Date: Thursday, June 30 

Overview:

1. Via Campesina Definition (emphasis on trade): 

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to define their own food and agriculture; to protect and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade in order to achieve sustainable development objectives; to determine the extent to which they want to be self reliant; to restrict the dumping of products in their markets; and to provide local fisheries-based communities the priority in managing the use of and the rights to aquatic resources. Food sovereignty does not negate trade, but rather, it promotes the formulation of trade policies and practices that serve the rights of peoples to safe, healthy and ecologically sustainable production.” 

– Statement on Peoples’ Food Sovereignty, 1996, by Via Campesina, et al. 

2. Non-governmental Organization (NGO) / Community Service Organization (CSO) Forum for Food Sovereignty definition, Rome, June 2002 (emphasis on values): “Food sovereignty is the right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land policies, which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances. It includes the true right to food and to produce food, which means that all people have the right to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and to food-producing resources and the ability to sustain themselves and their societies.” 

–“Food Sovereignty: A Right For All, Political Statement of the NGO/CSO Forum for Food Sovereignty,“ Rome, June 2002

Key Takeaways

Reading Materials:

• Articles

  • • Beyond Land Reforms: Strengthening Links with Food Sovereignty and Land Rights Activists

      • Afronomicslaw.org. “Beyond Land Reforms: Strengthening Links with Food Sovereignty and Land Rights Activists.” Accessed April 4, 2024. 

    • The Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics. 

      • Barnhill, Anne, Mark Budolfson, and Tyler Doggett, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2018. 

    • Food Apartheid: The Root of the Problem with America’s Groceries

      • Brones, Anna. “Food Apartheid: The Root of the Problem with America’s Groceries.” The Guardian, May 15, 2018, sec. Society. 

    • Food Security and Food Sovereignty: Getting Past the Binary

      • Clapp, Jennifer. “Food Security and Food Sovereignty: Getting Past the Binary.” Dialogues in Human Geography 4, no. 2 (July 1, 2014): 206–11. 

    • Growing a Garden Can Also Bloom Eco-Resilient, Cross-Cultural, Food-Sovereign Communities

      • Datta, Ranjan. “Growing a Garden Can Also Bloom Eco-Resilient, Cross-Cultural, Food-Sovereign Communities.” The Conversation, October 2, 2019. 

    • Co-Operatives - Alternatives to Industrial Food I * Deconstructing Dinner

      • Deconstructing Dinner. “Co-Operatives - Alternatives to Industrial Food I * Deconstructing Dinner.” Accessed November 23, 2020. 

    • Indigenous Food Sovereignty * Deconstructing Dinner

      • Deconstructing Dinner. “Indigenous Food Sovereignty * Deconstructing Dinner.” Accessed November 23, 2020. 

    • Vandana Shiva - Rice, Genocide and the Patenting of Life 

      • Deconstructing Dinner. “Vandana Shiva - Rice, Genocide and the Patenting of Life * Deconstructing Dinner.” Accessed November 23, 2020. 

    • Why Is Food Sovereignty Important? – Detroit Food Justice

      • Edison. “Why Is Food Sovereignty Important? – Detroit Food Justice.” Accessed November 24, 2020. 

    • Food Security | The Lexicon of Sustainability | PBS Food

      • Accessed July 9, 2018. 

    • Food Sovereignty | USFSA

      •  Accessed November 24, 2020. 

    • Food Sovereignty and Land Sovereignty - Climate Justice Alliance

      •  Accessed April 4, 2024. 

    • Food Sovereignty, Food Security and Health Equity: A Meta-Narrative Mapping Exercise - PMC 

      • Accessed May 21, 2024. 

    • Food Sovereignty: The Struggle for a Fair Global Food System | War on Want,”

      • Accessed April 16, 2021

    • FoodPrint. “What Is a FoodPrint?” 

      • Accessed November 21, 2020. 

    • Food Sovereignty Workshop: Community-Centered Approaches for Food Systems Transformation

      • Middle East Studies Center. “Food Sovereignty Workshop: Community-Centered Approaches for Food Systems Transformation.” Accessed May 28, 2024.

    • The Food System: A Stranger to the Planning Field.

      • Pothukuchi, Kameshwari, and Jerome L. Kaufman. “The Food System: A Stranger to the Planning Field.” Journal of the American Planning Association 66, no. 2 (June 30, 2000): 113–24.

    • No Piece of the Pie: US Food Workers in 2016

      • Solidarity Research Center. “No Piece of the Pie: US Food Workers in 2016.” Accessed November 2, 2020. 

    • Asian Food Insecurity in the U.S

      • Soul Fire Farm. “Asian Food Insecurity in the U.S.” Accessed May 3, 2024. 

• Books

  • Carlile, Rachel, Matthew Kessler, and Tara Garnett. “What Is Food Sovereignty.” Table Explainer, n.d.

  • Barndt, Deborah, ed. “VIVA”: Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas. Suny Series, Praxis : Theory in Action. Albany [N.Y.]: State University of New York Press, 2011.

  • Whyte, Kyle Powys. “Food Sovereignty, Justice, and Indigenous Peoples: An Essay on Settler Colonialism and Collective Continuance,” 22, n.d.

• Images

  •  Land O Bucks, Land O Fakes, Land O Lakes.

    • Gobetz, Wally. Denver - Civic Center: Denver Art Museum - David P. Bradley’s Land O Bucks, Land O Fakes, Land O Lakes. September 3, 2011. Photo. 

Supplementary Videos:

• Video 1: The Hunger for Justice Ep. 2: Facilitating the Seed Commons

  • The Hunger for Justice Ep. 2: Facilitating the Seed Commons - Debal Deb w/ Dan Barber, 2020. 

• Video 2: The Power of Ideas & The Idea of Power 

  • The Power of Ideas & The Idea of Power - Ed Whitfield. Accessed July 9, 2018. 

• Documentary: Gather

Actionable Toolkits: