Sacred food, economic meaning, a Tom Fox interview
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A few companies dominate the world’s food production and delivery system, says Holy Cross Br. David Andrews. Yet, most of the world’s work is agricultural work. Millions of people are involved in agriculture production globally. And 60 to 90 percent of the agriculture labor force is women. We have to examine that worldview, Andrews tells interviewer Tom Fox. He talks about a a new global effort to combat industrial agriculture that involves working with grassroots groups in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to challenge the dominate system and indeed to reverse it.
Br. Andrews is the executive director of the 83 year old National Catholic Rural Life Conference based in Des Moines, Iowa. The NCRLC is the lead voice for the Catholic church in the USA on food, farm, farm-worker, environmental concerns.
Episode 1: Manufactured meat? Industrial farm production hurts people (24 min.)
The dramatic economic consolidation of the food industry affects the food we all eat -- locally and globally. Andrew tells Tom Fox: "Increasingly we have moved in the United States [away] from an independent, land-based farmer shaping his or her livelihood by their participation in an open, democratic marketplace. ... Because of the power of the agri-business corporations, what happens is that the independent family farmer becomes a contract employee of the big company and increasingly loses his or her independence." As the independence of the farmer shrinks, the economic power of the agribusiness institutions grows, he says.
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Episode 2: Sacred food, economic meaning (13 min.)
The world’s major religions place great importance on food within religious practices and cultural traditions. “What we are tying to do among these faith groups is unpack what’s behind these practices and dietary laws,” Andrews says. Muslims, Jews and Christians, he says are asking: “Is there the potential for developing an approach to food [purchasing, production and consumption] that is more sustainable, that really develops a sensitivity to local economic development?
NOTE: The Web site address given in this podcast is incorrect. The correct address is: www.sacred-foods.org
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Episode 3: Coalitions that fight corporations (14 min.)
Andrews describes how grass-roots groups band together to advocate for policy changes and legislation in the halls of Congress. Anti-trust laws, labeling laws, fair competition laws -- when written with the farmer in mind -- can “work toward deconstructing economic consolidation and encouraging diversification in the economic enterprises around food system,” Andrews tells Tom Fox.
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More about the Speaker
Br. Andrews has his law degree from Loyola University New Orleans. He serves as a consultant with the Domestic Policy Committee of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and is a member of the Governor of Iowa's Food Policy Council. He has served as an educational administrator. Dave was an accredited participant in the last three World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, Cancun and Hong Kong. He attended the last two World Food Summits in Rome and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a member of many Boards including Heifer Project International, Agricultural Missions and has served on a number of national commissions for the Pew Charitable Trust and the Farm Foundation.
