Book Review
Introduction
In Part 5 of Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed we learn that: “The ultimate solution to the social, economic, and ecological problems cited above is a transition to a more decentralized, democratic and cooperative, noncorporate, small-scale organic farming method, as practiced by traditional farming communities, agroecologists, and indigenous peoples for millennia.” “All human beings on the planet have a fundamental human right to access and to produce sufficient food to sustain their lives and communities.” “We reject the notion that the globalization of industrial technological agriculture and the homogenisation of farms brings greater efficiencies than local diverse community farming or the traditional agriculture deeply embodied in local cultures.” “As the loss of small holder farmlands to wealthier landlords and global corporations is a primary cause of hunger, landlessness, and poverty, we support all measures to help people remain on or return to their traditional lands.” “All human beings have the right to food that is safe and nutritious.” “Some technologies – such as genetic engineering, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and food irradiation – are not consistent with food or environmental safety.” “Industrialized ‘factory farming’ and similar systems for beef, pork, chicken, and other animal production are notorious for inhumane conditions, as well as for their tragic ecological and public health consequences.” “We recognize, support, and celebrate the role of small-scale traditional and indigenous farmers as the primary sources of knowledge and wisdom concerning the appropriate relationship between human beings, the land, and long-term sustenance.” “We oppose the commercial patenting and monopolization of life forms.” “The inherent bias of international rule-making bodies such as the WTO and Codex Alimentarius toward large-scale, export-oriented monocultural production in agriculture, as in all other production, is a direct cause of social dislocation, environmental devastation, and the undemocratic concentration of global corporate power to the detriment of communities everywhere.” “Tariffs, import quotas, and other means by which nations attempt to further their own self-reliance, many of which have been made illegal or undermined by global bureaucracies, should be reinstituted to help re-establish local production, local self-reliance, and long-term food security.”
MANIFESTOS ON THE FUTURE OF FOOD AND SEED
EDITED BY VANDANA SHIVA
SOUTH END PRESS 2007
PART V
THE MANIFESTOS
Chapter 5: Manifesto on the Future of Food (Cont)
PART TWO
PRINCIPLES TOWARD AN ECOLOGICALLY AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEM
THE ULTIMATE GOAL
The ultimate solution to the social, economic, and ecological problems cited above is a transition to a more decentralized, democratic and cooperative, noncorporate, small-scale organic farming method, as practiced by traditional farming communities, agroecologists, and indigenous peoples for millennia. Such communities have practiced a sustainable agriculture based on principles of diversity, synergy, and recycling. All rules and policies at every level of governance should be aligned to encourage such solutions as well as changes in other sectors of society to emphasize sustainability.
FOOD IS A HUMAN RIGHT
All human beings on the planet have a fundamental human right to access and to produce sufficient food to sustain their lives and communities. All rules and policies should be aligned to recognize this basic right. Every government – local, regional, national, international – is obliged to guarantee this right. It may not be denied in the interests of international commercial or trade processes, or for any other reason. Where a locality is unable to fulfil its obligation by reason of natural catastrophe or other circumstances, all other nations are obliged to provide the necessary help, as requested.
DECENTRALIZED AGRICULTURE IS EFFICIENT AND PRODUCTIVE
We reject the notion that the globalization of industrial technological agriculture and the homogenisation of farms brings greater efficiencies than local diverse community farming or the traditional agriculture deeply embodied in local cultures. Neither can industrial agriculture reduce world hunger. Countless experiences and studies show the opposite to be the case: the industrial monoculture system drives farmers from their lands, brings abhorrent external costs to the environment and to farming communities, and is itself highly susceptible top pests and a myriad of other intrinsic problems. Also, by most standards of measurement, small-scale biodiverse farms have proven at least as productive as large industrial farms. All policies at every level of society should favor small farms and the principles of agroecology to increase food security and insure robust, vital rural economies.
PUTTING PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS, ON THE LAND
As the loss of small holder farmlands to wealthier landlords and global corporations is a primary cause of hunger, landlessness, and poverty, we support all measures to help people remain on or return to their traditional lands. Where peoples and communities have been deprived of their traditional lands and abilities to grow their own foods or to live in a self-sustaining manner, we strongly support distributive land reform to put people back on the land and the empowerment of local communities to determine their own destinies.
