We are Hungry for Rights!

"We are consumers, farmers, artisan producers, pastoralists, entrepreneurs: citizens from territories reflecting the diversity of food production and culture in Europe. We are hungry for radical change in the way food is produced and distributed, in order to realise our right to food.

The industrial monocultures that currently feed us lead to air, water and soil pollution impacting on human health. They also share responsibility for the loss of biodiversity and are jeopardizing our ecosystems. Whilst heavily relying on fossil fuels, their scarcity is overlooked by mainstream industrial farming, as well as the impact of their use on our climate. Simultaneously, urban development and the growth of large scale agribusiness prevents access to land for smallholders. A whole generation has grown distant from farming.

A whole set of valuable and sustainable practices from the past are being lost. This is happening at the very moment when we need them the most, in order to face climate change. On the contrary, Alternative Food Systems (AFS) are resilient, low-carbon and contribute to the public good. Over 3 years, with the “Hungry for Rights” project, we have been exchanging successes and failures in order to identify good practices for the development of local solutions to global food issues. In each of our territories, actions show that AFS are possible.

In some territories, land and food production are already managed as Commons. The example of Crofting in Scotland is an inspiration for us all. We are hungry for more.

• We are hungry for more local and healthy production;
• We are hungry for more family, community or workers' gardens to grow our own food;
• we are hungry for more knowledge development and sharing on organic, low input agriculture, agro-ecology and permaculture;
• We are hungry for stronger producer-consumer solidarity: the distribution of local and organic food is increasingly organised through alternative models that include Community Supported Agriculture, farmers' markets, direct selling, organic shops, and catering businesses;
• We are hungry for more cooperation: more and more food artisans, small retailing businesses and consumers are thinking in a global perspective; approaching the other parts of the food chain in a cooperative rather than a competitive way;
• We are hungry for more information: we need more awareness-raising campaigns in schools and tailored training in the formal education system.

If we take action now, tomorrow our territories could support all citizens to thrive, by offering local, tasty, and highly nutritious products, benefitting both environment and health. We want to engage our elected representatives in implementing territorial food projects.

We want to engage local authorities to support spaces for exchanges between all food chain stakeholders regardless of their social background, we want local food councils. We want to enhance community regulation on food considered as a common good. We want to make food justice and Food Sovereignty a priority for our decision-makers.

Eating is an action that is all at once individual and collective.
Join us if you are also hungry for the right to decide how our food is grown and consumed!"

Monza, October 26 2015
Hungry for Rights activists

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Download Community Based Food System: a collection of case studies and recommendations from Cyprus, France, Italy, Lithuania, Senegal and UK-Scotland.