food sovereignty

Showing posts with label food sovereignty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food sovereignty. Show all posts
Thursday, 31 March 2016

April 24th 2016 - Ireland's Food Sovereignty Proclamation Day.

Let’s make April 24th 2016 -  the real date that marks the Easter Rising -  Ireland’s food sovereignty proclamation day. And let's eat and tweet about it. Here's the why and how.

April 24th 2016 is the actual 100th anniversary of the 1916 rising. On that date a century ago, a visionary proclamation was read out to unsuspecting  passers by. Within a few short years, all had changed, changed utterly. After the recent state-sponsored and quite sanitised commemoration at Easter just past, will there be more of a people’s remembering – a celebration of the ideas in that fateful document - on the 24th?

One way to do this is to rally around the Irish Food Sovereignty Proclamation. For the last couple of years, a dedicated bunch have made their way to Mayo to meet when the Afri famine commemoration walk happens. There, these citizens - farmers, growers, eaters, organisers and more – have developed a food sovereignty proclamation for Ireland. Most of this work was done at the second Food Sovereignty Assembly on May 15 2015. These Assemblies connect Ireland up to a global food sovereignty movement  - including La Via Campesina and the Nyeleni Process initiated in Mali in 2007 - which seeks to  protect and promote rural small scale local food producers. 


Irish Food Sovereignty Proclamation pasted onto Ag House (Government Buildings) Photo (c) William Hederman

Food Sovereignty, at its simplest, is about people regaining control over food. It’s about people getting far more involved in the what, where, how and why of food: what is produced; where is it produced; how is it produced and distributed; why is it grown or reared the way it is? It’s about the right to food - making good food available and affordable to all. It’s about helping our local quality food producers  - and workers - make a decent living. It’s about treating the earth  - its climate, its seeds, all its resources - respectfully. It’s also something you can interpret and develop for yourself, based on these core principles.

From the food sovereignty proclamation:

We recognise that Food Sovereignty is about more than just local food  - it is about rights – our rights to access land, resources, seeds and knowledge. It is also about the welfare of the planet, about low-input farming systems that feed our people while responding to the challenge of climate change. It is about democracy, about the voices of our people and about how we organize ourselves. It is about the rights of women. It is about our societies living at peace with each other and with our planet. It is about recognising our place in the generational flow that includes our ancestors and our descendants.

Here’s an idea. Let’s make April 24th 2016 Ireland’s food sovereignty proclamation day. Let’s make an extra special effort to eat food that really reflects the sentiment of this document of ours. And let’s tell the world about it. Gather with friends, family or neighbours and get together a meal that best reflects Ireland’s food sovereignty proclamation - wherever you are. It can be simple or splendid. Even if you happen to eat alone that day - make a meal of it! Do up a dish that says yes to local, careful, loving food producers. 

Here’s how we tell Ireland and the world about our food sovereignty proclamation:

1: Get your self a #foodsov meal together - you, your mates, a big group - whatever.
2:Take a snap of the dish and/or gathering.
3: Go onto social media – twitter, instagram  or facebook  - attach the picture, and write a short message about the dish.
4:  Hashtag the message with #foodsov and link to the food sovereignty proclamation. 

Wherever you are eating, whatever you feel is the most apt thing to eat’n’tweet –do it and tell the world! On this day, let’s make our food sovereignty proclamation shine. Let's use this day  - April 24th – to springboard food sovereignty in Ireland. April 24th is but one day - there are many more days and ways to connect with people and producers. So remember eat, snap, write a wee message, #foodsov, link to our food sovereignty proclamation and then, just tweet it!



Samples



Saturday, 16 February 2013

VISIT CLOUGHJORDAN 22ND-24TH FEBRUARY: Co-operative food event & gig!


From Friday to Sunday 22nd to 24th February, there are a number of great events on in Cloughjordan. There's a smallholder event, a co-operative and community food event, and a great fun(d) raising gig on the Saturday night. See below for much more, including full programme at the end on this posting.

TO BOOK CLICK HERE
In the boom times, a sense of community and co-operation seemed to waiver. The focus was on the individual, the personal property portfolio, and other private money making initiatives.

Meanwhile, the co-op movement plodded along. There are almost 1500 registered co-ops in Ireland, and many more companies and organisations with co-operative principles written into their constitution. There are over 300 co-ops in the argi-food, forestry and fisheries area alone.

According to Dr. Olive McCarthy of UCC's Centre for Co-operative studies “Historically, co-ops start out with the aim of achieving a fair price for production, and as hub for community development. An early motto was 'Better farming, Better business, Better living'. However Co-operative consciousness declined by the 1920s”.

Though under-emphasised in the history books, co-operatives were an integral part of the push for independence. After the Land Acts initiated a shift in land ownership and ownership of production, the co-ops initiated a change in distribution. Within a few decades, Irish peasants and small farmers controlled production and distribution of the main asset the land produced – milk. Political independence was just a step after that.

