Farmers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are organizing to ensure that a delegation of U.S. farmers and workers are present in Havana for the forum, slated for September 4–7.

ANAP's call for the conference highlights "the right of the people to food!" It notes: "In recent years concerns about the problems of hunger and poverty in the world have been expressed in many ways and places by nongovernmental mass political organizations, religious institutions, and governments. At the World Food Summit held in Rome in 1996, a goal was set of reducing in half by the year 2015 the number of people who face a situation of permanent hunger, estimated at that time at 800 million. "Barely five years later, not only is that goal considered unrealizable, but the number of starving people in the world has increased.

"This failure to carry through indicates the inadequacy of the policies carried out by many governments that clearly do not guarantee the elementary human right to food."

ANAP calls "on individuals and organizations from around the world to participate in the World Forum for Food Sovereignty ...with the aim of denouncing those processes that block food sovereignty for many countries, as well as the use of food as a political and economic weapon to subjugate people."

The ANAP Call says, "Keeping in mind that the exclusionary logic of the markets cannot guarantee food security, the job of the Forum of Havana will be to express the opinions and aspirations of the people in search of food sovereignty."

ANAP "calls on all peasant, indigenous, and cooperative organizations, NGOs [non-governmental organizations], and agencies of the world that are motivated by this important topic to share the dreams and hopes that we have for the new millennium."

The meeting in Havana in September is in preparation for a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) meeting in Rome later in the fall.

The endorsement statement of the Family Farm Defenders is signed by Wisconsin dairy farmer Francis Goodman, on behalf of the board and members of the organization. It states that the group "wholeheartedly supports the concept of food sovereignty" and the call for the meeting in Havana. It goes on to state, "Family Farm Defenders supports the position of La Via Campesina, the international small farmers organization, on food sovereignty and together with them we call for food and all of agriculture to be taken out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreements. Family Farm Defenders rejects the use of food as a weapon to subjugate peoples by starvation and the destruction of their local economy and culture."

The statement concludes, "As an organization we plan to be represented at the World Forum on Food Sovereignty called by the National Association of Small Farmers of Cuba, to share our ideas, to listen, to learn, and to support an alternative to the globalization and corporatization of food and agriculture."

The Family Farm Defenders has arranged to travel to Cuba on a September 2–9 trip that will be licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department. Other farm organizations and individuals can join this effort by contacting Francis Goodman soon at (608) 489-3104 or by E-mail: fgoodman@mwt.net
 
 
Related article:
'In Cuba we have confidence in human beings'  
 
 
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