Food Sovereignty Gathering

Join the Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET), Degrowth Network Australia (DNA), the Guerilla Gardening Naarm Collective and the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) for a day to explore food sovereignty, hear from local groups, and discuss how we can keep building local resilient food systems as part of a global movement.

In this gathering (our second, click here for notes on the first one) we will focus on 'Food for People', which is the first of the 6 pillars of Food Sovereignty that were adapted from the Nyéléni 2007 Forum for Food Sovereignty*. We will have a panel and discussion with people involved in the local food system, learn together with theatre of the oppressed, share food, and continue important discussions (bring a topic to discuss).

What is food sovereignty? 
La Via Campesina defines food sovereignty as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation. It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers and users.

Program (subject to change):

Arrive from 9.30am for a cuppa

10.15am: Introduction to the gathering and food sovereignty

10.30am: Panel with local people working on food for people - TBA

11.30am: Theatre of the Oppressed

12.30pm: Potluck and Seed & Seedling Swap

1.30pm: Unconference - bring your topics and we will continue conversations from our last gathering and Deep Winter (for example access to land).

2.20pm: Report back from breakouts

3.00pm What are you taking away and what next

Here is a collection of resources on Food Sovereignty that you can get stuck into before the gathering

* Synthesis Report link: https://www.nyeleni.org/spip.php?article334.
This year in September is the 3rd Global Nyeleni Forum, a process that started in 2021 (last global forum was in 2015):

"The 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum–scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in September 2025– will bring together one of the most diverse representations of the world’s working classes. Expanding beyond its traditional base of small-scale food producers, the forum is building joint proposals and actions to confront the interconnected crises facing humanity today.

Our collective struggles are growing, now enriched by contributions from a broader range of social movements. These include efforts rooted in the social and solidarity economy, feminist economy, buen vivir, health for the peoples, energy sovereignty, a just and feminist energy transition, and the popular control and management of forests and other territories."

Text from: https://nyeleniglobalforum.org/about/