By Philippe Lafortune, animator for central and southern Quebec
Anyone who is full has a hungry brother or sister in the world.
Where do the cereals, oranges and coffee we may have had for breakfast come from? Under what conditions were they produced? While these questions and their answers pose problems, our members and partners propose and implement many solutions.
On today’s menu
October 16, World Food Day, is an opportunity to remember not only how blessed we are to eat well to our heart’s content, but also that:
- One-third of our food comes from small-scale family farming
- A third of the world’s food production is wasted
- A third of humanity is deprived of healthy food
War; conflict and violence; and commercial practices that plunder ecosystems and communities are the main causes of these injustices. But none of this is inevitable, as long as we engage our gaze, our voices and our hands.
Food is a right recognized by the:
- 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25)
- 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 24)
- 2018 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (Article 15)
The right to food means that food must be sufficient, nutritious, diversified, accessible and available to everyone―starting with the peasants who produce it by the sweat of their brow, cultivating the land and feeding the world.
If Isaiah (58:7) reminds us to share our bread with the hungry, Matthew (25:35) says to us, “I was hungry and you gave me food.” No one must suffer or die for us to live. On the contrary, let us live simply so that others may simply live.
The main course
The comparative advantage and added value of Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada is the mobilization of our members in Canada who support of our partners’ development and emergency relief programs around the world.
In the Sahel, for instance, our five-year food security project supports our partners in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in the production, conservation and marketing of food by and for nearly 147,000 peasant farmers and their families.
In Nigeria, our partner HOMEF (Health of Mother Earth Foundation) defends the rights of peasants to live in a safe and healthy environment, including by obtaining reparations for land contaminated by the oil industry.
In Bolivia, Fundación NUNA helps peasant communities achieve food sovereignty through agroecology projects that diversify their sources of food and income.
In Indonesia, our partner PAYOPAYO trains young people in sustainable agriculture, community resource management and rural entrepreneurship techniques to make farming a viable and sustainable local livelihood.
What’s for dessert?
There are many ways of being informed, inspired and involved in defending the rights and dignity of our sisters and our brothers around the world. Everyone can contribute according to their means. Some give money, others give time, and all do it from the heart.
In Greater Montreal, our members’ fundraising sales of cheese from the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac and fair-trade organic products from Distribution Solidaire (see website in French) allow us to eat well here whilst supporting communities in need in the Global South.
Across the country members, students and the public are invited to join or organize events in their communities, such as a solidarity fund-raising meal that brings together people, ideas and even funds to support our mission.
This fall, our Reaping our Rights campaign invites you to advocate for federal legislation to compel Canadian companies to respect the rights and environment of the communities in which they operate, in Canada and around the world.
We would demand no less for ourselves.
