May 15, 2020
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F2F and the Green New Deal: food is not a mere commodity, but a human right
There is less than one week to go, before the release of the Farm to Fork strategy proposal and the Biodiversity strategy proposal by the European Commission. European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) and its member organisations, together with organisations representing peasants and small-medium scale farmers, fisherpeople, shepherds, mobile pastoralists, agriculture and food workers, consumers, indigenous peoples, other Civil Society Organisations and academics, many of which form part of the Nyéléni Food Sovereignty Movement in Europe and Central Asia (Nyéléni ECA), welcomes the European Commission commitment to make sustainability a priority. Our organisations urge Commissioners to take strong steps to bring forward a strategy that addresses the need to transform the food system, by putting food sovereignty at its core; a strategy that respects the rights of people, that promotes agroecological agriculture, and that does so in ways that show solidarity with food producers and consumers around the world, and that puts an end to trade agreements that bring unfair competition between peasants. The COVID-19 crisis has shown the weaknesses of our globalized food systems, but also the capacity of innovation, change and resilience of communities. The European Commission has a duty to lead us to a sustainable world. Nyéléni ECA is ready and able to work together to support this vision of just and sustainable food systems for all. This is particularly key in light of the academic brief, “The importance of Food Sovereignty for the Farm to Fork strategy and the New Green Deal. Insights and limits of the SAM and SAPEA reports“, written after the publication of the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA) and Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) reports[1]. We urge the Commission to read this brief and reflect the findings within the final F2F document.
[1] “Towards a sustainable food system, Moving from food as a commodity towards food as more of a common good” available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/
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