From the January 6-8, the Oxford Real Farming Conference brought together stakeholders from across the world with a shared passion for food system transformation. What used to be a fringe, ‘alternative’ farming event, is now appears a key driving force for positive change, with over 500 delegates attending in person and thousands more following online.
Delegates from Eastbourne Food Partnership joined the global community tuning in online. Here are our take-homes from the event.
- Small-scale farmers are feeding the world
The alliance of big-tech and agro-industry is trying to convince us that large scale industrial farming is key to feeding the planet, monopolising the funding and discourse for future agricultural development. However, speakers across the conference reiterated that small-scale farmers are the real powerhouses of food production, with family farms producing roughly 80% of the world’s food in value terms.
2. But the ways of life of these farmers are increasingly threatened
Presentations from Pesticide Action Network UK, US Right to Know and the ETC Group highlighted the pernicious tactics employed by chemical companies and tech companies to increase reliance on their products amongst small-scale farmers across the world. For example, the ETC’s Food Barons report demonstrated the ways in which tech companies are targeting subsistence farmers, posing an existential threat to mosaic farming and the the cultural and biological diversity that underpins it.
3. Building fair and locally-anchored food supply chains in Eastbourne is about global food justice
By giving a platform for the struggles and movements of small-scale farmers worldwide such as the La Via Campesina’s Nyéléni process, the conference invited us to reflect on the global effects of how we get our food. Working towards food sovereignty in Eastbourne is about taking responsibility for our food. If we are not growing our food locally, we force that responsibility on communities elsewhere. By creating a resilient local food system in Eastbourne – preserving and cultivating our fertile lands, supporting local farmers and promoting alternatives to supermarket chains – we are rejecting a global food system that exploits communities worldwide.
4. We need to build this food justice from the ground up
In a discussion on her book Healing Grounds, we heard from Liz Carlisle about the movement for regenerative agriculture in the US. This move towards regeneration is being led by communities addressing historical injustices to develop a relationship to the land that values diversity in both plants and people. As the The Landworkers’ Alliance‘s Ele Rose said, “its empowering to remember and reconnect”. We also heard from innovative, community led initiatives to support people to access the resources to cultivate the land, such as the Black Farmer Fund in the US. These talks challenge us at Eastbourne Food Partnership to consider how we can do more to better represent communities and enable access to land for everyone in Eastbourne.
5. Transformation is already happening across the world
As Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), said, “farmers are not just victims but solution providers”. We heard of countless examples where food systems based on working with, rather than against nature, could transform communities, from a Miller’s Cooperative in Nottingham to the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program in Canada. The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh’s Community Managed Natural Farming model was a particularly hopeful example of the co-benefits of agroecology. A recent report showed that not only did Community Managed Natural farming increase soil health and biodiversity, it also increased profitability for the farmers, and health and well-being outcomes for communities.
6. Collectively, we have the power to create better food systems
The screening of Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution summarised the transformative potential of small-scale action when its connected into a broader movement. At Eastbourne Food Partnership, we are proud to connect people and organisations that are working to build food systems that nourish our communities and our planet in Eastbourne, as well as connecting to national movements through our partners at Feeding Britain and Sustainable Food Places. Events like the ORFC connect us all to a global network of change, reminding us that a different world is possible.
See you next year.