This exceptional collection gives voice to the peasant movements that
are planting the seeds of a revolution that could fundamentally alter
our relationship with food - and with each other. With increasing hunger
in the world, especially among marginalised populations in both the
North and South, the current high-input, industrialised, market-driven
food system is failing. It is failing to provide for the food needs of
all people, failing to respect the principles of environmental
sustainability, and it undermines local empowerment and agrarian
citizenship. Around the world, people are resisting the environmental,
social and political destruction perpetuated by the industrial
agricultural system. This resistance has led to a new and radical
agricultural practice - food sovereignty - which puts control in the
hands of those who are both hungry and produce the world's food -
peasants and family farmers - rather than corporate executives.
Advocating a practical, radical change to the way much of our food
system operates the contributors, including Raj Patel, Walden Bello,
Philip McMichael, Miguel Altieri and Eric Holt-Gimenez, show through
analysis and case studies that food sovereignty results in increased
production, safe food that reaches those who are in the most need and
agricultural practices that respect the earth. This is the means to
achieving the UN-endorsed goal of food security.
