[OPE-L] food sovereignty

[glevy@xxxxxxxxx]

See last two stories in the following MST update. You should find the
first two stories of intesrest as well.

In solidarity, Jerry


Subject: MST in 2007 - Marches, Mobilizations, Land Occupations

Updates from Brazil's Landless Workers Movement
 From the Friends of the MST

This update includes:

1. [MST UPDATE] The Perspectives and Actions of
the MST for 2007 (an interview with Sem Terra Magazine)

2. [MST NEWS] 3,000 Landless Workers Occupy
Abandoned Farm in Brazil's Federal District

3. [ANALYSIS] Food Sovereignty at the World Social Forum. By Stephen Bartlett

4. [UPCOMING EVENTS] World Forum for Food Sovereignty

--------

1. [MST UPDATE] The Perspectives and Actions of
the MST for 2007 (an interview with Sem Terra Magazine)

Marches, mobilizations, land occupations. These
are some of the actions the MST will continue to
realize as the year begins. The objective is to
pressure the federal government to take concrete
measures to resolve the problem of Brazil's land
concentration. One of these measures is updating
the productivity indices, an old commitment of
the government to farmers' organizations. This is
the evaluation made by José Batista and Gilvânia
Ferreira da Silva, part of the Movement's
national direction, for São Paulo and Maranhão, respectively.

Read more: http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=mstperspectiveaxn2007

2. [MST NEWS] 3,000 Landless Workers Occupy
Abandoned Farm in Brazil's Federal District

More than 600 MST families occupied an abandoned
farm, "Toca da Raposa" (Fox's Den), in the early
morning hours of Monday, January 29th. These same
families had been the target of a violent
operation carried out last week by the Military
Police. Toca da Raposa is located in Planaltina,
in Brazil's Federal District, 30 km away from
Brasilia. The families occupying the farm
demanded the redistribution of its land, and the
acceleration of the agrarian reform process throughout the state.

Read more: http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=600mstfamiliesoccupy

3. [ANALYSIS] Food Sovereignty at the World Social Forum. By Stephen Bartlett

Standing outside Gate # 14 of the Kasarani Sports
Stadium on the outskirts of Nairobi with ears of
organically grown white corn and a sign that
said: "Food Sovereignty: Strategies for
Transformation" was the only way we could think
of to get the word out. The programs were scarse
still, thousands of people appeared to be
wandering around lost, and non-stop drumming and
dancing out on the tarmac was a balm to the eye
and ear. But came they did, about 120 people from
dozens of countries North and South, East and West.

Read more: http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=foodsovereignty_wsf07

4. [UPCOMING EVENTS] World Forum for Food Sovereignty

An alliance of social movements has taken the
initiative of organising an international meeting
on food sovereignty in Mali in February 23-27,
2007. The principle of food sovereignty was first
launched by Via Campesina in 1996 during the FAO
World Food Summit which took place in Rome.

Read more: http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=foodsovereigntyforum07