Justice Is the Foundation of Food Sovereignty

Slow Food is working to restore environmental, climate and social justice, an inalienable right of all people

To be held from September 26 to 30 in the Parco Dora in Turin, Italy, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024 will mobilize the energies of the Slow Food delegates and activists who will be gathering from over 120 countries with the aim of transforming the food system.

Slow Food has identified five keywords that will shape the debate on solutions to the climate and food system crisis:

Diversity – Community – Synergy – Justice – Knowledge

In a previous press release we looked in depth at Diversity. Now let’s explore….

Justice

More than 3.5 billion people are already directly threatened by the consequences of the climate crisis, say scientists. These people are often the most vulnerable inhabitants of the poorest countries. The sad irony is that these are also the countries that contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions: Just 1% of the population of our planet (its 63 million wealthiest inhabitants) has emitted twice as much CO₂ into the atmosphere as the poorest 3 billion people on Earth. As the climate crisis progressively affects food security and agriculture, major investments in adaptation and resilience are needed, as well as a global redistribution mechanism to help the poorest countries to adapt to climate change.

Indigenous peoples are also among the hardest hit by the environmental and climate crisis, as they struggle to survive under pressure from large corporations and governments who want to intensively exploit the resources of their lands. Indigenous communities are at the forefront of territorial encroachment, cultural erosion and economic marginalization. They make up just 5 to 6% of the world’s population but their homelands and territories contain 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Social and environmental justice—when present—ensures that Indigenous people can continue to be the custodians of their land and maintain biodiversity through traditional and sustainable farming practices.

Ensuring good, clean and fair food for all is one of Slow Food’s main goals. In this context, “justice” refers to all the rights that must be ensured on different levels, such as the right to resource management, the right to decent work, the right of farmers not to be exploited and the right to food environments that guarantee healthy and sustainable food that is also affordable for all.

Dali Nolasco Cruz is an Indigenous Nahua woman from Tlaola, Mexico, who has made the protection and promotion of Indigenous peoples, places and cultures through education and advocacy her life’s work. Dali has served as the coordinator of the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network for Latin America and the Caribbean since 2017 and has sat on the Slow Food International Board since 2022. She has this to say about the importance of justice in her work: “In a system in harmony with nature, there cannot be injustices that harm people, animals or the environment. Food sovereignty is an inalienable right of all peoples, and there can be no climate justice without social justice. Our relationship with nature cannot be restored if communities do not have the right to cultivate the land as they wish and the right to be free of exploitation of any kind, and if everyone does not have access to healthy and sustainable food. Justice is needed to ensure the safeguarding of Indigenous peoples and agroecological farmers, supporting them at the expense of those who promote harmful farming practices or those who grab land, prioritizing profit over respect for nature.” 

At this year’s Terra Madre, the Arena has been named after  Joannah Stutchbury, an environmentalist and activist who spent many years defending the forests of her native Kenya before she was killed for her work in 2021. The Arena hosts a program of meetings featuring internationally renowned figures and focusing on the relationship between nature and different areas, like climate, awareness, education, women and biodiversity, and touches on topical issues like justice in the food system.

Agroecology and justice will also be topics in lectures and panel discussions, whether acknowledging and respecting the rights of Indigenous people (“Human Rights, Food Sovereignty and Climate Change: Listening to Indigenous Peoples”) or debating the lack of justice in a food system that puts profits before farmworkers’ rights, health and safety (“The New Slaves of Consumerism”).

Food and social justice are also reflected in different gastronomic cultures, represented by more than 300 cooks who will be coming from 30 countries to offer insights into their local and regional food traditions. Several chefs from the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance will celebrate the revival of indigenous food traditions, for example by taking us back in time to discover flavors from before the European invasion of North America. Ingredients for traditional indigenous foods can only be produced in local and sustainable farming systems that preserve biodiversity.

The international Market is the venue where producers from the Slow Food network can present, explain and sell their products. This year, there will be more than 180 Presidia, whose members are small-scale producers who offer a tangible representation of what “justice” means for their daily lives: the right to manage their local natural resources, the right to decent work without exploitation and the right to a food environment that lets them sustainably produce healthy and affordable food.

 The 2024 edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is made possible thanks to institutions and businesses that have already confirmed their support to date, including the Main Partners: Turin Chamber of Commerce, Demeter, Iren, Lavazza Group, Pastificio Di Martino, Quality Beer Academy, Reale Mutua and UniCredit.

Find out more about what Slow Food is doing to encourage social, environmental and climate justice:

https://www.slowfood.com/thematic-network/indigenous-peoples-network/

https://www.slowfood.com/thematic-network/migrant-network/

https://www.slowfood.com/campaigns/decolonize-your-food/

https://www.slowfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ENG-PAPER-climatechange.pdf