Article by Ruby van der Wekken, RIPESS Europe
“Food is a core societal thing. Food is first of all what joins all of us. And in whose hands the control of our food system is, including of course water, in those hands the control of society lies. In other words, people can more govern their own lives, if food (the food system) is in their control. In that sense, all efforts done to get food back under the control of people is very important for the development of society, and only by addressing this, we can change our society into being more just and fair”, is a quote from Jukka Lassila, the farmer of food cooperative Oma maa operating according to the principles of Community Supported Agriculture in Tuusula, Finland.
How to see this systemic transformation to be gained from a changing of our food system rooted in peoples processes that this quote refers to? Food systems change ties into a multitude of different issues related to a change in the production, consumption and distribution of our food, as can be read more about in “Community Supported Agriculture – blurring the boundaries between producers and consumers, urban and rural, and furthering our commons and commoning : furthering change!”
To name a few and starting from primary production, it implies at its very core that first we take care of the land before we see what we eat. Taking care of the land means strengthening the capacity of the land to uphold biodiversity, to see to carbon sequestration and more efficient nutrient recycling, and farming then happens according to principles of Agroecology, of permaculture and polyculture.
Also secondary production of farm produce implies a reviewing of methodologies, including a revisiting of traditional local methodologies not out of nostalgia for the past, but because of more efficient resource use. All in all, such changes on the production and consumption side of our food system then have the potential to be engaging and employing many more people on a farm and any secondary production units in meaningful relations to the land, in meaningful livelihoods, and in our possibility and capacity to consume locally produced healthy food.
Food system change would also mean a strengthening of the access to good food for all. We know that globally inequality in access to food will be exacerbated in the coming years by climate change, but also that whilst we have abundance in Europe, also in Europe people are facing malnutrition and hunger.
What kind of a rallying around food systems change is happening at the moment? On a global level, the Nyeleni global forum is gearing up to take place in Sri Lanka in September, and just saw preparatory meetings in May in SriLanka in which als RIPESS Europe participated and worked along. Importantly the Nyeleni forum having come out of the organising of the global food sovereignty movement has been opening itself up to other movements in order to add more political weight to the marginal voices of farmers, as well as in an acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of struggles and to come to a collective political agenda around systemic transformation. Globally the food movement makes a lot of reference to the UN declaration of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) of 2018, and to the 10 elements of the agroecology framework as developed by the FAO, with SSE then offering both an envisioning and the means as to how to look comprehensively at the economic change required in order to achieve food sovereignty. This newsletter is glad to report on the establishment of a new network for Solidarity economy in Germany.
In Europe, and as a result of Covid, the Ukrainian war and an inflation of food prices, a focus has been developed on the (Human) right to good food. In October 2024, the European Council adopted resolution 2577 ‘Guaranteeing the human right to food’. In a webinar “Guaranteeing the right to food” organised by FIAN Belgium in November 2024. European legislation so far has carried an emphasis on food security, on the issue of contaminants and safety but not on the quality of food. The new resolution then has important implications for the elaboration of progressive food policies in Europe, and represents a shift from emergency aid to resilience building. The European Union is also a donor of food aid, and the Council’s resolution is seen as having the potential to influence trade and support governments in reclaiming normative frameworks, particularly by enabling them to regulate agribusiness. However, while such resolutions exert important political pressure, they are not legally binding. Only the establishment of a binding legal framework grounded in human rights would give the Council the authority to enforce its rulings
During the webinar on the Right to Food, a representative from La Via Campesina emphasized that the actual implementation of this right depends on building strong alliances between food producers and society at large. While the resolution itself can serve as a powerful tool for mobilization, especially at the grassroots level, it raises an ongoing question within our movements: should our efforts focus on raising public awareness and mobilization, or on advocacy and the development of enabling legislation? Another way to frame this is to ask—does one necessarily precede the other? A widely held view is that popular mobilization must come first, with legislation serving as a reflection of the realities already shaped by collective action.
The canton of Geneva is, in many ways, a unique case. Since 2023, the right to food has been enshrined in its Constitution following an approval of 67% of the population through a popular vote. The canton is now in the process of drafting a corresponding Law on the Right to Food and many municipalities have already taken action. Because this right is constitutionally recognized, the canton and the municipalities are obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food of all, without discrimination. Geneva’s experience has also served as a precursor and inspiration for taking the campaign to the EU level. RIPESS is part of the Steering Committee of the association Good Food For All – EU (GFFA-EU) registered in Brussels. Under the slogan “Food is a Human Right for All! Guaranteeing healthy, just and sustainable food systems”, GFFA – EU will initiate a European Citizens “Good Food for All” Initiative process with the aim to gather at least one million verified signatures from EU citizens. The campaign will start at the end of 2025 and wants to ensure that the Right to nutritious and adequate food produced sustainably and with dignity becomes part of EU legislation.
Yet other initiatives take things in the direction of making access to good food a social security branch. The basic idea of the Food social security Initiatives is to invite citizens to come together in a collective political process, where pooled resources are redistributed equally each month among all participants to be used for purchasing food from sustainable local producers.
In this newsletter, elaborated upon is also on how in Poland a national coalition for food sovereignty has been formed, and on how the Polish Ministry has approved one year ago of the professional qualification of ‘CSA Advisor’ to the Ministry of Labour on the initiative of the ‘Ziarno’ Association in Grzybowo, which means that the subject of CSA can be included in the curriculum of schools (vocational and university level) and also enables various types of specialists advising farmers to improve their qualifications.
In different ways in the above, through peoples organising and the shaping of resolutions legislations and policies, food is becoming more of a Commons – and with this the hope that increasingly the potential of systemic transformation to be achieved through food systems change can be realising itself.
Making visible, acknowledging, accompanying and strengthening this paradigm shift of food from a commodity to a commons is non extractive research on Social and Solidarity economy, regarding which RIPESS Knowledge commons circle has come out with a set of Guidelines. This collaborative work is welcoming comments and wants to remain as such a living participatory document.
Working towards food sovereignty and towards SSE building at large is importantly also the working towards peace, and RIPESS Europe as such has joined the collective call “ Stop ReArm Europe” “to strongly oppose this dangerous shift and its potential disastrous consequences”. Indeed, and by all means, “Public funding and taxpayers money should go towards building long lasting peace, not war”.
