Rebelling for good food, good farming and climate justice

The last few weeks have seen the UK food and farming movement unite with MPs, NGOs and Extinction Rebellion to advocate a fairer food system that is ecologically viable and climate just. Gaia’s Francesca Castagnetti reports.   17th October 2019.

The climate emergency, paired with the challenge of securing abundant and healthy food for growing communities, is demanding industrialised societies to rethink their relationship to land stewardship and food production. Agroecological farming, food sovereignty and the world indigenous movement as embodied in La Via Campesina can guide and inspire us as we seek fairer and more regenerative modes of food production and land use. We need to support the revitalisation of local seed diversity for more resilient crops, whilst simultaneously strengthening communities by rebuilding confidence in local and traditional governance systems. By collaborating with communities both in the UK and in the rest of the world, the Gaia Foundation has been leading the Seed Sovereignty Programme and supporting the We Feed the World global photographic initiative celebrating the small-scale farmers, fishers, herders and hunters who produce over the 70% of the world’s food. 

In the UK, the new Agriculture Bill carries an unprecedented potential to place care for the land, small-scale farming and local food systems at the centre of British environmental, food and rural policy, and to move away from EU policies benefitting large-scale farming to the detriment of small producers. A campaign for agroecology to be included in the new Agriculture Bill is ongoing, and more than 4000 people have been writing to their MPs on the matter. On September the 10th an all-party parliamentary group on agroecology  in Westminster saw the participation of the Landworkers Alliance, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Soil Association, organic farmers and growers, and the The Gaia Foundation. The event was full of participants; MPs, Lords, campaigning organisations and farmers gathered to discuss and promote the principles of agroecology and regenerative approaches to food systems. UK farmers contributed with a feast of local and organic food. Virtuous examples of agroecological farming across the country were celebrated through photos and presentations.  

The workshops led up to the Good Food Good Farming march on October the 5th, a day of action to support small-scale farming and climate justice, where hundreds of people took to the streets and came together as a community to rally, share food and enjoy music and art. Happening right before the outset of the International Rebellion , the two days of social movement through workshops and the Good Food Good Farming march connected farmers and food sovereignty campaigners with Extinction Rebellion, as they prepared for two weeks of non-violent direct action for climate justice. We Feed the World  also joined the Global Justice Rebellion on their site in St. James Park with an exhibition projection and a full programme of talks, art and music to share communities’ stories from around the world.