#Landworkers Alliance

[cathkaesque]

For the past year Landworkers' Alliance, New Economics Foundation, Focus on Labour Exploitation, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Sustain, and former seasonal workers speaking in their own right have been investigating conditions for migrant workers on UK farms.

You can read the findings of this investigation in our latest report, Debt, Migration, and Exploitation: The Seasonal Worker Visa and the Degradation of Working Conditions in UK Horticulture here.

The report lays bare the legal and economic structures that allow for the exploitation of migrant seasonal farmworkers to take place within the industrial food system, and investigates the dynamics specifically within the UK Government's new Seasonal Worker Visa scheme that result in workers becoming tied to their employers and vulnerable to exploitation.

The report also examines how this exploitation of workers enables supermarkets at the top of the supply chain to reap huge profits, in stark contrast to the pay received by seasonal workers which often places them below the UK threshold for absolute poverty.

The report gives a platform for farmworkers to give their own account of life on the UK’s farms through extended testimonies and interviews, and demonstrates strategies used by workers in other regions to mobilise against the systems and supply chains that oppress them.

yoooooooooooo I did a webinar on my Very Big Very Cool farmworker report :)

#Vimeo

[rewritingtrauma]

The Oxford Real Farming Conference 2024 (ORFC24)

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with conferences. On the one hand, I always get swept away by the initial rush of excitement: a gathering of people, coming to exchange knowledge around a field we are all passionate about. On the other hand, for someone like me, the reality of conferences tends to be strange, isolating experiences dominated by academic, white, middle-class, cis people who speak a different language, with different values, and operate in a different world to me. Though I enter them full of excitement and curiosity, I usually leave feeling somewhat untethered, overwhelmed by theory and findings but bereft of community and thirsting for actionable, solutions-based approaches. I was delighted, therefore, when ORFC24 opened with a plenary of 10 speakers, all of them landworkers, from around the world, all of whom were extolling - in their own words and ways - action; solidarity; active hope; and calls for food, land, and sea sovereignty. It was clear from the outset this wasn’t going to be the ‘usual’ kind of conference (an abstract exploration of ideas and record of projects past) but a gathering of an international, multilingual, grassroots movement, rooted in an ethics of care and equality; working directly with the land on fairer systems of food and farming. 

During the opening Plenary, Charlotte Dufour from Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) invited us all - speakers, volunteers, and delegates, in Oxford and online - to take a moment to connect with the land, with one another, and to set an intention for the conference mindfully. In a busy programme of 45 sessions, featuring over 150 speakers and a busy stream of projects, opportunities, and conversations inundating social media, this invitation felt like a precious opportunity to gather focus, mitigate overwhelm, and ground ourselves. Sat at my kitchen table, some 330 miles away from Oxford, I set my intention: to seek out and learn from those at the frontlines of the struggle for Land, Food, and Environmental Justice. It didn’t take long for my intentions to be realised… 

In the Thursday lunchtime session Colonised and Coloniser Transforming Relationships through Food and Land Stories Loa Niumeitolu, a displaced Indigenous Tongan, now living and working on Lisjan Ohlone Territory, California and Jessica Milgroom, a descendant of settler families, who grew up on Ojibwe reservation land in Northern Minnesota, held a conversation that aimed to “...break down hierarchies…to ask how we relate… how can we walk forwards together healing the wound of colonisation through food...” (JM). The conversation was one of honouring, compassion and bearing witness. As a white person living in the UK, for me it was also one of humility and unlearning: of coming to understand how our Western food systems are designed, founded and run on the violent displacement of indigenous people; the erasure of indigenous food systems; the severing of indigenous identity and everybody’s connections to the land. In some of her closing remarks Loa Niumeitolu invited the attendees to think differently about our identities and interconnectedness: “The sacred site IS the land… the land is an extension of our bodies… and we are all from indigenous people… we all have great great great grandparents who cared for, and stewarded, and loved the lands that we’re on…”. The session left me thinking about how it is people like myself can find our way back to our indigenous selves, to our ecological identities, and to the essential interbeing with the lands we live on. This conversation, conducted across the divide of coloniser and colonised, offered hope for how stories, conversations, and gatherings may start to unravel the systems of oppression and exploitation that industrial agriculture (aka the food arm of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy) extends around the world.  

On the Friday morning session Building a Global Peasants Movement: 10 Years of Land Workers’ Alliance (LWA) and 30 Years of La Via Campesina (LVC) we heard from Jyoti Fernandes, Morgan Ody, Chukki Nanjundaswamy, and Paula Gioia themselves all land workers, farmers, peasants and indigenous peoples from around the world working both at the grassroots and international levels to oppose the neoliberal programme of WTO whilst also building international food sovereignty and land justice movements. It was a moving and eye-opening session led by women who - though it was never named - are all doing the vital repair work of rematriation.

Chukki Nanjundaswamy (Executive Chairperson of the Karnataka State Farmers Movement and co-coordinator of the All India Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements) traced the history of La Via Campesina (aka “Our Way” in Spanish) from its origins to the movement today which branches almost 100 countries and hundreds of local and national organizations “...fighting all kinds of imperialist and capitalist forces… for the right to food sovereignty”. She described how LVC is organised from the bottom up, constantly learning and evolving from the experiences of its members and other allies including the decision to ensure men and women were represented equally and at all levels of the movement. “LVC is not just about denouncing what we don’t want but also about building hope…across all sectors of society”. 

Jyoti Fernandes (Campaigns and Policy Coordinator for the Landworkers’ Alliance) described “the family” of LWA, itself a member of LVC, and her reasons for co-founding LWA in the context of the UK where inequality and access to land have been yolked since the time of the enclosures. She explored the organic origins of the movement from pro-nature, anti-GM protests; to creative expressions of hope, solidarity and resistance; a shared belief in rights for natural home building, self and community sufficiency, and a collective realisation that “...there was this huge network of unorganised people… the neo peasantry returning to the land… and smallholder farmers… all facing evictions … and struggling to survive in the face of the neo-liberal paradigm the UK government was pushing onto farming…”. She described, with infectious joy, how LWA now regularly consult with DEFRA who recognise that LWA’s impetus of “Matching food production with biodiversity and looking after the climate…” is in everybody’s interests. 

