July - Food Sovereignty Month

[Idine Espanyas]

Food sovereignty is a celebration of biological diversity and the life around us. It offers a different kind of vision for our collective future that might be different from the mainstream view. It is a vision that supports the livelihoods of small farmers around the world. As defined by the peasant farmers’ group Via Campesina, food sovereignty is “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute, and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) recognized this right in the Declaration on Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas by declaring that “people working in rural areas have the right to determine their own food and agriculture systems.”

Why is food sovereignty important to us, in modern Western society? Most of us don’t work on a farm, we sit behind a computer all day or work in an office. As we saw during the past year with food shortages and skyrocketing prices of basic staples, consolidation in the food industry renders our food system all the more unstable to shocks such as avian flu, pandemics, or climate change. Diversity in our food system only makes it stronger, and this month we will discuss the importance of supporting small farmers, biodiverstiy, and rediscovering culturally important foods.

Discussion:

Are you able to grow food at your home? If not, why not? If so, what do you like to grow?

Are you able to support local farmers? If not, why not? If so, how do you support? (Farmers’ market, CSA, etc.)

Share your garden photos in the thread or in our discord!


Sources:

Food Sovereignty, a Manifesto for the Future of Our Planet | La Via Campesina

Food Sovereignty

viacampesina.org

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO to inform on progress t...

www.fao.org

 

[Veluene al'Myr]

Food sovereignty is something I feel very strongly about and see growing issues around the world on this topic. Regenerative farming and shopping from local producers is something I believe is important as well as growing our own, free from any chemicals or pesticides. Silas & I am fortunate that in our area on top of the local farmers market we also have food coops that provide wholesale costing for local produce and is all about bringing your own containers so there is minimal waste/packaging, and food swaps organized by various rural town ships.

Spoiler: Local food swap & coop

I have included a picture of the potager in full summer bloom vs some I took just now where its currently mid-winter and disclaimer - the garden needs some weeding and maintenance, as you can see the frost got the better of the comfrey

I also took a pic of our chickens who lay eggs in the warmer months for us and our little orange tree. As you can see we have some leek and the garlic is growing well (hopefully for a nov/dec harvest), and in the summer there are lots of medicinal herbs I like to plant alongside our our summer veg. Oh and there are pineapple fejoias along the back fence.

We also have an orchard in the front paddock with a mulberry, apple, 2 pears and a cherry tree, and an apricot and fig out the back that are still yet to fruit as they were only recently planted. It can be a lot of work at certain times of the year but definitely worth it, it is most rewarding to grow your own and it really does taste better. This year I hope we can add in some blackberries or raspberries, and maybe some asparagus.... oh and ducks would be nice...as would a goat or two....

Spoiler: Our Summer vs winter garden

vs

 

[Idine Espanyas]

This is lovely, thank you for sharing the photos @Veluene al'Myr . I love the photo of the chickens with the orange tree. Do your winters get very cold? What do you do in winter? You are fortunate to be able to buy local and also grow yourself.

I support a small local Community Supported Farm and am a member of the local community garden. I also try to grow some veggies on my balcony but there isn’t much sun there. I’m fortunate to have different options near me for supporting local farmers.

 

[Veluene al'Myr]

Thank you and that's so great you support local too and even if you don't have much space/sun you are growing some stuff! I also think herbs are the best value to grow, because here in Aus a bit of basil or parsley costs $3.20 at the shops, and its so easy to grow and can be done in pots or on a window sill.

As for how cold it gets here, hmm not very cold compared to the US or Europe I think, it gets down to -5c (23f according to google) some wintery nights with a heavy frost, however no snow unfortunately. We do try to eat more or less according to the seasons, minus the occasional take away, so focus on more carb/meat dishes with veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkins, spinach etc. Oh and soups! I love soups so much.

Looking forward to seeing pics of other people's gardens or plants! Please do share 🤗

 

[Alexr al'Petros]

I'm not allowed in the garden much; my responsibilities are the landscape. Our garden is mostly a green house given the very active wildlife that we have and remains fairly small. However there are only two of us; so we don't need much. This weekend, we ate mostly from the garden.

Spoiler: Greenhouse garden

In addition, I'm trying to learn how to make bread and maybe mead (both those projects are ongoing, so work in progress).