With co-ops, something happens along the way, however. Unless checked, they slowly loose their community focus and become primarily businesses focused, with full time managers ensuring profit. While this does of course have benefits and positives, it also undoubtedly represents a loss too.

So every few decades, the co-op movement reinvents itself. A small step in the process of re-enchanting the co-op, one I am involved in myself, is happening on the 23rd and 24th of this month, in Cloughjordan Tipperary. (a pre-event smallholder and CSA Salon is also on 22nd, see programme below)

There, in the newly built and innovative WeCreate space (see pic)  in the town's ecovillage quarter, “Feeding Ourselves: How communities can benefit from co-operative food systems” will be held.


The aim of the event is to co-learn how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting communities and local economies.

Case studies, presentations and breakout discussions will be held on topics such as community supported agriculture, food coops and buyers clubs, community kitchens, food hubs, community shops, on-line distribution models, community gardens and other local supply and distribution systems.

The format will, aptly, be very participatory. There will not be a sequence of experts pontificate from the podium. Instead, novel organisational techniques will be used to ensure that lots of the expertise in the room emerges and is made available to all.

“If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, this event is for you” says Davie Philip, chair of Cloughjordan Community Farm, which is organising the event.

The event should be of interest to GIY groups, transition towns movements, organic growers who want to learn how to access new markets, community organisations and many more.

The UK's Plunket Foundation are also involved. Mike Perry of the organisation sees this as “an important and timely event which we’re delighted to be part of”. They will bring what they have learned in their experiences with supporting the community food movement in the UK to Ireland.

Plunket were involved with another Tipperary initiative, the Loughmore's community cafe. Representatives of Loughmore will be outlining their initiative, and how it came about, at the event.

RTE's Ella McSweeney will host a panel discussion on the way forward for co-operative approaches to food.

Accommodation is available in the ecovillage's hostel, Djangos (087 2569348).

There is a Cloughjordan Community farm fundraiser Saturday 23rd, featuring the multi nation reggae band Dub Investigation, and the Pressure Drop reggae sound system. (see poster)


Weekend conference tickets are E50, individual sessions are also priced specifically, including an Irish Smallholders Association event on Friday 22nd. (E10 Friday; E35 saturday; E20 sunday) For bookings, email training@cloughjordancommunityfarm.ie or ring Davie on 087 6340697.

TO BOOK: CLICK HERE

Full programme  Feeding Ourselves – Schedule


Friday 
09.00 – 17.00 – Complete Introduction to Smallholding
With Lily de Sylva of the Irish Smallholders Association.
This full-day course covers all aspects of small-scale food production, giving you the basic information you need to get going on a  small farm project, from your back yard to a few acres.  The course costs €50 for the full day, including lunch.  There are a maximum  of 12 places available.  For bookings, and further details, please visit http://www.smallholding.ie/courses.html

19.30 – 21.30 – The Community Supported Agriculture Salon
A ‘salon’ is a gathering of people held to increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. This ‘salon’ on CSA will  discuss what the different types are, where they have been developed, introduce how we do CSA here in Cloughjordan and explore the barriers to more being established.

Saturday
10.00 - Opening
10.10 – Voices form the Field. Short presentations/ case studies on different community approaches to growing and  distributing food. The aim of this session is to provoke conversation in the café discussion.
Community Kitchens and Shops, Online Distribution Systems, Bread Club, Pork Share, Beef Bonds, CSAs, Food Coops/ Buyers Clubs, Food Sovereignty Initiatives, Cooperative Structures, Community Gardens
11.30 - World Café Discussion – ‘The opportunities and barriers of a cooperative approach’
13.00 - Lunch – Options Below
14.30 - Feeding Ourselves Panel Discussion - The Cooperative the Way Forward
Ella McSweeney of RTE will lead this discussion, which will build on what we have heard so far and look at the setting up, structuring and the financing of cooperative food systems.
16.00 - Break
16.15 - Making Local Food Work – James Alcock, Head of Frontline, Plunkett Foundation (UK)
James is responsible for Plunkett’s Frontline service, ensuring rural communities have access to advice and support setting up and  running community enterprises.
17.00 - Close
20.00 – Eating Together at Cloughjordan House - €10
22.00 – Dancing Together at Cloughjordan House - €10 (Event participants) €12
The Dub Investigation supported by Pressure Drop Sound system will provide the inspiration to dance. Food, refreshments and drinks will be available. This is a fundraiser for the Cloughjordan Community Farm

Sunday 
11.00 - Tour of the Ecovillage and Community Farm
12.30 - Lunch
13.30 - Open Space Session – Focused breakout sessions on specific topics….
Growers – (CSAs, single crop CSAs, Community Gardens, Securing Livelihoods)
Cooperative Approaches (Community Shops, Food Coops, Community Kitchens, Buyers Groups)
On Line Distribution, (OOOBY Model and other emerging online distribution systems)
Food Sovereignty (Food security through local, just and environmentally sound food systems)
15.30 – Plenary – Sharing our learning and moving forward.
16.00 - Close