Let's build a Food Sovereignty Now! movement: Carlos Marentes at TEDxElPaso
The speaker, describing the border region as unique and vital, advocates for a shift toward "food sovereignty" through a mass movement. This model emphasizes the three rights—the right to grow food, the right to nutritious, culturally appropriate food, and the right to local food policies—as alternatives to current industrial agriculture, which prioritizes profit over human and natural dignity. The speaker provides specific evidence by citing the agricultural value of chili in New Mexico and the systemic poverty experienced by farmworkers despite intense labor.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker, who identifies as a "border native," living in the United States but connecting to Mexico.
- The speaker previously worked as a political cartoonist and later as a foreign labor organizer.
- The talk suggests a context of political and economic instability, contrasted with the vital importance of local agriculture.
## Theses & Positions
- The border region is special because it was historically Mexican land, and immigration should be viewed as a return to homeland.
- The most crucial element for human survival is food; food connects us to nature, which is vital amid climate concerns.
- The current US agricultural system is fundamentally flawed because its sole purpose is profit, not satisfying nutritional needs.
- **Food sovereignty** is the necessary alternative: a movement requiring actions beyond individual consumer choices to build a system respecting human dignity and nature.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Border native:** Identity referring to those connected to the border region across the river.
- **Food sovereignty:** A concept first released by Lavia Campina in 1996, representing the international movement of peasants, women, indigenous people, fisher folks, and rural workers aiming to create a new food system benefiting all, not corporations.
- **Three Rights of Food Sovereignty:**
1. The right of people to grow food (the right to produce food for one's family).
2. The right of consumers to good food (nutritionally and culturally appropriate food).
3. The right of everybody to have their own food policies.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Critiquing the Current System:** US agriculture uses new technologies, like genetic modified foods, because its only purpose is profit, leading to the exploitation of both workers and nature.
- **Labor Organizing:** The speaker founded the *Fonta's organizing project* in El Paso in 1983 to push farmworkers to fight abuses and improve conditions.
- **Creating Alternatives:** The speaker advocates for establishing a "food sovereignty alternative" by creating a new system for production that does not exploit workers or nature.
- **Movement Building:** The proposed mass movement involves actions such as growing food, starting consumer co-ops, and establishing family orchards, including occupying vacant lots for farm production.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **1906:** Chili production in this area was started by Fabian Garcia from Chihuahua, initially for local consumption in New Mexico.
- **1983:** The speaker founded *Fonta's organizing project* in El Paso.
- **1996:** Lavia Campina released the concept of Food Sovereignty.
## Named Entities
- **Fonta's organizing project:** Initiative founded by the speaker in El Paso in 1983.
- **Lavia Campina:** Person who first released the concept of food sovereignty.
- **Chihuahua:** Location from where Fabian Garcia originated.
- **Las Cruces:** Location in New Mexico where chili production began.
- **Bolivia:** Example country that successfully removed McDonald's and some junk food items from its policy.
## Numbers & Data
- The border region was part of Mexican land/territory for more than **100 years**.
- US agricultural production of fruits and vegetables represents an annual value of **$40 billion**.
- In the last year, New Mexico produced more than **77,000 tons** of chili.
- The value of chili from New Mexico brings **$400 million** to the state's economy.
- Each plastic chip collected for a bucket of chili is worth **65 cents** today.
- Farmworkers on average earn an income of **$6,687** a year.
- **72%** of farm workers suffer from unemployment due to agricultural mechanization.
- **One-third** of the farm labor force in the area are single mother women heads of households.
- **25%** of these workers do not have a place to live and rely on shelters.
- **65%** of them do not have a decent roof to live under.
- **34%** of greenhouse emissions today are caused by large-scale agriculture.
## Examples & Cases
- **Economic Example (Chili):** Chili production started in 1906 by Fabian Garcia in Las Cruces, eventually becoming a more important ingredient for nutrition in the US than ketchup.
- **Labor Example:** Farmworkers must wake up at midnight, go outside, and start picking chili fields around **2:00 am** to arrive by **5:00 am**, sometimes reaching Lordsburg, New Mexico.
- **Poverty Example:** Farmworkers, despite hard work, earn incomes far below the federal poverty guidelines, trapping them in poverty.
- **Alternative Example (Bolivia):** Bolivia successfully removed McDonald's and junk food from its national diet/policy.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Genetic modified foods:** Technology used in US agriculture to maximize profit.
- **Smartphones:** Mentioned as a modern technology, contrasting the physical necessity of food.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Alternative to current agriculture:** The "food sovereignty alternative," which aims to benefit everybody rather than corporations.
- **Trade-off in food consumption:** Moving beyond just washing fruits/vegetables (an individualistic factor) to achieving "operation free food" (a societal problem solution).
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- **The fallacy of individual action:** Washing food to eat chemical-free is only an "individualistic factor" that fails to resolve the systemic issue.
- **System Logic:** The current system dictates that food must be produced for export to the "big market," rendering personal family production illogical.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Build a mass movement for food sovereignty to establish a model of production and consumption respecting human dignity and strengthening communities.
- The goal is to achieve *operation free food*: "No oppression to human beings, no oppression to nature, no oppression to nothing."
## Implications & Consequences
- The failure to address agricultural structure means that labor exploitation and environmental harm (34% of GHG emissions) continue unchecked by consumer action alone.
- The entire food system's purpose is currently structured solely for profitability, ignoring nutritional needs and local culture.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"We border natives appreciate the border region and because for us it's a unique place, a very important place."*
- *"When you see us crossing the border, just think that we are only coming back to our homeland."*
- *"The border is the largest concentration of poor people. But we have a very expensive wall. Thanks, federal government. 3.9 billion dollars for each mile of wolf."*
- *"all political cartoonist advice is that they become a labor organizers. That's even better because you will be able to hit those people directly."*
- *"Food is the most important elements in our life."*
- *"Onion, lettuce, watermelons and chili. Yes. Lots of lots of chili."*
- *"Chile from New Mexico also brings $400 million to the economy of the state."*
- *"They are the ports of the port."*
- *"The only purpose of US agriculture is to make profits is not their purpose to satisfy nutritional needs."*
- *"We have a farm worker center where we are trying to fight against this model of agriculture that poses a danger to farm workers but also to all of us."*
- *"Food sovereignty means three rights."*
- *"This movement basically is a call for everybody to eat operation free food is what we should strive for to eat oppression free food."*