Spoiler: Wild yeast and Mead

The Honey is from a local creamery and the wild yeast is from the flowers around the property. We get our eggs locally by trading services. And will usually, buy a quarter local cow for our year-round meat needs (even then we have to give away about 1/2 - it's a LOT of meat.).

Historically our valley was all dairy farmers; but it is now all corp-agri with alfalfa and hay. Initial attempts to start a farmers markets were opposed locally; so I joined our local land use board and now small farm agricultural and agri-tourism zoning have an ally as they try to re-tool their business models.

Our winters are pretty brutal and growing season is limited; but with proper planning - we can be self-sufficient.

@Veluene al'Myr , I love SOUPs and STEWs as well!

 

[Raevyn Tsornin]

We don't grow any veges but possibly could. We have mostly flower garden and would really only be able to grow things that can be pot bound like herbs and tomatos

 

[Rhyin al'Hut]

I support my local farmers whenever I go home to see my parents. This is such an important topic, accessibility to healthy food and not following the agenda of
big corporation’s needs. Thanks for bringing awareness @Idine Espanyas ❤️

 

[Lilli O' Neeus]

I love buying from local fruit and veggie stands when I can (which is seldom), but we do buy our meat local by going in with friends to buy a cow. I have so much hamburger meat in my deep freezer, but I haven't had to buy meat at the grocery store in more than 2 years. Those prices are insane!

 

[Idine Espanyas]

That’s amazing, thank you everyone for all you do to support your local farmers! It makes a difference!

 

[Leira Galene]

I used to be a big proponent of buying local produce when I lived somewhere with a farmers' market; sadly, now that isn't possible where I live. The growing season is super super short so we don't have local produce. We do have local reindeer meat and berries, though, and last summer we picked loads of wild blueberries that then got made into jam and pie. I have been considering trying to make something like jelly or syrup from a summer wildflower called fireweed, which is common in many polar communities from what I understand. I think also this summer/fall I will try to harvest some of the other berries that grow here too, like lingon and cloudberries. Although I'm not super sure what I'd do with them, lol.

So yeah, can't really grow things here, but I do enjoy foraging quite a lot! We have other edible plants and flowers in addition to fireweed.

Spoiler: photo from berry picking last summer

 

[Idine Espanyas]

I used to be a big proponent of buying local produce when I lived somewhere with a farmers' market; sadly, now that isn't possible where I live. The growing season is super super short so we don't have local produce. We do have local reindeer meat and berries, though, and last summer we picked loads of wild blueberries that then got made into jam and pie. I have been considering trying to make something like jelly or syrup from a summer wildflower called fireweed, which is common in many polar communities from what I understand. I think also this summer/fall I will try to harvest some of the other berries that grow here too, like lingon and cloudberries. Although I'm not super sure what I'd do with them, lol.

So yeah, can't really grow things here, but I do enjoy foraging quite a lot! We have other edible plants and flowers in addition to fireweed.

Spoiler: photo from berry picking last summer

While I’m sorry you can’t have local produce where you live, I think it’s very cool that you can do so much foraging! I have seen lingon berries in Ikea but never heard of cloudberries, what are they like?

When I lived with my parents, my sister and I would collect wild raspberries. Where I live now, I don’t see any wild raspberries, but there are a lot of mulberry trees growing everywhere, so I snack wherever I am. The mulberries are good for about two weeks.

 

[Leira Galene]

While I’m sorry you can’t have local produce where you live, I think it’s very cool that you can do so much foraging! I have seen lingon berries in Ikea but never heard of cloudberries, what are they like?

When I lived with my parents, my sister and I would collect wild raspberries. Where I live now, I don’t see any wild raspberries, but there are a lot of mulberry trees growing everywhere, so I snack wherever I am. The mulberries are good for about two weeks.

Cloudberries! I think they are also called salmon berries in Alaska. They're a bit tart but not as much as lingon, with biggish seeds like a blackberry, but also have a sort of creamy texture. It's a pretty unique taste so it's a bit hard to describe, haha. It's quite common to have cloudberry compote on top of things like waffles and ice cream here.

 

[Idine Espanyas]

Oh wow, they aren’t what I was expecting at all! I wish I could try some.