I am sorry if I left the impression that you support the concept of Food Svereignity in any way.

I suppose I should have said “when THEY say such and such” rather than “when YOU say such and such”, since they are the confused socialists and you are just exposing the flaws in their argument.

I’m sorry if I left the impression that I support the concept of Food Sovereignty in any way.

While I have just discovered the term and its description, I can say that from what I’ve read so far that I agree with you: This doctrine is convoluted and oppressive. It appears to be cut from the same dismal cloth of collectivism that helped demolish Russia during their Soviet phase, and is anathema to all things libertarian.

My summary of the seven principles of Food Sovereignty was intended to offer simpler phrasing of those murky collectivist definitions. I also wanted to suggest the actual effects of that kind of thinking. While potentially very well intentioned, this sort of Food Communism would inevitably lead to the same horrific results that Soviet communism did.

Oh, and you’re right NANA (fruit and vegie lobby) is HUGE:
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/03/if-we-passed-out-grades-for-science.html

I removed the double comment (the first one that wasn’t formatted) for you…

BTW, I think your summary is spot-on.

“Food sovereignty” is a term originally coined by members of Via Campesina in 1996 [1] to refer to a policy framework advocated by a number of farmers, peasants, pastoralists, fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, women, rural youth and environmental organizations, namely the claimed “right of peoples to define their own food, agriculture, livestock and fisheries systems,” in contrast to having food largely subject to international market forces.

Via Campesina’s seven principles of food sovereignty include:

1. Food: A Basic Human Right. Everyone must have access to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food in sufficient quantity and quality to sustain a healthy life with full human dignity. Each nation should declare that access to food is a constitutional right and guarantee the development of the primary sector to ensure the concrete realization of this fundamental right.

2. Agrarian Reform. A genuine agrarian reform is necessary which gives landless and farming people – especially women – ownership and control of the land they work and returns territories to indigenous peoples. The right to land must be free of discrimination the basis of gender, religion, race, social class or ideology; the land belongs to those who work it.

3. Protecting Natural Resources. Food Sovereignty entails the sustainable care and use of natural resources, especially land, water, and seeds and livestock breeds. The people who work the land must have the right to practice sustainable management of natural resources and to conserve biodiversity free of restrictive intellectual property rights. This can only be done from a sound economic basis with security of tenure, healthy soils and reduced use of agro-chemicals.

4. Reorganizing Food Trade. Food is first and foremost a source of nutrition and only secondarily an item of trade. National agricultural policies must prioritize production for domestic consumption and food self-sufficiency. Food imports must not displace local production nor depress prices.

5. Ending the Globalization of Hunger. Food Sovereignty is undermined by multilateral institutions and by speculative capital. The growing control of multinational corporations over agricultural
policies has been facilitated by the economic policies of multilateral organizations such as the WTO, World Bank and the IMF. Regulation and taxation of speculative capital and a strictly enforced Code of Conduct for TNCs is therefore needed.

6. Social Peace. Everyone has the right to be free from violence. Food must not be used as a weapon. Increasing levels of poverty and marginalization in the countryside, along with the growing oppression of ethnic minorities and indigenous populations, aggravate situations of injustice and hopelessness. The ongoing displacement, forced urbanization, repression and increasing incidence of racism of smallholder farmers cannot be tolerated.

7. Democratic control. Smallholder farmers must have direct input into formulating agricultural policies at all levels. The United Nations and related organizations will have to undergo a process of democratization to enable this to become a reality. Everyone has the right to honest, accurate information and open and democratic decision-making. These rights form the basis of good governance, accountability and equal participation in economic, political and social life, free from all forms of discrimination. Rural women, in particular, must be granted direct and active decisionmaking on food and rural issues.

This is the first I’ve heard of Food Sovereignty. Obviously, I’d need to study it more to have more sophisticated appreciation. As it stands, the seven principles seem to translate to:

1. I have a right to force other people to make food for me that I like and is good for me.

2. I can take other people’s land. More so if I was female. I can also homestead land even if it already was done so by someone else who claims ownership.

3. If someone comes up with an idea of how to better use their land, I can force them to share that with me.

4. Growing more food than I can eat and selling it is bad. It implies my food is of value to others.

5. Whether agreements between myself and other producers and distributors are voluntary sales or government enabled confiscation, governments should have a piece of that action.

6. If government oppression or unbridled reproduction causes others to be hungry, the product of my land and effort is rightfully theirs to take.

7. If I can get a bunch of my friends to vote with me, we can do whatever we like to the minority. Especially if my friends are mostly women.

However, I might not have that right.

Well, if my grandmother is to be believed, at least the kids will have good eyesight.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Which is why the class of issues most appropriately handled by government are issues of force: National Defense, Civil Defense (police), and enforcing arbitration (courts).

In matters beyond the force-based (like diet, business, religion, voluntary associations, sexual preferences), government is the wrong tool for the job.