1. Another victory against modern-day slavery!
2. Land Leasing-Threat to National Sovereignty?
3. Growing Power-Building Healthy Communities
1. Another victory against modern-day slavery!
By Jasmine Tilley
On December 2, 2008, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Subway£ announced that they had come to an agreement to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato harvesters. Subway has agreed to pay an extra penny per pound to the Florida workers who harvest the tomatoes-joining other large fast-food chains in the call to increase pay for all Florida tomato pickers.
The agreement also includes a stricter code of conduct that will allow farm workers to take part in ensuring growers’ compliance, especially with labor rights. Subway has additionally agreed to place similarly higher standards in regards to the rest of its supply chain.
This is not the first victory of the CIW-they have also campaigned against Taco Bell, MacDonalds, Burger King, and Whole Foods, all of which eventually chose to sign the agreement (see previous issues of People Putting Food First). Next on the agenda may be supermarkets and large cafeteria operations.
http://www.ciw-online.org/CIW_Subway_joint_press_release.html
http://radgeek.com/gt/2008/12/02/victory_to/
2. Land Leasing-Threat to National Sovereignty?
by Annie Shattuck
A country’s sovereignty can be jeopardized by a number of threats, from war to unfair trade policies. However, a new means of one country securing dominion over another has come into being as several relatively affluent countries with little arable land – feeling uneasy about their future food security in light of the recent volatility of food staple prices – have begun purchasing 99 year leases in Africa and Asia. The Financial Times reported that South Korean conglomerate Daewoo has leased 1.3 million hectares from Madagascar under an undisclosed agreement to satiate its growing demand for maize and palm oil. The area purchased represents half of Madagascar’s arable land, a frightening prospect for the poor of Madagascar considering that 65% of the population faces chronic food insecurity even during productive harvests. Moreover, the land will not be worked on or managed by the residents of Madagascar, as Daewoo plans to import South African labor. Such polici es could severely undercut the food security and welfare of the people of Madagascar.
Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also expressed interest in effectively buying agricultural real estate in developing countries. Saudi Arabia’s Secretary of Agriculture, Arthur Yap, is set to meet with Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign a memorandum of cooperation. In 2007, the Philippines signed a similar document with China calling for the development of 1.2 million hectares of land to produce hybrid maize, rice, and sorghum. Reportedly, large companies from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have also been interested in leasing agricultural land, while Angola and Ethiopia have stated they would be open to negotiating the lease of portions of their counties. Such a vast market for agricultural land raises questions of political sovereignty and food security for many developing nations, and could potentially increase the gap between richer and poorer countries. Director-general of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, had this to say on the matter: “the risk is of creating a neo-colonial pact for the provision of non-value-added raw materials in the producing countries and unacceptable work conditions for agricultural worker.” Clearly, the recent changes in the landscape of global food politics show how old colonial strains have reentered the international real estate market under the innovative application of land purchasing mechanisms.
Blas, Javier. “Land leased to secure crops for South Korea.” Financial Times. 18 Nov 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/22ccaa98-b5d9-11dd-ab71-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1
Conde, Carlos. “Philippines Suspends Chinese-funded projects in wake of scandal.” International Herald Tribune. 25 Sept 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/25/business/peso.php
World Food Programme. “Where We Work – Madagascar.” World Food Programme. 2008. http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=450
Daewoo unsure of food project in Madagascar
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a25a24e-c26d-11dd-a350-000077b07658.html
3. Growing Power-Building Healthy Communities
by Alex Perrotti
Will Allen, the co-founder and director of Growing Power, was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his innovative work in urban food justice. His vision is to increase access to healthy and affordable food, “we can not have healthy communities without a health food system.” Growing Power, created in 1993, is a nonprofit land trust that operates rural and urban farms and distributes food to Milwaukee and Chicago residents through a CSA program. The organization also seeks to enhance local food security by linking the over 300 family farms which make up the Rainbow Farmer’s Collective to residents of Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago via their “Farm-to-City Market Basket Program.”
The core of Allen’s work through Growing Power involves empowering communities, locally, nationally and internationally. Workshops are regularly offered on site and at satellite training facilities in organic gardening, bee keeping, aquaculture and animal husbandry and over 3,500 people visit the demonstration sites for tours annually. Since its beginnings, Growing Power has provided employment and professional training opportunities to low-income youth. The Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative, which is also hosted by Growing Power, is a coalition of farmers, marketers and workers, which seeks to dismantle racism on all levels of the food system.
http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4537249/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EpTWQWx1MQ
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This edition of People Putting Food First was written by interns Alex Perrotti and Jasmine Tilley, and analyst Annie Shattuck.
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
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