Paula Gioia (Facilitator of the Smallholder Farmers Constituency in the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism - CSIPM) talked about the intersectional work members of LVC had to undertake to develop a movement of radical change “… to fight against Capitalism and to fight against Patriarchy…this begins with self-reflection: how we reproduce Patriarchy in our daily lives… and this self-reflection begins with space… ” They described the women’s strike at of 1996 in Tlaxcala, Mexico during the 2nd International Conference of LVC in, which challenged the dominance of men, patriarchal ideas and attitudes in the movement whilst demanding; acknowledgement of the role women play in agriculture, farming, and society; 50 - 50 representation of men and women at all levels of LVC; a campaign highlighting and fighting violence against women and; the creation of spaces - now women’s assemblies - necessary for women’s ideas and voices to be supported by, and come forth through the movement.  

Morgan Ody (General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, member of Confédération Paysanne and of the coordinating committee of ECVC) wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh around her shoulders spoke with clarity and passion about LVC's global accomplishments:  

“… it is still illegal to crop GM crops in Europe, we fought for that… In Columbia, LVC is one of the main guarantors of the Peace Agreement… We have been the first to call for food sovereignty and now everybody is calling for food sovereignty…We have been pioneers of peasant feminism and now peasant feminism is growing everywhere…  We have been able to negotiate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP)...”  But Morgan’s talk didn’t end in the past, she spoke about how, in the face of multiple overlapping global crises, LVC offers alternative ways of being, of hope, of solidarity now and going forward “...Peasants…and all who are taking care of Mother Earth are the future...”. 

She expressed grief and horror at the genocide happening in Palestine and the complicity of governments: “This is not acceptable and as La Via Campesina, we stand against this barbary, we stand for human values, we stand for human dignities, of whoever, of women, of non-binary people, of people whatever their religion or the colour of their skin. We are equal and we are equal in dignity...” This was a powerful reminder that land and environmental justice are inextricably intertwined with social justice and that we are all responsible for decolonising ourselves, for calling out and resisting imperial violence and oppression, wherever it happens in the world. But this session also spoke to how we are all responsible, not just for fighting the old, but also for cultivating the new: through solidarity, active hope, compassion, and creativity. As Morgan said in her closing comments “We are all responsible...for building a culture based on human rights and equality, intentionality, solidarity, and cooperation.”  

The session was bookended with calls of “Viva La Via Campesina! Viva!” 

In reflecting on these sessions of ORFC24, I started to think that healing is not the same as forgetting, but equally, it is not about flagellating ourselves or one another with past and current traumas - healing comes when we slow down, take time to sit with the pain and discomfort, to listen, learn,  notice, and accept. This applies to ourselves, to those we have harmed, and to everyone (humans, land and more than humans alike).  What both these sessions taught me is that when we share space and stories, when we listen deeply to one another and bear witness with compassion and empathy, we slowly start to arrive at a new understanding and to do the slow, gentle work of cultivating regenerative cultures based on reciprocity, healing and solidarity. 

What I didn’t expect to happen as a consequence of volunteering at ORFC24 was that I would go away from the conference knowing more about myself…As someone who grew up in the English countryside but with no rights to access (we were a poor/working-class family living on a former miner’s terrace, surrounded by Grouse Moors and a large, tenanted estate) my relationship with the land was schismatic: though I felt a deep connection with the fells, moors, and rivers, I was also - according to the farmers, landowners and agents - an outsider. Worse, I was an illegal trespasser. I was surrounded by land which felt like home, like an extension of myself, only greater, deeper, older, more complex, more loving than I could comprehend. And yet, if caught swimming in the tarn, making dens on the fells, walking on the moors, or trudging through the heather, I would - at the very least - be shouted at and oftentimes, be warned away by the crack of shotgun fire. What ORFC24 and the incredible speakers made me realise is something that has taken me 30 years of unlearning to only start to understand: the necessary return to the land, the rediscovery of land-based life, something that I always yearned for but could never allow myself to imagine is not just a fantasy, it is a right. Listening to speakers on colonized lands, to those displaced by colonization and capitalism, to the LWA and LVC, I started to understand the violent inequality at the heart of our UK land and food systems. These speakers helped me see that I have the right to be on and with the land. Because there is no separation between us. I have always known, since I was a child, that myself and the land are one and the same, it was just educated out of me by our systems of inequality, land ownership and education. What the speakers at ORFC have helped me see is that my healing, and the healing of the land, are not separate but wholly, inextricably intertwined.  

So now, to begin again, with gratitude and humility… The work of reconnecting and healing all our wounds… 

Viva La Via Campesina! 

Viva!

Iris Aspinall Priest, Tyne Valley

10.01.23

Word Count: 1985

#equality #solidarity #food sovereignty #LVC #LWA #land rights #indigenous rights #healing #animism #Qi #Nature #Resistance #Dignity #Human rights #traumarecovery #trauma #colonialism #capitalism #right to roam #irispriest

[master-john-uk]

A little reported news story from Saturday 15th October 2022...

Farmers from across the UK descended on Parliament Square in London to demand better support for British farmers striving to adapt to more environmentally friendly, and sustainable methods of food production. We also want protection from cheap food imports from countries who do not adhere to our high standards.

The sustainable farming protest event was organised by the Landworker’s Alliance, and supported by all the UK farm worker’s representation groups.

The protest march was led by 74 year old organic farmer Gerald Miles from South Wales. It took him 5 days to get to London in his 1967 tractor, as it has a top speed of 15 mph. (He cheated on the way back to Wales by putting his tractor on the back of a low-loader truck!)

Originally, the farmer’s protest was intended to be a colourful day involving tractors, music and dancing. Unfortunately, it coincided with an ongoing protest by eco-warriors Just Stop Oil, who think that gluing themselves to roads, blocking emergency service vehicles, throwing soup over paintings in art galleries and causing criminal damage to buildings is acceptable.  I wonder how they heat their homes!

[don-lichterman]

Gene-editing bill 'threatens rights' of small-scale farmers, union says

Gene-editing bill ‘threatens rights’ of small-scale farmers, union says

The Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) has demanded the government amend its gene-editing bill or risk the rights and livelihoods of small-scale ecological farmers. The LWA, a grassroots union of smaller, agroecological farmers, said it was ‘deeply concerned’ over the impact of the new Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill. The bill, which has its second reading in parliament on Wednesday (15…

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#Featured

[thecreaturecodex]

Crucian

Image © Wizards of the Coast, by Stephen Tappin. Accessed at the D&D Miniatures Handbook Art Gallery here

[The crucian is one of the few reprints that appears in Sandstorm, having first appeared in the D&D Miniatures Handbook. It’s not mechanically very interesting, which makes me wonder why it got the honor. Maybe another crucian mini was coming out and WotC wanted to remind people what crucians were. Or maybe it just slotted in nicely to fill out a page count. My version is still pretty straightforward. I increased their CR to match their power level rather than power them down, and added a few abilities that match their flavor for stocky, defensive creatures]

Crucian CR 3 LN Humanoid This humanoid creature has a crab-like shell growing from its back, and chitinous plates on its limbs. Its face is mostly human, but weathered and with short, pointed ears. It wears leather clothing, and its shell is decorated with paint and etchings.

Crucians are desert-dwelling humanoids with territorial dispositions and a fierce sense of loyalty. They organize their society like a guild, with ranks being awarded or revoked for merit and talent. Each crucian band guards a single oasis, and sends crews from it on business or raiding missions.  Crucian bands distrust one another, and are more likely to engage in trade with other races than between bands. Raiding missions between bands are often undertaken to capture children to raise as their own—such influxes of new blood keep crucian bands from collapsing from inbreeding, but can create conflict if the children are old enough to have their own priorities and alliances when captured. Young, whether native or captured, are raised communally, with parental relationships taking a lower priority to loyalty towards the band as a whole.

Crucian warfare is all about defense. Crucian oases are well guarded by forts, walls and landworks, and crucian armies typically include sappers and engineers trained to overcome those obstacles. They tend to fight in formation, closing gaps in their ranks in order to avoid being flanked. They prefer hammers in combat—their own shells protect them from slashing and piercing damage. Crucians with levels often take teamwork feats to improve their ability to coordinate.

Crucians are decorative people, and their shells are painted and carved with symbols of their accomplishments and alliances. Band membership is carved into a crucian’s shell when it reaches the age of majority, and an exiled crucian has this symbol defaced. Such a ruined symbol is seen as highly shameful in crucian society, but many bands will accept an exile, if only to gain intelligence about a rival band. Crucians live short and intense lives. They are old by 40, and few survive to be 60. Crucians with Intelligence bonuses can take Giant, Gnoll, Sphinx and Terran as bonus languages.

Crucian                 CR 3 XP 800 LN Medium humanoid Init -1; Senses low-light vision, Perception +5 Defense AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (-1 Dex, +8 natural, +2 armor) hp 22 (3d8+9) Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +4 DR 5/bludgeoning Defensive Abilities stability, withdraw; Weakness awkward shape Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee masterwork earthbreaker +5 (2d6+3/x3) Ranged sling +1 (1d4+2) Statistics Str 15, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10 Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 12 (16 vs. bull rush, trip) Feats Alertness, Shake It Off Skills Diplomacy +2, Perception +5, Sense Motive +5 Languages Common, Draconic SQ hammerer, slow and steady Ecology Environment warm deserts Organization solitary, crew (2-5), squad (4-10 plus 1 3rd level sub-boss) or band (8-40 plus one 3rd level sub-boss per 10 individuals and 1 5th level boss) Treasure standard (masterwork earth breaker, sling, 10 bullets, leather armor, other treasure) Special Abilities Awkward Shape (Ex) A crucian can only wear armor custom designed for it. In addition, it increases the armor check penalty of all armor it wears by -1. Hammerer (Ex) A crucian is proficient in light hammers, warhammers and earthbreakers. Slow and Steady (Ex) A crucian’s base speed is 20 feet, but their speed is not reduced by armor or encumbrance. Stability (Ex) A crucian receives a +4 bonus to its CMD against bull rush or trip attempts when it is standing on the ground. Withdraw (Ex) A crucian gains an additional +1 to its AC when taking the fighting defensively or total defense actions.

#crucian #pathfinder 1e #D&D #sandstorm

[blogcooland]

Další český James BOND vyslán na tajnou misi tentokrát do Velké Británie: jak se daří anglických zemědělcům?

Jak již bylo zmíněno v příspěvku Český James BOND vyslán na tajnou misi do Španělska: jak se daří španělským zemědělcům?, propojování zodpovědných agroekologických zemědělců může mít mnoho podob. Se síťováním nám v současné době pomáhá i právě běžící evropský projekt Horizon 2020 BOND: Bringing Organization and Network Development to higher levels in the Farming sector in Europe. V projektu BOND bylo naplánováno 6 studijních cest do šesti zemí EU za účelem poznání místních úspěšných příkladů. Dalším zástupcem ze 4 českých BONDů je Martin Rosenbaum z Farmy Lukava.

S Martinem dlouhodobě spolupracuje, dva roky nám dodával sýry do naší KPZ CooLAND. Ač život na farmě často může vypadat až idylicky - viz příspěvek o Farmě Lukava, není to vždy pravda - proč? Protože pokud si pozemky pronajímáte, může vás jednoho dne čekat velké překvapení - podrobnosti si můžete přečít zde.

Martin je ale zemědělec - srdcař, a proto už opět vymýšlí další věci, jak zlepšit život nejen sobě, ale i jemu podobných zemědělců. Společně s Asociací místních potravinových iniciativ připravuje program Inkubačních farem.

A co zajímavého Martin s sebou z Anglie přivezl? Martin píše:

Koncem dubna (23 - 27.4 2018) jsem se zúčastnil studijní cesty do jižní Anglie. Pobyt organizovala Landworkers´ Alliance (LWA). Skupinu zemědělců tvořili Češi, Poláci, Rumuni, Španělky a Madaři - celkem 10 lidí. Opět nechyběli zástupci z Coventry Univerzity a skupinu doplnili i překladatelé a filmový producent Gaetano Naccarato, který ze všech studijních cest vytvoří krátký film, který bude ilustrovat propojenost farmářů s přírodou a jejich důležitost pro lidskou společnost obecně.

Pondělí bylo ve znamení příjezdu a ubytovaní na Monkton Wyld Court, což je magické místo. Několik posledních desítek let je provozováno komunitou lidí, jejichž snahou je mimo jiné podporovat udržitelný život.

Program anglické studijní cesty měl tři hlavní okruhy témat.

Prvním tématem bylo přestavení organizace Landworkers Alliance (LWA), která celý program připravila. Pokusím se zaznamenat poznatky, které mne zaujaly s ohledem k českému kontextu. LWA začínala v nedávné době jako zcela malá organizace, která si dala za cíl zastupovat malé farmáře, jež stávající zemědělské organizace přehlížely nebo nezastupovaly tak, jak by si malý farmáři představovali. Nyní má LWA cca 900 členů!

Hlavním cílem LWA je sdílení znalostí mezi malými farmáři a jejich politické zastupování. Jyoti Fernandes zmínila, že ve LWA mají 4 důležité nástroje, jak to provádějí:

zjišťují, co členové opravdu potřebují

vyprávějí příběhy zemědělců veřejnosti a politikům

vstupují aktivně do politiky

pomáhají farmářům učit se jeden od druhého.

V kontextu UK malé farmáře tíží zejména přístup k zemědělské půdě, obtížnost bydlení na vlastní půdě a vyloučenost ze systému dodací, jelikož farma pod 5 hektarů nemá na zemědělské dotace nárok.

V navštívené oblasti na jihu Anglie je v současné době několik desítek nových malých farem (1 - 10ha), které vesměs začínají s pěstováním zeleniny ve spojení s komunitou podporovaným zemědělstvím - KPZ. Je to zde nový fenomén, který je na vzestupu a jde ruku v ruce s masivním zájmen veřejnosti o kvalitní lokální jídlo. Téma lokálního jídla je celospolečensky akceptované a právě i díky němu se daří LWA zviditelnit malé farmáře.

Jednou z jejich komunikačních strategií či příběhů, které vyprávějí je: Kvalitní lokální jídlo bez poškození životního prostředí vám poskytnou právě malí farmáři. Příběh je srozumitelný pro široké sociální skupiny a společnost, kdy jej následně přejímají i politici.

Složitá situace malých zemědělců v Angli je umocněná i brexitem. UK opouští Společnou zemědělskou politiku EU a musí nyní vytvořit vlastní novou strategii. Velkou výzvou a ambicí LWA je do procesu vstoupit a prosadit zájmy malých farmářů do této nové zemědělské politiky. LWA je nyní zvána do diskuzí a procesu tvorby i ze strany politické reprezentace, protože malý=lokální je nyní opravdu v kurzu. To je příležitost poukázat na řadu problémů, kterým malí agroekologičtí zemědělci čelí. Při diskuzi s farmáři vyšlo například najevo, že díky vysokým cenám půdy, které stále rostou, je i v podmínkách Velké Británie téměř nemožné zaplatit investici potřebnou k rozjezdu své farmy (nákup půdy, materiálu, osiva, fóliáků) z výnosů malé farmy.

Přemýšlím, co z těchto poznatků by se dalo přenést do ČR.

Zde je pár postřehů pro inspiraci v ČR:

propojit drobné ekologické zemědělce, začínající malé farmy na venkově a lidi, kteří chtějí začít farmařit. Zjistit jejich potřeby a zastupovat jejich zájmy, které jsou dosavadními orgány státní správy nepokryty. Pojďme do toho spolu, pokud máte stejný záměr, napište mi nebo do AMPI a určitě něco společně vymyslíme. Chceme-li naše zájmy prosadit, musíme zesílit a být schopni efektivně komunikovat mimo naši skupinu.

využít trendu zvýšeného zájmu veřejnosti o dobré a kvalitní jídlo (fenomén vaření) k zviditelnění problematiky ochrany půdy a agroekologického zemědělství. To znamená zdůraznit příběh o tom, že dobré a zdravé jídlo je možné bez ničení přírody a malé farmy jsou jeho přirozeným nositelem a zdrojem.

doba pro posílení drobných farmářů zvolna nazrává i u nás - vzniká spoustu nových KPZtek, iniciativ jako je Asociace místních potravinových iniciativ, Prázdné pozemky nebo CooLAND, které se snaží přímo podporovat lokální zemědělce.

Druhým tématem bylo přestavení propojení zemědělců a spotřebitelů v praxi, především přes Comunity Supported Agriculture (CSA), u nás známé jako KPZky (komunitou podporované zemědělství). Navštívili jsme různé farmy, které používají princip CSA. Například Tamarisk Farm, Sheepholding, The community farm, Five penny Farm nebo St Werburghs Farm.

Myšlenka KPZ se zde neaplikuje pouze jako forma odbytu produkce, ale promítá se i do formy vlastnictví farmy. Navštívené farmy měly různé formy vlastnictví půdy, například farma vlastněná společně podílníky a zemědělcem, farma darovaná nebo farma pronajatá nadací či fondem zemědělci pro provozování CSA farmy (nejčastěji pro pěstování zeleniny). Komunitou podporované zemědělství je v Anglii velmi rozšířené, veřejně akceptované a dále na vzestupu.

Zajímavou ukázkou byla komunitou sdílená zpracovna ovoce, masa a mléka na Five penny Farm, kdy provoz zpracovny byl navržen a schválen místními veterinární správou.

Další důkaz o tom, že identická nařízení EU nastavena vždy nastavena tak, aby byla vždy používána s ohledem na místní podmínky. Bohužel Česká republika jde na zcela opačné straně spektra. Český úředník na základě svého názoru zakáže nebo ztíží stávající podmínky, ale prstem ukáže na EU. A nejen úředník, ale často my s ním. I to je další věc, na kterou my, zemědělci, musíme upozorňovat!

Na The Community farm nám například podrobně představili svůj způsob práce s veřejností, který je vedle pěstování zeleniny pro své podílníky, důležitou součásti jejich činnosti. Farma se zaměřuje na školní skupiny, rodiny s dětmi a práci s lidmi na okraji společnosti (mladiství z předměstí, drogově závíslí). Velký podíl na chodu farmy mají dobrovolníci, kteří zde působí od několika dnů až po 1 rok. Jak nám bylo několikrát zdůrazněno, práce s veřejností a dobrovolníky je náročná na organizační a komunikační dovednosti.

Další část dne jsme strávili v Bristolu, který je znám svou progresívní zelenou politikou a i v rámci Anglie tvoří mimořádný fenomén. Ten se projevuje například tím, že město aktivně řeší svoji potravinovou politiku. Aktivně podporuje lokální pěstování potravin pro obyvatele města tím, že při územním plánování se počítá s místy pro produkci potravin, které se mají zachovat nebo dále rozšiřovat tak, aby co nejvíce potravin pocházelo z bezprostředního okolí Bristolu. Navštívili jsme městskou farmu St Westburghs City Farm, jež se zaměřuje na práci s veřejností tím, že ji vzdělává o tom, jak jídlo vzniká a učí veřejnost si pěstovat vlastní potraviny v městském prostředí. Například porodnu prasat má tato farma v blízkosti ulice v samém centru Bristolu.

Zde je pár postřehů pro inspiraci v ČR:

soustavná propagace KPZ modelu jako užitečného nástroje pro malé a začínající farmáře z hlediska odbytu a formy vlastnictví

vytvořit model podpory získání půdy a startovního kapitálu pro zakládání nových farem například i jako předpoklad pro oslovení soukromých investorů, popř. crowdfundingové kampaně

nutnost pojmenovat a vysvětlovat problematiku zakládání nových malých farem - proč a v čem je to pro společnost přínosné

podchytit více městské obyvatele zajímající se o ekologickou produkci potravin. Díky větší koncentraci lidí, většímu vzdělání a ochotě se angažovat je možné tyto lidi aktivizovat pro projekty typu Urban gardening, využití zapomenutých městských ploch, městské farmy pro školy a rodiny s dětmi. Ekologická výchova nejen na téma odpady a co se děje v lese, ale i témata spojená s produkcí potravin a péči o půdu a krajinu. V takovém prostředí je možné propojit a aktivizovat lidi, pro které je jinak venkovská problematika vzdálená a tím dosáhnout širší základny podporovatelů

dlouhodobá a cílená práce s veřejností a městským zastupitelstvem přináší plody až nyní po téměř dvaceti letech

Třetím tématem studijní cesty po Angli bylo představení organizace Pasture-Fed Livestock Association. Organizace vznikla v nedávné době na obhajobu chovu přežvýkavců na farmách ve spojení s produkcí skleníkových plynů. Zemědělci se v souvislosti s diskutováním problematiky globálních změn dostali pod tlak veřejnosti a médií, zvláště v souvislosti s produkcí metanu při výrobě masa. Z velké části oprávněná kritika o neudržitelnosti současné průmyslové výrobě masa a chovu zvířat je vedla k tomu, aby přehodnotili svůj přístup.

Pastevně chovaný dobytek je velké téma v anglosaských zemích na obou březích oceánu i na jižní polokouli. V zásadě jednoduché metody managamentu a fakt, že krávy a ovce mají žrát trávu a ne obilí, vedl organizaci ke dvěma směrům činnosti:

Informování a vzdělávání farmářů v tom smyslu, že téměř vše, co jim říkali na univerzitách, v odborné literatuře a byznysu je jinak. Přežvýkavci mohou žřát pouze trávu, a přesto přinášet ekonomický zisk a k tomu mít příznivý vliv na biodiverzitu a půdní úrodnost.

2. Práce s veřejností ve smyslu:

- propagace “pasture fed livestock” jako zdroje kvalitních potravin (prokázaný vyšší obsah omega 3 aminokyselin)

- nástroje pro udržování biodiverzity v krajině (fenomén ochrany ptactva v UK)

- uhlíková stopa takto chovaných zvířat je neutrální nebo záporná (zachycování a ukládání oxidu uhličitého - carbon sequestring)

- nemusíte se cítit provinile, když si dáte “pasture fed steak”.

Herefordi na Whittington Lodge Farm.

** **

Zde je pár postřehů pro inspiraci v ČR:

zachycování a ukládání oxidu uhličitého (carbon sequestring) je termín, který v blízké době dorazí i k nám. Jde o vázání atmosferického uhlíku do organické hmoty v půdě, jako prostředku proti erozi, suchu a zvyšování koncentrace skleníkových plynů. V zahraničí je to mezi ekologickými zemědělci velké téma. Troufám si tvrdit, že tento parametr bude v budoucnu klíčový pro posuzování udržitelnosti způsobu hospodaření resp. přerozdělování veřejných prostředků do zemědělství. Tj. budou podporovány takové formy hospodaření, které zvyšují množství organické hmoty (uhlíku) v půdě bez ohledu na to, jak je budeme nazývat nebo jak veliká farma bude.

opět téma kvalitního a zdravého jídla jako tématu atraktivního pro širokou veřejnost jako nosiče pro další následné zprávy o zemědělství a krajině, které by pro veřejnost jinak nebyly zajímavé

etický rozměr produkce masa a jeho udržitelnost. Důkaz toho, že lze skloubit etickou produkci masa, ochranu biodiverzitu a zemědělské půdy. Nejen marketingově, ale i prakticky

Pracovní metoda KISS = Keep it Simple, Stupid! S implementací tohoto přístupu začínám okamžitě :-)

farmáři jsou schopni změnit způsob uvažovaní a na základě toho své pracovní postupy, když jim to začne dávat smysl a jsou vidět praktické výsledky.

Celý program za organizaci LWA uspořádaly Jyoti Fernandes a Laurie Walters. Musím je zvláště vypíchnout, protože jejich nasazení a organizační schopnosti si zaslouží zvláštní díky a obdiv.

** **

Text: -Martin Rosenbaum- Farma Lukava

Editace textu: -VJ-

Foto: -Martin Rosenbaum-

** **

CooLAND

** **

Cesta do krajiny vede kolem vás.

[skimblogs]

Films That Show Why Organic Food Matters

There are times when I feel as if I’m facing an uphill battle. Trying to explain why organic food matters to people is a challenge I’m willing to take on, but I often feel that if people understood the health benefits of organic food, they’d be more likely to see that it’s not just a fad and getting the best organic meal delivery isn’t a luxury but necessity. Studies show that organic food is better for you because it contains fewer pesticides and hormones. In this post, I’m going to reveal five films that show why organic food is essential for us as a society and the world around us. And sometimes services that provide organic home delivery meals are a good option to go for. DOWN ON THE FARM This six-part documentary series follows farmers in Devon. Two of the films show generational farmers that practise organic and sustainable methods. One operates a one-acre no-dig farm, and the other is a cattle farmer. Overall, I love how this documentary series highlights small-scale farms and shows there is an alternative to factory farming. Why Watch It? Down On The Farm will take you on a journey to a style of farming that is frequently overshadowed by traditional methods. It’s also interesting to see how passionate the farmers are about their industry. IN OUR HANDS Black Bark Films and the Landworkers Alliance teamed up with the small-scale farmers union to make this intriguing film. It highlights issues with the industrial farming system and looks at how small farms are suffering. Ultimately, the message of the film is that large scale farming operations impact Britain. Small-scale farmers face an uphill battle, but they continue to advocate for locally grown produce to sustain their industry. Why Watch It? Brexit means there will be lots of changes in Britain, and this film focuses on what might happen. Farms continue to shut down, and there’s no food bill to ensure the quality of our produce continues after Brexit. As a country, we face the risk of mass farming operations which impact animals and our environment. If you respect British farming, you should watch In Our Hands. JUST EAT IT Food waste is a significant issue, so two people decided to see just how much waste we create. They set out on a journey to only eat discarded food or products being thrown out by supermarkets. The six-month experiment shows how much food we throw away daily. Farms produce the food, supermarkets sell it, but consumers waste it. Why Watch It? Just Eat It offers a light-hearted look at modern-day consumer behaviour, but it also exposes how much food waste we create every day. As you can see from these statistics, the UK is actively contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Each British household could save hundreds of pounds each year if they adopted healthy eating habits, and this documentary highlights the significant issues people face. Buying food, then choosing takeaways contributes to polluting our planet. VANISHING OF THE BEES Colony collapse disorder is probably something you’ve never heard of, but you should learn about it. Commercial beekeepers are in crisis, and this documentary follows two people in the US, struggling to make ends meet. They’re asking the government to help them discover what’s happening to bee populations. Scientists say one thing, but organic beekeepers have their own theory. Why Watch It? Most of our crops require pollination by bees and insects, so if their numbers are dwindling, it will impact the farming industry. The most shocking thing is, without bees, farmers would spend £18 billion yearly to pollinate the crops. Imagine how much our food would cost! FOOD INC This US-based documentary takes you on a journey through the country and its masses of factory farms. While farms and ranches used to supply large restaurant chains with their produce, large corporations have taken over the small-town American dream. It’s not for the faint of heart, but Food Inc highlights what could happen to the UK in a post-Brexit country. Why Watch It? If you’ve ever been to the US, then you’ll know the food is cheap, and the portions are enormous. It seems like a great situation, but factory farming methods contribute to low prices. The filmmakers take you straight to the slaughterhouse, and it can only be described as a shocking experience. HIDDEN DANGERS IN KID’S MEALS: GMO FOODS Genetically modified food is a prominent issue in society, and this documentary highlights the dangers it poses to our children. The film explores the truth about GMO’s and examines whether the testing processes are safe. Why Watch It? Companies often say that GMO’s are safe, but with a lack of proper testing, it’s difficult for parents to tell. The documentary exposes how companies manipulate scientific evidence and the true risks GMO’s pose to a child’s development. THE BOTTOM LINE All of the films we mentioned show the importance of adopting healthy eating habits.The truth is, organic food matters and if we look at our diet, research where our food comes from and reduce our waste, we’ll be contributing to our own health and the environment. If you short on time try to use healthy organic meal delivery services instead of the usual ones. Original Reference: https://bit.ly/2JxoRM8

[enfieldveg]

News from the Market Garden

The wintery weather is closing in, and stocks of organic veg are beginning to run low, so we have been working hard with our friends at other farms to ensure that your bags are full of delicious organic produce from across the country.

The subject of food availability and storage is very topical right now with regards to the impact of Brexit, and we will be keeping a close eye on developments over the next days, weeks and months.

As a team we have also been looking at the Landworkers’ Alliance’s views on amending the agriculture bill and getting involved in the local planning for Enfield for 2018-2036 which is under consultation until 28th February 2019. 

More information can be found here, and please do take this opportunity to give feedback on a range of subjects, especially changes to existing green belt spaces and proposals to improve the standard of wellbeing and quality of life in the borough.

With one eye on the year ahead, we are working hard on our growing plan for the next 12 months, trying to maximise the yields in our fields, polytunnels and beds while maintaining our organic  philosophies and high standards.  This will ensure your bags will always be filled with 100% British, seasonal organic produce, with as much as possible grown either by us or by local farmers.

[newsandmediarepublic]

Our food and our future explored in documentary | In Our Hands screening plus Q&A

Our food and our future explored in documentary | In Our Hands screening plus Q&A

https://vimeo.com/237904334

Just taking a look at the facts from the film In Our Hands is enough to put a chill in anyone’s hot dinner. There’s a screening of the documentary, which aims to bust the myths while look to the future of the food industry, at Studio 74, Exeter Phoenix, followed by what promises to be a massively informative Q&A. (There’s also a screening on May 8 at Plymouth Radical…

View On WordPress

#Black Bark Films #Exeter Phoenix #Studio 74 #The Landworkers&039; Alliance

[jdaviescoates]

via Twitter https://twitter.com/jdaviescoates

#IFTTT #Twitter

[todaynewsstories]

Food, farming and sustainability: What future in post-Brexit UK? | Environment| All topics from climate change to conservation | DW

In the hallowed halls of Westminster, the British government has been dreaming up a golden vision of sustainability for British agriculture post-Brexit.

Despite positive hopes for this vision by the Soil Association, which certifies organic food in the United Kingdom and lobbies for sustainability, the group’s policy officer Sam Packer is skeptical: “The British government is seeing agriculture as an opportunity to tell a good story about Brexit.”

And this happy tale, like everything else to do with Brexit, is still up in the air.

Read more: Will Brexit be bad for biodiversity in Britain?

On the sustainability front, the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU) has teamed up with Greener UK (a coalition of environmental organizations, including The Soil Association) to make sure that Brexit works for farming and the environment.

With agriculture a powerful force in the UK — farmers manage more than 70 percent of the land area in England and Wales, according to the NFU — such alliances could shift the equation, particularly when trade is on the table.

Overthrowing the reign of CAP

Far from minister’s office in Westminster, on a windy hillside on the outskirts of Bristol, the enthusiasm for a brighter future has taken root with remain-voter Humphrey Lloyd.

Lloyd is the grower at Edible Futures, a smallholding that sells greens and herbs to the local community. He’s also the treasurer at The Landworkers’ Alliance, a union and campaign group representing the interests of small-scale and sustainable farmers.

Edible Futures is among shareholders who hope for payouts in post-Brexit Britain

As he plants spring onions, Lloyd calls Brexit a “unique political moment.”

The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has dominated agricultural payouts since before Lloyd was born in 1985. Those payments neglect smallholdings like his own. He wants to get in on the action.

Packer, on the other hand, thinks that the UK’s 25-year environment plan, launched earlier this year, is evidence that the status quo will win.

He described the plan as including “lots of rhetoric, lots of good words and very little binding action.”

Still, he sees as positive the fact that now change is inevitable, organizations like his are being invited to the table.

Agroecology: The new buzzword

At that table, the concepts of “agroecology” and “agroforestry” are being pushed into mainstream agriculture.

Agroforestry involves using trees to prevent soil erosion, thus building up the health of the soil with organic matter that retains more water — and storing carbon from the atmosphere.

Healthy soil is a mantra being picked up even in industrial farming. The UK government aims to make soils healthy by 2030.

A bill including first-ever targets for soil health was introduced to parliament last March, and is expected to be published later in 2018.

Silent underground helpers

Half truths

The story goes that when an earthworm is split in two, both parts will live on. That’s not exactly right. Only the front of the worm can survive such a trauma. Even then, it doesn’t always make it. All of the worm’s vital organs are here but if too much of the gut is missing or the wound becomes infected, the half worm won’t recover.

Silent underground helpers

Conscientious composter

Worms satisfy their hunger with the remnants of dead plants. They also graze on bacteria, algae, single-cell organisms and fungal threads located in their tunnels. Because earthworms have no teeth, they compost organic material by sticking food to the walls of underground burrows and layering excrement over it. This creates a perfect environment for pre-digesting microorganisms.

Silent underground helpers

Soil stabilizers

The earthworm’s cast material – also known as worm poop – helps create good soil’s fine crumb structure. Each year, the animals will lay a 0.5 centimeter crumb layer on the soil surface. But if they are really industrious and conditions are right, it can be up to five centimeters. These casts are packed full of nutrients that provide food for fungi and help prevent soil erosion.

Silent underground helpers

Has an earthworm got a head?

Earthworms have a head and tail, although that may be hard to tell at first glance. If the animal is at reproductive age, a thick band, called a clitellum, is visible. The head is located closest to this band.

Silent underground helpers

Tiny tunnellers

An earthworm’s tunnel system is a big boon to the soil. It allows water to flow more quickly through the ground and provides ventilation. Plants also push their roots through the many, many tunnels created by earthworms. A 50-hectare farm can house up to 400,000 kilometers of underground passages.

Silent underground helpers

Dangers above ground

An earthworm’s true domain, as its name betrays, is underground. But at times, the animal is lured above ground by the vibration of raindrops hitting the earth’s surface. There, dangerous UV-light and hungry birds await.

Silent underground helpers

Prime plumbers

A ground without earthworms behaves like a blocked drain when it rains. Water can no longer flow down through the soil. Even the smallest amounts of water can cause flooding over time. However, when worms are present and working diligently, soil can deal with the intake of water and surplus liquid ends up in springs and wells.

Silent underground helpers

Close quarters

The number of earthworms living in the soil depends on how the land is cultivated. In monocultures, where many machines and pesticides are used, you’ll find around 30 animals per square meter. But the same amount of soil on a farm that practices multi-cropping can contain up to 120 animals. In optimum conditions, up to several hundred of the invertebrates may be working silently underground.

Sustainability laggard Britain

For Ped Asgarian, the manager of organic outfit The Community Farm in Somerset, Brexit certainly will not be the bright gate to a green future.

While sitting at a busy pub in Chew Magna, in the south of England, he notes with irony that as Europe has sought to become more environmentally oriented for years, “the one nation that has been really holding them back is us.”

He sees the EU as forcing sustainability onto the UK “because our soil is vanishing fast, our biodiversity is vanishing fast, and our soil health is degrading so much.”

Read more: Soil: More than just dirt

Packer agrees that Britain could just as easily have made changes from within the EU — such as localizing food systems and moving away from industrial farming, including from the import-export methods upon which it currently relies.

France, for example, recently announced a commitment for 50 percent of food supplied to the public sector to be produced locally.

“The message that we can achieve more outside [the EU] can, in some ways, be unpicked through that story,” Packer points out.

Farming in Britain: Not always the paragon of sustainability

The realities of eating local

Eating locally grown produce is not an easy prospect, given the cool UK climate.

Asgarian, who runs a box scheme selling fruit and vegetables to 450 local households a week, notes that not everything in the box comes from the farm’s 22 acres (8 hectares). 

They grow about 30 percent of what they sell, and rely upon a network of other local growers.

“We also work with a couple of larger farms in the north and east of England, because getting enough produce year-round is quite difficult,” he says.

They even have to import some items to keep their customers satisfied.

Read more: Would you eat local for a week? I tried, and discovered what eating green really means

Nor can the UK rely solely on domestic sales. Currently, it exports 40 percent of its lamb, 80 percent of its dairy and 75 percent of its wheat and barley to the EU.

This is why groups like the NFU have been pushing for tariff-free and frictionless trade to continue.

Despite all the challenges, people like Lloyd continue dreaming.

“The history of political change is the history of hopeful people doing what they can,” he says as he makes drills for his next line of onions. “We need to hope, we need to work hard and we need to believe.”

Lloyd continues to be convinced that “we can win quite a simple battle against corporate industrial agriculture in favor of something sustainable and fair.”

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[cathkaesque]

New research by the Landworkers’ Alliance, Sustain and others has raised serious concerns about exploitation of Nepalese workers in the UK horticulture sector. The 60-page report, called “Debt. Migration and Exploitation”, examines the recruitment practices and working conditions of seasonal fruit and veg pickers employed under the UK government’s Seasonal Worker scheme. Some Nepalese workers are having to pay extortionate, illegal broker fees of around £4,300 to third-party recruitment agencies in their home countries to secure a visa. One young woman paid £12,000, according to worker testimony included in the study. This means after paying for accommodation, subsistence and travel costs, they are left out of pocket and pay more to come to the UK and work than the retained income they take home. The report includes an extended interview with a former Nepalese worker recruited to work in the UK via a Seasonal Worker scheme visa, who says around 70-80% of workers are paying illegal broker fees. The worker states: “Many people do not know how to use the internet for applications, how to use it properly, how the process works. There is a lack of information everywhere about recruitment, and a lack of education. The brokers are 10 steps ahead of the candidates. The brokers make them victims, they take people for fools." The report also includes a supply chain analysis carried out by the New Economics Foundation, of a fruit farm in Kent. It estimates migrant seasonal workers picking soft fruit receive an average of 7.6% of the total retail price of this farm’s produce. The supermarket receives 54.7% of the value, while the farm receives 26.2%. In 2022, Nepalese migrants accounted for 8% of Seasonal Worker scheme recruits. Ukraine supplied the most workers (20%), down from 90% in 2019 due to the ongoing conflict with Russia. The report concludes with key recommendations for the UK government, labour market enforcement bodies, supermarkets, trade unions and social movements. These include recruiting through one authorised department of the origin countries of workers, cutting out brokers and middlemen, and the establishment of information centres to spread correct information on the process. A UK government spokesperson said “The welfare of visa holders is of paramount importance, including in the Seasonal Workers scheme, and we are clamping down on poor working conditions and exploitation. We work closely with scheme operators who have responsibility for ensuring the welfare of migrant workers, requiring them to provide at least 32 hours paid employment per week and managing the recruitment process overseas. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not met"

Love that the government's response seems to be "look we're trying to fix it honest we are"

[nicholagoff]

[cathkaesque]

May 1st marks International Workers’ Day. The origins of May Day lie in the Haymarket Affair of 1886. On May 4th, trade unionists gathered in Chicago to demand the 8 hour day, a city in which the average working week was 60 hours long. The rally was attacked by police, and several organisers were framed and hanged for the use of explosives against the police. May Day has since been marked internationally as a day where the labour movement celebrates past and future struggles against exploitation and for dignity at work.

To mark this year’s International Workers Day, this article will explore the work of the Sindicato Obrero de Campo – Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores (SOC-SAT), a union of agricultural workers based in Andalucía, Spain. The Landworkers’ Alliance is working in solidarity with SOC-SAT through its international affiliation to La Via Campesina. The structure of the modern agricultural supply chain is global, with most of the region’s produce primarily exported for sale in supermarkets in France, Germany, and the UK. This means that to be successful, workers’ unions must also operate internationally, supporting each other at different points of the supply chain. To this end, the LWA has been increasing its cooperation with SOC-SAT, meeting regularly to discuss ways and methods of supporting the struggle of the workers who supply the British supermarket system.

Almeria is a 30 square mile province of Andalucia. It is known as the “sea of plastic” for the number of polytunnels that cover the landscape. The region produces 20% of Europe’s fresh produce for export to supermarkets in Northern Europe. Conditions in Almeria represent much of what is wrong with modern agriculture, based on severe exploitation of both land and people. Around 100,000 workers are employed there, mostly undocumented migrants from Morocco. These workers are employed under extremely precarious conditions. Many are employed on temporary day labourer contracts which offer no security of hours and are regularly not paid the legal minimum wage. Many workers live in shanties on the outskirts of farms, which receive no services from local government. In one shanty, drinking water supplies are maintained directly by SAT. Some of these workers have tried to tackle their exploitation at the hands of landowners and multinationals by organising themselves in SOC-SAT.

While the system of private ownership and production for corporate profit remain, companies have both the power and incentive to attack workers’ conditions. According to SOC-SAT, for a permanent end to this struggle, the current system of private ownership must be replaced by a system based on cooperative ownership of the land and means of production, based on the idea that the land should belong to those that work it.

I wrote a short piece for May Day on the work of SOC-SAT. a Spanish trade union I’ve been working with through the LWA. 

#socialism #SOC-SAT #almeria #Spain #Landworkers Alliance #La Via Campesina

[cathkaesque]

My apologies for my quietness - I’m pleased to announce I have managed to get a job with the Landworkers’ Alliance, a small farmers organisation which is affiliated to the peasant union Via Campesina. I will be helping organise an online conference for them (and emailing a lot of seriously cool peasant orgs like the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement!!) before helping run a study of foodbanks and urban farms which are affiliated to them. I’m very very pleased - I’ll finally be off universal credit and actually using some of the knowledge from my degrees to help a good org do some good things. Wahey! 

[cathkaesque]

The organisers of the Oxford Real Farming Conference join The Landworkers’ Alliance in expressing their sorrow at the death of Omar Moreno.

Omar Moreno is the brother of Aide Moreno, a leader in the Agricultural Union Federation (Federación Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria – FENSUAGRO) of Colombia, who spoke about the criminalisation of the peasantry at this year’s Oxford Real Farming Conference. We further condemn the threats and intimidation levelled at Nury Martinez and her family by Aguilas Negras – Bloque Capital paramiliary group. Nury Martinez is the President of FENSUAGRO and another speaker at this conference.

Between the date of the signing of the Colombian Peace Accords in 2016 and March 2020, 38 leaders of FENSUAGRO and associated organisations have been assassinated. In the course of these four years, 1,058 social leaders and human rights defenders have been murdered. Of the total number of victims, 254 were killed in 2020, which means that on average, six social leaders or human rights defenders are killed each week in Colombia.

We express our solidarity with the struggles of peasants and social movement leaders in Colombia, and reject and denounce these serious attacks on the lives and fundamental rights of those fighting for peasants’ rights in Colombia. We demand that the Colombian Government, specifically President Ivan Duque Marquez, investigate these events and bring those responsible to justice, and urgently take effective protection measures for peasant and social leaders who have been threatened and harassed by paramilitary groups.

We further demand that the Colombian government tackles the root cause of this violence, the power of large landowners and the expulsion of the peasantry from their farmlands, by implementing its commitments to land redistribution as stipulated in the 2016 Peace Accords. To this date, only 4% of the land that the accords mandated for redistribution has been given to landless peasants.

We also demand that the UN, and in particular the EU and its Member States, as guarantors and supporters of the implementation of the Havana Peace Agreement, take immediate action to ensure that the Colombian government fulfils its responsibility to protect the peasant and social leaders under threat, as well as effectively fulfilling all the commitments set out in the Agreement.

We also ask European civil society organisations to highlight the seriousness of the situation surrounding the Peace Process in Colombia and to put pressure on national and international institutions to react accordingly. Drastic action is required to protect human rights defenders and the international community must intervene to ensure the necessary monitoring, follow-up and support to stop this massacre.

La Via Campesina has produced a series of Ceasefire Bulletins on the situation for peasant leaders in Colombia – to follow this bulletin, sign up here.

Shortly before the ORFC (the conference I have been organising as part of my job), Aide Moreno’s brother was killed by the paramilitary group Oliver Sinisterra Front (you can read a report from Telesur on the assassination here). I wrote this short piece on behalf of the ORFC and Landworkers’ Alliance (which is affiliated to FENSUAGRO via La Via Campesina) on the situation facing peasant leaders and social activists in Colombia. 

#socialism #work tag #Colombia #La Via Campesina