Campesino Movement, Food Sovereignty, and Sustainable Agriculture

Introduction: Where Does Our Food Come From?

Do we ever wonder where our food comes from? Do we ever wonder just what it takes to ensure that ripe strawberries are available during most of the year, or how we have lemons and limes in the bitter cold months? In fact, the entire process of the food regime is tied up with capitalism, globalism, and international relations. It is not necessarily about the food produced, but the internal and external labor and distribution issues surrounding food. Many argue that the world's food crisis is a result of an overdependence on fossil fuels, inflation and financial speculation, the concentration of agribusiness, and the supply-and-demand curve — which often seems to require the continual exploitation of indigenous populations. Food may therefore be thought of as more of a political "regime of global value relations" (Schanbacher).

Food Security, Globalization, and the Postwar Food Regime

What we are seeing, more and more, is widespread dissatisfaction with the political and economic policies of the developed world — the affluent and industrialized countries that maintain a surplus of food while many in the underdeveloped world still starve. Clearly, this is not entirely true of all countries or organizations. We have the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and organizations that use micro-lending to provide greater economic agency to the poor, as well as the potential for growing more of their own food. However, who decides what foods to grow and how to keep the process sustainable? Sustainability is not a single issue, but rather one that is shaped by multiple roles and economic interests. "Behind the apparent social consensus for 'sustainability' lies a conflictive arena of struggle in which different business interests, political institutions, cultures, countries, states, municipalities, towns and villages, families, and individuals sort out the costs and benefits of environment and development" (Holt-Gimenez, xvi).

Global Trade and the Plight of Small Farmers

Looking at this from a more historical viewpoint, we find that the entire concept of "food security" is really an outgrowth of the political and social changes brought about after World War II. A number of newly independent countries were involved in decolonization and created a very complex food model that was typically managed by the developed world, yet staffed through the old colonial system. As societies moved toward globalization, however, trade policies became the dominant operating model for food production and distribution. On one hand, this seems viable — the more globalization extends, the more markets become open to smaller, less-developed economies. It makes sense that if a country has a product to export, it would use that product as leverage to improve its own economy, and this works well in some cases. However, one need only look at the coffee debate to see cases in which it does not.

Global trade in food has grown dramatically in the last few decades as demand has increased. At the same time, because of efficiencies in transportation and agribusiness, many prices for goods have decreased. This does not necessarily help the poor or farmers in the developing world, because prices do not necessarily match their costs. Most research also shows that markets are not always predictable, consumer tastes are fickle, and profit margins can plummet and rise several times in a single season. This is particularly difficult for small farmers, who must plant far in advance in order to take advantage of both local co-ops and agreements with larger buyers who typically visit their areas only once or twice per year. The nature of the food business seems to be that the developed world wants its products available exactly when consumers demand them — regardless of the implications this may have for local farmers.