LET'S STRENGTHEN FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: PRODUCE, BUY AND EAT LOCAL PRODUCTS

CAMPAIGN FOR A BINDING TREATY [1], FOOD SOVEREIGNTY [2], TRANSNATIONAL COMPANIES AND AGRIBUSINESS [3]

_"EATING HEALTHY IS OUR RIGHT; IT'S OUR STRUGGLE"_

_GLOBAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTION_

(Harare, October 6, 2020) This October 16th, the _INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR PEOPLES' FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, _ La Via Campesina insists that it is #TIMETOTRANSFORM our society with food sovereignty and peasant agroecology.

We are what we eat. Having healthy food is a basic human right.

It is important to insist today, that the peasant way of producing food, in harmony with nature, is not just an act to reclaim our autonomy and food sovereignty, but it is also an act of resistance against the aggressive corporatization of our food systems and habits.

Around the world, peasants, indigenous peoples, farm workers, the landless, fisherfolk, consumers, women, and the youth face difficult challenges because of the influence on and control of food systems by transnational corporations (TNCs). Increasingly, the control of common goods essential to humanity and nature is concentrated in the hands of a few rich and elite people, with disastrous effects on most people and their rights. In agriculture, this has led to intensive farming methods based on monocultures with the high use of toxic agro-chemical inputs, threatening and destroying peasant agriculture and life on the planet. This destruction is happening through land grabbing, water and air pollution, destructive extractive mining of resources, poisoning of food with agro-toxics and destroying biodiversity, and even the murder of peasant and indigenous activists and leaders. The climate crisis has also worsened.

IN THIS CONTEXT, PRODUCING HEALTHY FOOD, SUPPORTING LOCAL FOOD MARKETS, AND EATING HEALTHY ARE IMPORTANT ACTS OF RESISTANCE AND GUARANTEE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT WITH EQUITY AND DIGNITY.

As Via Campesina, we believe in and defend food sovereignty as peoples' right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced with ecologically sustainable methods. If we build local food sovereignty, we build strategies to resist and dismantle the current exploitative, destructive and repressive corporate food system and move towards food, agriculture, pastoral, and fishery systems determined by local producers and consumers.

NOW IS THE TIME TO TRANSFORM AND BUILD A BETTER SOCIETY:

The current COVID 19 pandemic has shown us the importance and the resilience of local food systems that keep many people from hunger and starvation.

We, peasants, men and women, indigenous peoples, rural populations, agricultural workers, the youth in urban and rural areas, have the solution - FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND PEASANT AGROECOLOGY - to end hunger, to cool the planet, to preserve biodiversity, and respect the rights of peasants and workers.

JOIN US TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE!

We can only guarantee a safe and better world not only for today but also for future generations if you join us to transform our society:

* Adopt a seed(s) and start growing your food to strengthen local production. Experience the joy of eating homegrown food. Send us or share with the following hashtags _#TIMETOTRANSFORM #FOODSOVEREIGNTYNOW_ (complete it with your own message) a video or a photo(s) of you doing this act of resistance against corporate capture of our food system * Join us, starting October 6th, to stop corporate impunity and violations of our rights by posting this message on social media FOOD SOVEREIGNTY BECAUSE ... using blank posters to complete it with your own message (download blank posters here [4]) * Request your local authorities to support local food production and buy from local food markets. Let's strengthen our local food systems. * Put pressure on governments to prioritize food sovereignty in public policies and implement the UN Declaration of Rights of Peasants and other people working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

Please send us your actions and articles to our email: lvcweb@viacampesina.org, tag us on social media twitter (@via_campesina [5]) and FaceBook (@viacampesinaOFFICIAL [6]), and make visible globally our collective mobilization for a better society based on food sovereignty.

#LAVIACAMPESINA #TIMETOTRANSFORM #FOODSOVEREIGNTYNOW

LET US GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE; LET US GLOBALIZE HOPE.

Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/transnational-compa... [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-tr... [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/transnational-compa... [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/2Ws8ecGt98nbGT3 [5] https://twitter.com/via_campesina [6] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL