Meaghan Carmody (Young Friends of the Earth Ireland) shares her personal reflections on the recent YFoEE Food and Agriculture Working Group meeting that was held in Berlin, Germany to coincide with the ‘We’re Fed up’ march – demanding global food and agricultural justice.
From the 14th to the 17th of January 2016, Young FoE representatives from a number of EU countries joined together in Berlin to take part in the Young FoE Europe Food & Agriculture Working Group meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to decide on the campaigns that we would work on for the year. The first 2 days were intense, and involved primarily classroom-based work. Time flew as we discussed what we would change if we had unlimited power…and answers ranged from very specific desires (stop ttip, create more links between farmers and consumers) to more abstract, general issues (the capitalist system, the behaviour of society, agricultural politics). From there we each placed a dot on our top 5 issues on the board, and those with the most dots at the end provided the answer to our question of what the 2016 campaigns should focus on.
The first campaign will work to create many obstacles as possible and build opposition to TTIP in the hopes that the trade deal will never pass. This will be achieved using 3 methods; creating TTIP Free Zones, mobilisation and awareness-raising.
TTIP Free Zones are powerful – they signify that a specific community is totally against this nefarious trade deal, and even though it is symbolic rather than official, it sends a powerful message to decision makers that communities are vehemently opposed to this unjust trade deal. In order to establish TTIP free zones in our countries, we need to research existing TTIP Free Zones, disseminate NO TTIP materials in our neighbourhoods, and put pressure on our local authorities to act on this issue via the development of letter-writing campaigns. Regarding mobilisation, we plan on organizing one co-ordinated action across Europe with a specific name on a specific date. Plans around these mobilisations will develop over the coming months. Finally, we will raise public awareness through hosting TTIP training days, conferences and debates in our home countries and spread information in our cities via leaflets and other creative awareness-raising tools.
The second campaign the Food and Agriculture working group are developing will be focused on restoring the direct link between producers and consumers in the increasing-industrial and agri-business focused food supply chain. By holding fun, informative events, we can bring people together and show that resilient communities are the way forward and that people have the power to create change. We can begin a Transition Town movement in our own communities, incorporating food growing groups and community-owned businesses. You can learn more about it here https://www.transitionnetwork.org/.
In order to do this, we should contact local farms and urban gardens and inquire about collaborating in order to host food-oriented events with which to engage the public. We could organize culinary events such as ‘low-carbon cook offs’, chopping discos, seed exchanges or could even go foraging in groups and cook together with the produce that we gather. Another popular idea at the meeting was to make flower pots out of collected milk boxes and distribute them to members of the public so that perhaps they could start their own window garden.
Luckily though, we were not confined to a classroom for the entire duration of the trip. On the Thursday we ventured to Prinzessinnengarten (Princess Gardens), an urban community garden. The site had been a barren wasteland for over 50 years, until in 2009 when an NGO called Nomadic Green joined with friends, activists and neighbours to create a lush green space in which to grow healthy, sustainable food. It is a new urban place of learning, where locals can come together to experiment and discover more about organic food production, biodiversity and climate protection. The space provides a space to learn about healthy eating, sustainable living and a future-oriented urban lifestyle.
On the Friday evening we took part in a ‘Schippel Disco’, or chopping disco. There was to be a huge demonstration in the city the next day, so in preparation for the hundreds of hungry, cold and tired post-protest activists, we were peeling and chopping literally tonnes of vegetables that would be made into a stew the next day. It’s such a simple idea to bring people together to prepare food, yet for most of us it was one of the most enjoyable elements of our Berlin trip.
On the walk back to the hostel I passed Vattenfall, a Swedish nuclear energy company. In 2011,Vattenfall sued the German government after it decided to shut down its nuclear power industry amid fears another Fukishima disaster might occur. Vattenfall were able to sue the German Government using a mechanism known as ISDS (investor-state dispute settlement) – these are private international tribunals where by a company can sue the government if they feel policies being implemented could adversely impact them (including if it impacts their profits), this mechanism is also currently included in TTIP. Thus, when a country acts to protect its citizens (for example saying no to nuclear), business can interfere. Cases like this are already being taken out against EU member states and will continue to be allowed to happen across Europe if TTIP is passed. That walk to the hostel reminded me starkly that even though we can take part in fun events and get caught up in the enjoyment that comes with being active in environmental justice…these are real, serious matters, which are not to be taken lightly.
Finally on the Saturday, with dirt still under our fingernails, we were revved up and ready to take part in the We’re Fed Up March, demanding global food and agricultural justice. Thousands of us chanted “GMO – NO NO NO” and “Peace, Love & Broccoli!” cheering on farmers in the cold as tractors passed through the throngs of people, leading the procession from Potsdamerplatz to the Bundestag. I was surrounded by people dressed in animal costumes, dancing to German Rap blasting from the truck in front. Marching past the Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag, and crossing the vestigial foundations of the Berlin Wall, we were at a nexus of history. Leaving the past behind and heading towards a future world where people are at the heart of decisions.
On the journey home, I was outwardly exhausted yet inwardly energized. Being around such inspiring individuals and seeing first hand how many people want the same thing I (and hopefully we!) want, I am hopeful.