This weekend Tom Vilsack will join the G8 (including Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Egypt) to discuss agriculture. Or, as IATP puts it:
This weekend, agriculture ministers from the G-8 will gather in a beautiful castle above the city of Treviso, in central Italy, to discuss the global food crisis. Missing among the scheduled gala dinners, aperitifs and wine tastings are those most affected by the food crisis, as well as a clear understanding of what has gone wrong.
That is, without a doubt, a major mistake.
We in America like to boast about our safe and abundant food supply but the truth of the matter is that about 10% of us are hungry, many more have diet-related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, and our food system pollutes the crap out of the environment and generates quite a LOT of waste. Via Campesina's got a great point - it's not as if we in the U.S. have such a great solution that we should be sharing it with the rest of the world.
Via Campesina asks the G8 to use their meeting to reflect on how their own country's policies have disenfranchised the poor farmers of the world, resulting in the "global food crisis."
IATP agrees, saying:
The key players at the G-8 meeting are countries largely responsible for creating the crisis in the first place-and they are entirely unapologetic about it. G-8 countries, particularly the United States and the European Union, have pushed agriculture policies that reward short-term private profits over essential public priorities like food security, jobs and proper management of scarce natural resources. Aggressive trade liberalization policies and agreements, focused on the commercial interests of G-8-based firms, have shaped an unfair and concentrated global agriculture market.
Via Campesina asks for the following:
The G8 should not give more financial assistance for seeds and fertilizers but support and encourage national governments to take up their responsibility and restructure their agriculture systems away from corporate led, export oriented production. National governments should implement the following measures:
Bring the disastrous volatility of food prices in domestic markets to a standstill by taking full control over the import and export of food in order to stabilize local markets.
Set up policies to actively support peasant-based food production and artisan fishing, local markets and the implementation of agrarian and aquatic reform. We do not want all the funds go into fertilizers and GMO seeds which exclusively benefit Transnational Companies and damage soils and biodiversity
Stop corporate land grabbing for industrial agro-fuels and food production.
Sadly, that stuff isn't on the agenda. Here's what is (from IATP):
On the face of it, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will bring good news: He will reiterate the U.S. commitment to doubling its support for agricultural development, pledging U.S. $1 billion for 2010. This is much needed. However, there is a big "but." As it stands, the initiative is mostly good news for U.S.-based agribusiness companies and laboratories. Recent declarations by Secretary Vilsack1 indicate that some of the money will be used in the old tradition of U.S. aid-namely to spearhead agricultural technologies, like biotechnology, that bolster the private sector rather than support small-scale farmers' productivity. |
