We write this opinion article as representatives of organizations that are part of Nos Plantamos, an alliance of entities and people from the movement for food sovereignty, among them male and female farmers linked to the territory, in favor of a peasant agroecology with farmers leading the way. and workers of the land, which claims to care for the environment, the rural environment and which offers consumers healthy, quality and local food.
Thousands of tractors have taken to the roads in recent weeks to show the multiple difficulties facing the countryside.
Their demands also show the different positions and interests that exist in the sector, trying to respond to the great challenges we face as a society: what agricultural model, what rural world and what food we want.
It is evident that the current agrarian model, both its public policies and its structure, do not work.
The rights of people who work the land have been trampled in the face of the privileges of the large food chains, which has led to the explosion of the countryside;
a situation that demands solutions now.
The crisis in the countryside and rural depopulation are not something new, they are problems that have been on the table for decades, no matter how hard they have tried to slap them and hide them under the tablecloth.
These crises have very clear and intertwined causes, but they are mainly due to the commercialization of the countryside: the profits of the industry and large-scale agri-food distribution, of the multinational phytosanitary companies, as well as of the banks and investment funds that are behind this sector.
This causes an unsustainable situation for farmers and leads to serious problems such as land and water hoarding in countries of the Global South.
In turn, free trade agreements, and old and new GMOs, among others, are elements that aggravate the situation.
The state and regional governments and political parties of almost every stripe, like those in Brussels, far from addressing the problems, have continued to bet on an economic model that leaves us facing the food abyss and in the hands of large companies.
Producers have tried to adapt to this scenario of suffocation and eviction that has led to the closure of hundreds of thousands of family farms and forces these same people to live with insufficient income.
Meanwhile, the countryside continues to suffer the negative consequences of this agro-industrial model: from the contamination of lands and aquifers due to pesticides, to water scarcity and soil degradation due to intensive land use.
Added to all this is the climate crisis that is already wreaking havoc on agriculture and for which an adaptation of the model is essential.
All this is the result of a structural system that cannot be dismantled only through individual gestures, but rather thought in and from the collective.
A few months ago, consumers made themselves heard, a lot, when the prices of the shopping basket increased scandalously: the neighborhoods, the streets, social networks and the media were filled with criticism and demands.
Now with the farmers' turn, the political and media agenda changed focus, although the root of the problem remains the same.
This time the tractors have come out, blocking roads and even large cities, by those who use them as a work tool in their daily lives.
We plant ourselves, as a movement for food sovereignty that supports family agriculture and livestock linked to the territory and agroecological practices, seeking a change in the forms of collective social action to adapt to the needs of the countryside.
It is urgent to address the problems of farmers and ranchers, and of the rural world as a whole, confronting the attempts of “anti-politics” and the extreme right to manipulate the legitimate demands of the agricultural sector, without losing sight of the urgency of address the climate and biodiversity crisis, as well as the right to food, to ensure that the healthiest and most sustainable foods are those that most easily reach our homes.
We celebrate the public demonstrations of the organizations of the European Coordination of Vía Campesina (ECVC) of farmers, of the organized pagesia and baserritarras, of the extensive livestock farmers, of the agroecological experiences and collectives, of the day laborers.
It is exciting to see the vitality, clarity and power of the peasant and agroecological movement in all corners of the country.
It is necessary to build alliances to take action: farmers, ranchers, the climate movement, the environmental movement, science, social and solidarity economy initiatives, hunger queues in neighborhoods or consumers are key groups to move forward in this direction.
We see that we have to take action now and build something different on each farm, in each market, in each public food policy.
It is urgent to take out the tractors, take to the streets, abandon the large supermarkets, flood the markets with agroecological products, bet on cooperative supermarkets and point out the agroindustry and those who destroy the territories and life of rural areas.
We must also advance in public policies in order to commit to an agro-ecologically based agri-food system, which includes and facilitates that farmers and ranchers can escape the agro-industrial model, towards an agro-ecological transition, within a fairer agri-food model for all. people.
Organic production is already a tool that can help small and medium-sized farms improve their economic viability.
We understand that, in a context of climate emergency like the one we are in and with a very serious loss of biodiversity, we cannot afford a setback in the environmental policies of the European Union, which is why we demand that the authorities provide good support to the agricultural sector to said transition.
To reverse the current situation, it is necessary to advance concrete measures, as also demanded by the European Coordination of Vía Campesina, such as market regulation and fair prices, as well as reducing the administrative burden for farmers.
At the same time, establishing equal conditions is also a necessity for those of us who work in the field, which is why ending free trade agreements is a key demand.
Finally, if we want to achieve a just transition towards agroecology and ecological practices, which includes stopping new genomic techniques, the Common Agricultural Policy must contemplate a sufficient budget and an equitable distribution of it, to protect the environment and not mortgage the field and for the health and rights of workers and consumers.
Isabel Vilalba Seivane
, general secretary of the Galician Labrego Union.
Andrés Muñoz Rico
, responsible for Food Sovereignty at Friends of the Earth.
Helena Cifre Sapena
, coordinator of the Spanish Society of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology (SEAE).
David Gallar Hernández
, researcher at the Institute of Sociology and Peasant Studies (ISEC).
Martina Di Paula López
, Youth for Climate-Fridays for Future Spain activist.
Organizations that participate in Nos Plantamos
: Adecasal (Development Association for the Campo de Salamanca and Ledesma), Friends of the Earth, APAEMA (Associació de la Producció Agrària Ecològica de Mallorca), Canto de Pájaros, Carro de Combate, Cerai, COAG, State Coordinator STOP Industrial Livestock, Ecologists in Action, Ecomarket of Córdoba, The Queenless Swarm, The True Price of Mediterranean Foods, Entre Pueblos, School of Activism, Espigoladors, Extinction Rebellion Málaga, Entre Tantos Foundation, Greenpeace, ISEC (Institute of Sociology and Peasant Studies), Food Justice, Youth for Climate-FFF, La Acequia, Labs, La Jabonería de la Almendra, La Rendija Mercado Social, Las Delicias del Palacio del Deán, What We Are, Mad África, Madrid Agroecológico, Mundubat , Observatory for a Culture of the Territory, OSALA (Observatory of Food Sovereignty and Agroecology), Coalition for Another PAC, Pueblos Vivos Cuenca, RAC (Agroecological Network of Cádiz), REAS Network of Networks, REAS Navarra/Nafarroa, Red Andaluza Semillas Cultivando Biodiversidad , Food Sovereignty Magazine, Ripess (Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy), Rosa Luxemburg StifTung, SAT (Andalusian Workers Union), SEAE (Spanish Society of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology), Labrego Galego Union, Cooperative Supermarkets, Ultreia Films , Paulo Freire Rural University, Sierra de Huelva, Living the Earth, Volem Fruita amb Social Justice
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