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
We support the fundamental principle of national, regional, and community food sovereignty. All local, national, and regional entities and communities have the inherent right and obligation to protect, sustain, and support all necessary conditions to encourage production of sufficient healthy food in a way that conserves the land, water, and ecological integrity of the place, respects and supports producers’ livelihoods, and is accessible to all people. No international body or corporation has the right to alter this priority. Neither does any international body have the right to require that a nation accept imports against its will, for any reason.
APPLICATION OF THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
All human beings have the right to food that is safe and nutritious. No technological interventions in food production should be permitted until proven to meet local standards of safety, nutrition, health, and sustainability. The precautionary principle applies in all matters.
CERTAIN TECHNOLOGIES DIMINISH FOOD SAFETY
Some technologies – such as genetic engineering, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and food irradiation – are not consistent with food or environmental safety. They bring unacceptable threats to public health, irreversible environmental impacts, and violate the inherent rights of farmers to protect their local plots from pollutants. As such, their use is incompatible with the viability of sustainable agriculture. No international body has the right to make rules that require that any nation accepts any foods or other agricultural imports across its borders that have been produced in a manner or that the nation considers detrimental to public health, the environment, local agriculture, cultural traditions, or in any other way.
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO PROTECT BIODIVERSITY & ECO-SYSTEM HEALTH
All healthy food and agricultural systems are dependent upon the natural world, with all its biodiversity intact. This protection of this biodiversity must be a priority for all governments and communities, and all policies should be aligned with this purpose, even where they imply changes in land tenure or farm size. No commercial or trade considerations or any other values may supersede this one. The principles of reducing “food miles” (distance food travels from source to plate), emphasizing local and regional production and consumption of foods, and reducing industrial high-input technological interventions are all derivative of the larger goal of environmental health and the vitality of natural systems.
THE RIGHT OF CULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS IDENTITY
Agriculture and traditional systems of food production are an integral aspect of cultural identity, particularly among indigenous cultures; in fact, agro-biodiversity largely depends upon cultural diversity. All human communities have the right to preserve and further develop and enrich their diverse cultural identities, as historically practiced and expressed and passed on through generations. No international or national body has the right to alter these practices and values or seek to change them.
HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
Industrialized “factory farming” and similar systems for beef, pork, chicken, and other animal production are notorious for inhumane conditions, as well as for their tragic ecological and public health consequences. Large-scale production increased the severity of the problems and brings with it the use of irradiation and antibiotic technologies to try and stem inherent problems of disease. All such practices must be banned, and all global and domestic rules that stimulate this manner of production must be actively opposed at every level of society.
THE RIGHT TO CONTROL & ENJOY LOCAL INHERITED KNOWLEDGE
All communities, indigenous people, and national entities have the inherent right and obligation to conserve their biological diversity and inherited local knowledge about food and food production, and to enjoy the benefits of this diversity and knowledge without outside interventions. This knowledge is key to preserving sustainable agriculture. All peoples also have the right to set their own goals for research and development, using local standards. No global-trade or intellectual-property-rights rule should require that local communities conform to any standards on these matters beyond their own. No global-trade rule or corporation should be allowed to undermine local farmers’ or communities’ rights to indigenous seeds or collective cumulative innovation and knowledge, or to promote “biopiracy,” the robbing of local knowledge and genetic diversity for commercial purposes. Farmers’ rights to save, improve, sell, and exchange seed is inalienable.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FARMERS & THE ENVIRONMENT IS PRIMARY
We recognize, support, and celebrate the role of small-scale traditional and indigenous farmers as the primary sources of knowledge and wisdom concerning the appropriate relationship between human beings, the land, and long-term sustenance. Their direct experience of the nuances of inter-action among plants, soil, climate, and other conditions and their crucial relationship with their communities must be protected, supported, and, where necessary recovered. This historic role should no longer be threatened or interrupted by large-scale corporate systems run by absentee landlords operating on models that ignore local conditions and replace them with unworkable “one-size-fits-all” formulas.
