Spring!

Lots of exciting sustainable local food system action at home and abroad as the Canadian springtime begins!

In particular there’s the intensifying battle over the announced closure of the 6 prison farms across Canada which has been covered in the print media and on CBC radio’s national political affairs program, The House (about half way through the Sat, March 21st show).  The National Farmers Union’s (NFU) letter to the Minister of Public Safety responsible for the decision, Peter Van Loan,  is a good source of info on this important issue for the food security of the Kingston region, where 2 of the farms are located = 2,300 acres, an abbatoir, dairy barn, egg barn, large greenhouse and cold storage facilities.  NFU Letter to Peter Van Loan

The NFU is also working on its New Farm Project workshop series, which will include an Organic Fruit, Nut and Berry Workshop Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26, organized in collaboration with newly formed Urban Agriculture Kingston.  The Sunday workshop is for farmers and the Saturday event is meant for urban folks and will take place at St. Lawrence College.  April 25 Workshop Brochure and Registration Form

I have been working with St. Lawrence College since the fall to develop a new online certificate program: Sustainable Local Food for All Canadians, which is off to a great start with the first course, Field to Fork: Introduction to Local and Global Food Systems, running now, with new courses on the way this summer and fall.  Field to Fork, Jan-Apr 2009 – Course Outline.  This course will run again in May and September, but will change somewhat with each offering.

South of the border, I am looking forward to attending Visible Warnings: The World Food Crisis in Perspective this weekend (April 3-4) at Cornell – Raj Patel, Miguel Altieri, Tony Weis, Tim Lang and Harriet Friedmann are all lined up to speak.  And I will be giving a talk at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin on April 20th.  See the Upcoming Speaking Engagements page for details.

Even further afield, and most disturbingly noteworthy on the shifting seas of global food system happenings, has been the farm and food system crisis turned political upheaval in Madagascar.*  The protests and violence which have killed over 180 citizens since early-January are at least in part a response to the global food price crisis of 2008 and a proposed 99 year contract set up by the now ousted Malagasy government to lease South Korean mega-corporation Daewoo over 1.3M hectares (2.6M acres) of farm land (almost half the island’s arable acerage) to grow corn and palm oil for export.  The deal was scraped by Andry Rajoelina who took power after President Marc Ravalomanana resigned on March 17.  The unstable situation in Madagascar – a complex mix of agroecological, food system, international economic and national political factors – is probably, unfortunately, a sign of things to come as the global recession and challeges to our farm and food systems intensify in the months and years ahead.

May we turn these challenges into opportunities and may the people of Madagascar live in peace with sustainable nourishment.

* One of the best sources of info on the unfolding turmoil in Madagascar is Wikipedia – despite reservations, in this case it seems to be the most comprehensive and well documented source on the web.

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