Real World Radio interviewed Javier Sanchez, member of COAG and part of the coordination committee at Via Campesina Europe. He said that in order to face this tendency, “we need to work at a local level”.

Sanchez lives in Zaragoza Province, where he produces grains and fodder. He made reference to the false solutions to climate change, among them GMOs, agrofuels and carbon credits.

The Spanish farmer said that as part of the struggle for food sovereignty, agroecological markets are being strengthened at a local level, at the squares and neighborhoods of Zaragoza. “This has been a success, there is a strong demand for this kind of products”, he said.

He also told Real World Radio about the ARCo project (Shared Responsibility Agriculture), an initiative by the COAG to establish new links between farmers and consumers. The initiative is based on the principles of food sovereignty, ecological production and respect to the environment, while promoting a direct relationship between farmers and consumers.

Sanchez said that peasants in Spain suffer from a permanent increase of the costs of production and deregulation of markets. “We are losing our food sovereignty, but also our identity, our culture”, said Sanchez making reference to the fact that the strategic role of farmers as food diversity producers who are closely linked to land and territories is not taken into account.

Photo: http://blog.choike.org