Call for the European camp "Reclaim the Fields"

[Massimo]

http://reclaimthefields.org/

http://reclaimthefields.org/content/call-european-camp-reclaim-fields

European Coordination Via Campesina
Reclaim the Fields
European Camp To Cultivate Alternatives
30th of September - 4th of October 2009, Minerve (France)
 
The young people of European Coordination of Via Campesina are
organizing an European camp to gather people who wish to settle in
agriculture, who are young peasants, landless peasants and/or who want
to recover food sovereignty.
 
The growing global crisis on farming, climate, energy, biodiversity and
societies has a great impact on billions of people’s lives. This crisis
is tightly linked to the replacement of sustainable small-scale farming
by industrial and corporate ways of production and consumption. Just as
numerous billions have been given to the banks over the last year, the
support of governments for neo-liberal policies continue to annihilate
small-scale farming and peasantry all over the world. These policies
destroy ways of life which have proved to maintain a harmonious link
between human beings and their environment. In Europe these driving
forces almost bring small-scale farming and peasantry to the point of
extinction by making it difficult for settled peasants to survive and
for young farmers to settle.
 
We want to be peasants to regain control over our lives and to put our
values into practice. By cultivating we show our involvement in our
land, environment and with the people, in our neighbourhood or in a
faraway countries, with whom we share life on this little planet. In
this way we help to secure a future for generations to come. We can put
an end to the devastating process by strengthening the position of young
peasants, re localizing the economy and using our creativity to create a
vigorous and sustainable European countryside. A future in Europe is
only possible if there are many new and young peasants!
 
There are a lot of struggles that we need to strengthen: for access to
land, for fair agricultural prices, for the social recognition of
farmers, against the domination of the industrial farming model and for
fair agricultural policies. We want to gather to empower ourselves and
make it possible for those who want to farm to do so.
 
The camp is open for young peasants and for those who are interested to
become a peasant. You are warmly invited to come to exchange and share
your experiences and to get inspired by those of others. There will be a
wide variety of practical, political and theoretical workshops on access
to land, urban farming, agricultural policies, agro-ecology,
consumer-producer-alliances and more issues. You are welcome to
contribute to the program with your own workshop: please let us know by
filling-up the form on the website and by sending it to us before the
15th of September.
 
The camp takes place on a collective farm in southern France. It will be
organized with the help of all the participants of the camp. A daily
assembly will organize the life in the camp, like the collective
kitchen, cleaning and announcements on the program. You will be asked
for a small contribution for the meals and accommodation.
 
For further practical information please see the website
www.reclaimthefields.org
If you wish to receive more information or get involved, please contact:
camp2009 at reclaimthefields.org