Food as a human right was demonstrated last week for Terra Madre Day as 200 farmers started their day with a shared meal of their produce before joining a 1,500 person-strong rally in Iloilo City organized for International Human Rights Day, also on December 10.
‘We believe that good clean and fair food is a human right, so thought to combine our Terra Madre day event with the human rights march happening on this day’, explained organizer Ruth Fe Salditos. ‘The Philippines is in economic and political crisis. After our floods and other disasters, we have still not yet recovered, and our government is slow to respond to the needs of its people. If we have no land, then we have no food, so we want to assert our rights to land and food – this was our theme. Food is a right of everybody and we need to make the government realize it needs to be more sensitive to the needs of its people.’
‘Aside from making our demands known to our government, I feel like we achieved our main aim, which was to introduce the principles of Slow Food to a group of farmers. This was the first time were able to introduce Slow Food such a large group. Before the meal, we gave a speech about Slow Food and its philosophies and for most of them it was the first time they had ever heard of it. The message was received wholeheartedly and many would like to find out more. It was a great day and we feel as though our message has been communicated.’
Many other communities around the world used Terra Madre Day as a platform to communicate their demands for the future of food.
Visit the Terra Madre Day website to see the array events held around the world on December 10.
Simone Gie
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