What is Food Sovereignty?

What is the meaning of food sovereignty? How can you be a part of the food sovereignty movement? Learn more about his important issue in this practical guide to food sovereignty.

What does food sovereignty mean? The term food sovereignty may be confused with food justice. Food justice has been defined as a holistic and structural view of the food system that sees healthy food as a human right and addresses structural barriers to that right. However, food sovereignty is defined as the right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and the right to define their own food system. While food justice emphasizes the human right to food, food sovereignty encompasses all aspects that are involved with food production, as well as the right to food that is appropriate for each unique individual. Another type of food sovereignty is Indigenous food sovereignty, which is an approach to addressing the underlying issues in Native communities by giving the communities their own control of their food system to be able to respond to their needs for health and choosing culturally appropriate foods. Although these definitions vary a little in meaning, the common theme between food sovereignty and Indigenous food sovereignty is that individuals should have the right and power to obtain culturally appropriate food for his or her lifestyle.

A Fight for Food Sovereignty

The story of the efforts of the Mashpee Wampanoag peoples to regain control of their food system, featured in the Civil Eats article “The Thanksgiving Tribe is Still Fighting for Food Sovereignty,”provides an example of a struggle for food sovereignty. The tribe, who greeted the Pilgrims in 1620 in their ancestral home, has had their land systematically taken away, and have faced food insecurity. They have turned to greenhouses to raise year-round crops in their cold climate, but the tribe is working on reintroducing Indigenous farming techniques, focusing on sustainable practices that protect the environment, and promoting agriculture within the community. Factors that contradict food sovereignty is their loss of land and connection to their own traditional foods and practices, which unfortunately leads to a loss of culture.

Principles of Food Sovereignty

Food sovereignty is defined by the following principles, which help ensure that all living individuals have the right to culturally appropriate food, defining their food system, and working in rhythm with nature.

1. Food for the people.

Food for the people highlights peoples’ need for healthy, culturally appropriate food that is the center of food agriculture, livestock, and fishery policies. This principle does not support the corporate regime the food industry has built, nor the health effects of this industrial food system.

2. Values Food ProvidersValuing all food providers, such as women, family farmers, herders, fisher people, forest dwellers, indigenous people, and immigrant workers, helps breakdown commodity fetishisms and rebuild relationships within the food system.

3. Localizes Food Systems

A localized food system builds relationships between local farmers and the customer, which helps the farmer develop security. Plus, this principle reduces the number of miles a food travels to the consumer, thus more fresh produce is consumed.

4. Puts Control in Local Hands

Putting control in local hands of the food providers allows for more variety and control over their land, seeds, and water resources. Without adequate control, farmers are limited with the number of resources at their fingertips to use in order to maintain ecological and human health.

5. Builds Knowledge and Skills

Building on knowledge and skills is a principle that encourages cultural agricultural traditions to be passed down from generation to generation. Cultural traditions help establish the mindset of thinking how a decision’s repercussion will affect generations later in the future.

6. Works with Nature

Working with nature maximizes the contribution the ecosystem provides humans, avoids toxic inputs, improves the resilience of the food system, and helps work toward fighting climate change.

How to Support Food Sovereignty

In order to support the food sovereignty movement, it is important to recognize policies that align with the principles of food sovereignty. For example, achieving food sovereignty for the nearly 500 million smallholder farming families around the world is key to establishing a just, resilient, and healthy future for this planet. You can also support and volunteer in grassroot organizations and initiatives that advocate for food sovereignty to become involved with the movement in a more personal way.

• National Family Farm Coalition
• U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance
• GRAIN
• Farm Sahel
• Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance
• Sustainable Harvest International

Tips to Promote Food Sovereignty in Your Community

• Grow food locally, whether in a backyard or community garden. Try saving the seeds for growing next year.
• Support your local producers, including farmers, ranchers, and fishers.
• Increase the biodiversity of your diet, by including a greater array of local, seasonal produce, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds.
• Consume more whole, minimally processed foods, over highly processed packaged foods.
• Learn more about spices in traditional cultural diets.
• Eat the foods that you like and that are part of your tradition, not those that you are “told to like”.
• Enjoy your meals, rather than eating on the go or at the desk.

Lastly, every food item you purchase is a way to vote with your dollar for companies that support food sovereignty in their policies. Supporting the food sovereignty movement can help ensure that all individuals have culturally appropriate food as a human right and are able to make his or her own decisions regarding his or her food system.

References:
N.A. (2020). Indigenous Food Sovereignty. Indigenous Food Systems Network.
https://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/food-sovereignty

NFFC. (2020). What is Food Sovereignty? National Family Farm Coalition.
https://nffc.net/what-we-do/food-sovereignty/

Talty, Alexandra. (2021). The ‘thanksgiving Tribe’ Is Still Fighting for Food Sovereignty. Civil Eats civileats.com/2020/06/26/the-thanksgiving-tribe-is-still-fighting-for-food-sovereignty/

Main image: Cultural herbs in Thailand
All photos by Sharon Palmer

For more blogs on sustainable food systems, check out the following:

Growing Diet Diversity for a Healthy Planet
The Myriad Benefits of Community Gardens
Three Low Carbon Diet Tips
Food Assistance Programs in Farmers Markets
5 Ways to Get Involved in Your Local Food System
Cooking Tips for Environmental Sustainability
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Volunteer Opportunities to Help Reduce Food Insecurity