THE RIGHT TO KNOW AND CHOOSE
All individuals, communities, and national entities have an inherent right to all relevant information about the foods they consume, the processes used to produce them, and where the foods come from. This recognizes the sovereign right of people to make informed choices about the safety and health risks they are willing to take, both in terms of their own welfare and the environment’s. This right notably applies to foods subjected to such technical interventions as pesticides, other chemicals, biotechnology, and food irradiation. No government entity, including international bodies, has the right to withhold information or to deny mandatory labelling and other disclosure of all risks, including those of malnutrition.
TRADE MUST BE VOLUNTARY, FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE
We support the many diverse new trade initiatives within and among communities that are non-coerced, fair, sustainable, and mutually beneficial to producers and consumers, and under which communities voluntarily exchange goods and services of their own free accord and based on their own standards. No international body has the right to require that any nation or community must allow investment or trade across its borders, or the right to undermine local priorities. Every trade opportunity should be evaluated solely on its individual merits by each affected party.
NO PATENTS OR MONOPOLIES ON LIFE
We oppose the commercial patenting and monopolization of life forms. All international or national rules that permit such practices are violations of the inherent dignity of all life, the principles of biodiversity, and the legitimate inheritance of indigenous peoples and farmers worldwide. This applies to all plant life, animal life, and human life.
NO BIAS TOWARDS GLOBAL CORPORATIONS
The inherent bias of international rule-making bodies such as the WTO and Codex Alimentarius toward large-scale, export-oriented monocultural production in agriculture, as in all other production, is a direct cause of social dislocation, environmental devastation, and the undemocratic concentration of global corporate power to the detriment of communities everywhere. All such rules should be immediately nullified and reversed to favor sustainable systems, local production, and local control over distribution. If these bodies refuse to make such changes, they should be abandoned a destructive to sustainable systems. Also, international bodies (such as the United Nations) should be encouraged to create new regulatory systems that act as effective international “antitrust” or anti-corporate-concentration institutions, in an effort to minimize corporate domination and its harmful effects.
FAVOR SUBSIDIARITY: A BIAS TOWARD THE LOCAL
Tariffs, import quotas, and other means by which nations attempt to further their own self-reliance, many of which have been made illegal or undermined by global bureaucracies, should be reinstituted to help re-establish local production, local self-reliance, and long-term food security. The principle of subsidiarity must apply. All rules and benefits should promote local production by local farmers, using local resources for local consumption. Trade will continue to exist but should consist mainly of essential commodities and other foods with unique appeal that cannot be grown locally. Long-distance trade must always be an available option, but not the raison d’étre of the system. One imperative goal is a major reduction in overall long-distance trade, specifically in the distance between food producers and consumers. (food miles).
SAFETY STANDARDS: FLOORS, NOT CEILINGS
All laws and rules concerning food agreed upon in bilateral and multilateral agreements among nations must reverse existing WTO priorities by creating a floor for safety standards, rather than a ceiling. No international body should make rules that require any nation or community to lower its own standards for trade or for any other reason. Such standards may include export and import controls, labelling, and certification. Any country or community with standards higher than those agreed upon by international bodies should receive favourable trade status. Poorer countries that cannot afford to implement such standards should receive financial aid to help them do so.
PROTECTION FROM DUMPING
The right to regulate imports to prevent dumping, to protect the livelihoods of domestic farmers, and to ensure a fair return for farmers’ labor and contribution to food security is a fundamental element of just, fair trade rules. This reverses prior WTO rules that effectively permit and encourage dumping by large nations.
COMPATIBLE CHANGES ARE ALSO NEEDED
We recognize that the kinds of reform suggested above may be more rapidly achieved over time as part of a larger set of changes in prevailing worldview and systemic practices, so that ecologically and socially sustainable systems can take priority over corporate interests. Compatible changes may also be required in other operating systems of society, from global to regional, from corporate to community. Energy, transport, and manufacturing systems, for example, must be examined and reformed at the same time as farming recovers its small-scale, locally viable form. And all of these changes must come within the context of the principles of subsidiarity, which brings political power back from the global toward appropriate local and regional governance.
ADOPTION OF THESE PRINCIPLES
We urge all communities, municipalities, counties, provinces, states, nations, and international organizations to adopt these principles and to work in concert to realize them.
The following section gives examples of positive activities already underway that apply some of these principles, as well as specific proposals for new rules of trade governance consistent with them.
PART THREE
LIVING ALTERNATIVES TO INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE