1st Edition

Public Policies for Food Sovereignty Social Movements and the State

    238 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    238 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    An increasing number of rural and urban-based movements are realizing some political traction in their demands for democratization of food systems through food sovereignty. Some are pressuring to institutionalize food sovereignty principles and practices through laws, policies, and programs. While the literature on food sovereignty continues to grow in volume and complexity, there are a number of key questions that need to be examined more deeply. These relate specifically to the processes and consequences of seeking to institutionalize food sovereignty: What dimensions of food sovereignty are addressed in public policies and which are left out? What are the tensions, losses and gains for social movements engaging with sub-national and national governments? How can local governments be leveraged to build autonomous spaces against state and corporate power?

    The contributors to this book analyze diverse institutional processes related to food sovereignty, ranging from community-supported agriculture to food policy councils, direct democracy initiatives to constitutional amendments, the drafting of new food sovereignty laws to public procurement programmes, as well as Indigenous and youth perspectives, in a variety of contexts including Brazil, Ecuador, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Canada, USA, and Africa. Together, the contributors to this book discuss the political implications of integrating food sovereignty into existing liberal political structures, and analyze the emergence of new political spaces and dynamics in response to interactions between state governance systems and social movements voicing the radical demands of food sovereignty.

    1 Introduction: Will the Revolution be Institutionalized?

    Amy Trauger, Priscilla Claeys and Annette Aurélie Desmarais

    Part I States, Institutions and Food Sovereignt

    2 State-Led Grassroots Participation and Ecuador’s Land Law

    Karla Peña

    3 Exporting Zero Hunger: PAA Africa and the Possibilities of Food Sovereignty with South-South Cooperation

    Ryan Nehring and Mariana Hoffmann

    4 Community-Based Rights to Food Sovereignty: The case of the Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinances in Maine, USA

    Amy Trauger

    Part II Power and Politics -- Social Movement Challenges to Institutionalizing Food Sovereignty

    5 Institutionalizing Relational Sovereignties- Educational and Food Sovereignty within Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement

    David Meek

    6 The Involvement of Community Supported Agriculture Networks in a Swiss Popular Initiative for Food Sovereignty

    Julien Vuilleumier

    7 The Role of Land Rights in Social Transformation: Stories from Boston and Philadelphia

    Caitlin Hachmyer

    8 Food Sovereignty Struggles in Quebec: Co-optation and Resistance

    Bryan Dale

    Part III Determining the Rules of Engagement -- Challenges Within Social Movements

    9 Urban Food Policy Alliances as Paths to Food Sovereignty? Insights from Sustainable Food Cities in the UK

    Ana Moragues-Faus

    10 Understanding food sovereignty in Canada: Settler Colonialism and Indigenous-settler Alliances

    Lauren Kepkiewicz

    11 Autonomy, Coalition-building, and Cultural Survival: Towards Food Sovereignty in the U.S. South

    Catarina Passidomo and Irene Van Riper

    12 Youth Producing Food for an Alternative Society: Insights from the Basque Country

    Joseba Azkarraga Etxagibel and Annette Aurélie Desmarais

    Biography

    Annette Aurelie Desmarais is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty, University of Manitoba, Canada.

    Priscilla Claeys is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, UK.

    Amy Trauger is Associate Professor of Geography, University of Georgia, USA.