“(P)romoting self-sufficiency and food sovereignty does not compromise global food security and environmental quality. On the contrary, it is the best option for feeding humans and safeguarding the planet. ”
Published today in Independent Science News: Will Food Sovereignty Starve the Poor and Punish the Planet? by Gilles Billen, Luis Lassaletta and Josette Garnier.
Summary:
There exists a forceful global people’s movement which has begun to positively assert the rights of small producers and individual consumers over the food system. This food sovereignty movement presents an explicit challenge to the corporate domination of food and agriculture found in many areas of the globe.
The practicality of food sovereignty has nevertheless been challenged by various economists who believe that long distance trade is crucial to environmental sustainability and for cheap food. These economists allege that food sovereignty will “starve the poor.” Using modelling approaches that focus on nitrogen flows in the global food system, and also case studies from Europe, the authors of this article summarize a series of their academic papers that conclude regional and local food sovereignty should enhance sustainability and not decrease it. “One can think globally and eat locally!”
The authors are at UPMC (University Pierre and Marie Curie)/CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Paris, France.
The full Independent Science News article can be read at:
http://www.independentsciencenews.org/environment/will-food-sovereignty-starve-the-poor-and-punish-the-planet/
Many of the scientific papers written by these authors can be downloaded for free: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gilles_Billen/publications
