Food Sovereignty

For more than three decades, anti-hunger forces in the United States have focused their efforts on “food security,” the access by all persons at all times to enough nutritious, culturally acceptable food in their community for an active, healthy life. More recently, a newer concept has arisen—food sovereignty—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. This definition and its associated principles, help to provide a framework for determining whether a local, regional, national, or international system of food is fair, just, sustainable, democratic, and responsive to both those who produce and consume food. These principles include individual rights to sufficient, healthy, and culturally appropriate food; recognition of the value of direct producers of this food; the importance of locally controlled local food systems; the notion of building and preserving knowledge about healthy, sustainable food; and the health and preservation of the food-producing ecosystem.

 

Source:  Hartford Food System, 10/30/13, Food Sovereignty