Our global food system is broken. Small farmers in the US and around the world cannot earn a fair price for what they raise. Meanwhile, nearly 800 million people around the world go hungry every day.

Driven by big corporations, the agricultural system no longer values healthy, delicious food, productive and sustainable rural communities or people’s right to make decisions about their communities and their farms.

This is why food sovereignty – the right for all people to decide what they eat and to ensure that food in their community is ecologically, socially, economically, and culturally appropriate – is so important.

The international food sovereignty movement formed to address the indignities of the current food system. It is composed of small farmers, fishers, consumers, environmentalists and Indigenous Peoples – all seeking to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land policies. The food sovereignty movement calls for policies that are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate for their circumstances. Communities around the world that are embracing food sovereignty are supported by La Via Campesina, an international advocacy network of small-producer organizations representing over 150 million farmers, fishers, foresters and agricultural workers on five continents.

The six principles of food sovereignty call for:

• Food for People
• Valuing Food Providers
• Localizing Food Systems
• Making Decisions Locally
• Building Knowledge and Skills
• Working with Nature

When these simple-yet-revolutionary principles are incorporated into national and international trade and agricultural policies – and when they become a visible reality in our own communities – we will know that the fight for food sovereignty has been won.

Grassroots International joins our global partners and allies as part of a growing movement for food sovereignty.