People’s Expo: «Feeding the planet, not profits»

An international delegation of RIPESS, including several members of the RIPESS Europe, participated in the Expo dei Popoli in Milano between June 3 and 5, 2015. Food sovereignty, the fight against climate deterioration related to agro industry, resistance movements to the ultraliberal economy that is starving people and devastates the planet were the central themes of this event, contesting the World Expo sponsored by multinational companies who claim to “nourish the planet”. The Expo is seen by its opponents as a financial mismanagement for the city of Milan.

The Expo dei Popoli offered an important opportunity for me to network with activists around the world working on food sovereignty and Agroecology related issues. To mention some of the good things first, the fact that some major CSO networks came together for a single purpose was a great accomplishment in itself, and the rather ‘loose’ configuration of the conference made it possible to do a lot of networking.

Nowadays with everyone being so busy all the time, I find it a rare occasion that Via Campesina, GCAP, CAN for example, came together with high profile members from each network participating. In addition, we had some popular speakers for the plenary sessions. This all added up to a well-structured media opportunity (which the EXPO dei Popoli was mainly about). Secondly, the conference schedule seemed to be rather stuffed at first look, but it turned out there were much flexibility to allow for the networking of participants. Personally, it became an excellent occasion to connect with the high profile participants mentioned above. As a member of RIPESS, I feel it was one of few opportunities to interact with members of other continents. Such occasions will probably be needed more, if we were to enlarge the network in the coming years.

More info on the Expo dei Popoli website.