Southern Voices
Southern Voices
A toxic-free future | Argentina
Food
Answer the questions:
- What country and continent the video has been filmed in?
- What kind of food production problems there are in the area?
- Who are the people in the video? What are they aiming at with their action?
- How are the human rights connected to food production?
Generate ideas for the topic of your own video:
- How is the theme of the video you watched linked to your own country?
- What would you like to know more about?
- What could be the issue that you think one should have an impact on in your own country?
Articles about the theme:
Want to double world food production? Give the land to small farmers!, The Ecologist
75% of crops depend on pollinators - they must be protected, World Economic Forum
We don't have enough organic farms. Why not?, National Geographic
Destructive farming is the issue — not whether you eat meat or vegetables, Business Live
Why factory farming is not just cruel – but also a threat to all life on the planet, The Guardian
Background information on the theme
Food causes approximately 20% of climate impacts of a human. Food production produces carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
In terms of climate change, it is crucial how much food originating from animals we eat because it creates the biggest emissions. Over a third of the Earth's surface area covered by vegetation is utilised by animal food production: either as pastures or for fodder production. Our food production is mechanised and based on large monocultures. The current production depletes soil and exposes crops to destruction. Chemical fertilisers that flow into water bodies eutrophicating them, are used and pesticides that cause serious problems to the environment and organisms. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has estimated that with this rate, we will run out of fertile soil in 60 years.
Multinational corporations aim to control food production by privatising seeds and making farmers dependent on buying seeds. Consequently, they also sell pesticides that are needed by the chosen plant varieties, and thus, they will increase the dependence of the farmer. If the farmers, on the other hand, have a right to their seeds and to the refinement and free distribution of the seeds, they also have ownership of their food production. This is a right that small farmers and indigenous peoples have relentlessly defended. The one who controls food production, determines what we eat and what price we pay for it. Small farmers have a crucial role in worldwide food production. According to the estimates, a third of the world's food is produced by small farmers.
The transition to more organic food production methods, where the soil is cared for and chemicals are not used, is essential for sustainable future. In the future, there will likely be a growing need also for a more decentralised food production, for example, in an urban environment. This will reduce transportation which in turn reduces emissions and guarantees a better food quality. With the right methods, farmlands can be harnessed to absorb carbon dioxide instead of causing emissions.