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market-farming - international small farmer solidarity

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  • From: Leigh <lh AT pressroom.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: international small farmer solidarity
  • Date: Sun, 5 May 2002 14:48:27 -0400

Title: international small farmer solidarity
Phil,

My wife and I were just down in Brazil.  She was meeting with various groups in the fight to stop large multinationals (mostly French) from privatizing the water supply.  Some of the groups she met with represented small farmers.  What is happening in Brazil is that large corporations are moving in and kicking the small farmers off the land, sometimes using laws they are instrumental in writing, sometimes with the local police, sometime with the use of death squads.

  So I guess the short of it is that helping small farmers and building solidarity with small farmers internationally wasn't and isn't a bad move.

What was/is a bad move was/is allowing large transnational corporations  get control of the food system here and abroad.  We should be actively opposing treaties (NAFTA) and organizations (WTO, World Bank, IMF) that promote transnational corporate globalization at the expense of small farmers. These organizations do not operate in the interest of small farmers here or abroad.

Here's a quote from a world bank official about water privatization in Ghana - 'The poor have more resources than we imagine.  They can afford paying more for basic services.'



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