be sorry. It’s not only highly readable but may catalyze actions such as getting local food into school lunches. The stunning photos     serve up inspiration to get off your duff and transform the local food system.  Because it provides that kind of inspiration, this is the kind of book that your local food co-op, farmer’s market, or anti-hunger organization might     consider using as a study guide. It can help connect the dots between community groups doing related work and break up any sense of going it alone. The appendix fills nearly fifteen pages, introducing us to groups like the Food Chain Workers Alliance, First Nations Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, and the    Honduran Garifuna organization. While these organizations are scattered around the planet, they form     the foundation of a localized, alternative food system.  Reading about how people transform the way they farm and eat makes you want to reach for a big soup pot, cut up some onions, and cook up your own plans     with your neighbors. Harvesting Justice gives you more than the recommended dose of civic engagement.  Interested?  Haiti's way forward is tied to food sovereignty and a renewed focus on local agriculture.  How do we make sure that our food contributes to the health of our communities and ecosystems?  The resilience of our food supply is as much about the quality and  diversity of our food sources as it is about how much we produce.

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