NI 533 - Food justice: who gets to eat? - September, 2021

NI 533 - September, 2021

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Food justice: who gets to eat?

A note from the editor

Hazel Healy

How not to feed the world

Imagine you live by the Atlantic Ocean, close enough to hear the waves breaking. In those waters swim small fish. They are a superfood: rich in the nutrients needed by your bodies – and those of your children.
But these fish are destined for the diets of others. They will be turned into food for farmed fish – like salmon – and livestock, which will in turn nourish wealthy people inland or abroad, perhaps even their pets.

This stark reality is experienced by coastal communities across the Global South. It was mapped and brought to the world’s attention by environmental social scientist Christina Hicks, who is a contributing editor for this edition.

Her research sparked the Food Justice files, a year-long New Internationalist focus on the stories of people in sub-Saharan Africa who too often go unheard: from the forest gardeners of Ethiopia to herders in drought-stricken Somaliland.

To close the project, this Big Story takes us to the beaches of Senegal where we hear from women fish workers whose jobs are threatened by a deeply inequitable exchange. As social movements build a critical grassroots response to a UN food summit this September, this magazine reflects back on who gets to eat, why – and the urgent actions needed to rebalance food systems in the interests of the hungry.

You can find the whole Food Justice files series online at newint.org/special/food-justice-files

Elsewhere in this edition, Leonardo Sakamoto brings us an exclusive interview with Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Wayne Ellwood explores whether, with the Castros gone, Cuba is turning a new page.

Hazel Healy for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

 Far out. Fishers haul in their catch some 60 kilometres off the coast of Saint Louis, Senegal. They report travelling further, for longer, to catch ever-dwindling amounts of sardinella. Photo: Alfredo Caliz/Panos Pictures

Far out. Fishers haul in their catch some 60 kilometres off the coast of Saint Louis, Senegal. They report travelling further, for longer, to catch ever-dwindling amounts of sardinella.

Photo: Alfredo Caliz/Panos Pictures

The disappearing Senegalese sardines

Why is a nutritious superfood being routed away from poor communities to feed salmon, pigs and pets? Hazel Healy investigates.

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The Big Story

Action & info

Action & info

Campaigns, groups, podcasts, reports, and further reading on food justice.

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10 steps to end world hunger

10 steps to end world hunger

How to create a food system where everyone gets to eat.

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Graphic by Information is Beautiful

Where does all the food go?

How much do we make? Who gets it? What's being over or under consumed? How much do we need?

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A wheat crop is sprayed with chemicals in South Africa. Chemical-heavy agriculture has brought despair to farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the epicentres of the Green Revolution in India.Photo: Dewald Kirsten/Shutterstock

No more green revolutions

Foreign seeds and fertilizers will not bring food security. Raj Patel explains why.

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Perfect for peanuts. Oumar Ba is working to restore the sandy soils of the Sahel in Ndiob district, Senegal.Photo: Hazel Healy/New Internationalist

‘This land is beautiful to us’

The soil is dying, the water’s running out, and climate change is rendering the future even more uncertain. Hazel Healy speaks to farmers in Senegal who are ready for a different system.

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What is agroecology?

What is agroecology?

A cleaner, greener approach to agriculture.

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Left to right: Dee Woods, photographed by Elainea Emmott. Stefanie Swanepoel photographed by Jacqueline van Meygaarden.

‘Food is love’

In London and Cape Town, Dee Woods and Stefanie Swanepoel work to make sure healthy food is not only the preserve of the affluent. They share their vision for how to change our food systems for the better with Amy Hall.

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Ocean View’s ‘kos gangsters’ want to overhaul their local food system.Your Stories – Changing our narrative

A word from Ocean View’s farmers

Ocean View’s ‘kos gangsters’ want to overhaul their local food system.

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Photo: EPStudio20/Shutterstock

Digital dinners

Data-firms and e-commerce giants like Amazon are moving into food. Should we be worried? That depends on who is in the driving seat, says Pat Mooney. Interview by Nick Dowson.

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Protesters against the US trade embargo on Cuba drive past the US Embassy in Havana in a motorcade, 28 March 2021. Photo: ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI/REUTERS

Cuba’s crossroads

Will Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Castros’ hand-picked successor, wield a new broom of change? Wayne Ellwood weighs up the island’s options.

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Image is everything: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the campaign trail prior to the West Bengal elections, March 2021, which his party lost. The huge rallies by all parties were criticized for their irresponsibility during India’s coronavirus crisis.
Photo: SIPA USA/ALAMY

The vise tightens

The image-obsessed Indian government is intent on shutting down dissent. Rishika Pardikar examines the ploys in use.

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Illustration: Pete Reynolds

Could money be the ultimate decolonizer?

Jason Hickel makes a compelling case for modern monetary theory as a way for countries in the Global South to throw off the shackles of international capital and finally meet their people’s basic needs.

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Opinion

View from Brazil

View from Brazil

From slavery to mass deforestation, Leonardo Sakamoto highlights the devastating impact of cattle ranching in Brazil.

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View from India

View from India

Nilanjana Bhowmick on oxygen inequity and the price paid by her country’s citizens.

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View from Africa

View from Africa

Suspending pandemic reality, by Nanjala Nyabola.

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Currents

Protesters took to the streets in January following the arrest of Alexei Navalny. President Vladimir Putin claimed they were only ‘a few’, but Russia’s Communist Youth League said they included ‘not only supporters of the arrested blogger but thousands of citizens with completely different views’.Photo: SOPA/Alamy

Pressure on Putin

Report on Russia by Tina Burrett.

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Illustration: Emma Peer

Introducing... Pedro Castillo

The unlikely winner of Peru’s presidential race.

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Singled out

Singled out

Activist sex workers in Kyrgyzstan face targeted persecution.

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Justice for Berta

Justice for Berta

Update from Honduras on the murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres.

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Lost childhood: a memorial outside British Columbia's parliament remembers over 200 children whose remains where found in the grounds of a residential school in Kamloops.Photo: Wirestock/Alamy

Heavy truth

Canada finds the unmarked graves of 215 indigenous children.

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Forgotten genocide: a delegation from Namibia gathers in Berlin to mourn the victims of the 1904-1908 genocide during a ceremony to hand over human remains used for the purposes of eugenics and colonial race science.Photo: Christian Mang/Reuters/Alamy

Reparations not aid

Germany acknowledges its country’s historic crimes against the Herero and Nama people.

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Iron fist

Iron fist

President Ivan Duque has promised to ‘modernize’ Colombia’s police force.

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Illustration: Emma Peer

Reasons to be cheerful

Après macdo; Keep the faith; Nelson’s column.

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Regulars

Letters

Letters

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

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Illustration: Sarah John

Vaccine hopes and fears

Iris Gonzales delves into some of the reasons why the vaccine rollout in her country is encountering drag.

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Inequality Watch

Inequality Watch

Wealth inequality in South Africa.

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Protesting the impact of Britain’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The Bill is set to criminalize trespass with the intent to reside in a vehicle. Photo: SOPA/Alamy

Sign of the times

Protesting Britain’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

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Illustration: Harm Bengen

Open Window

Corona wide angle view by Harm Bengen (Germany).

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Country Profile: Chile

The photos, facts, and politics of Chile.

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Cartoon History – The Chagos Betrayal

Cartoon History – The Chagos Betrayal

How Britain robbed an island and made its people disappear by Florian Grosset.

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Is criminalization the right response to domestic violence?

Is criminalization the right response to domestic violence?

Are legal punishments an effective way to tackle domestic violence, or are they failing to go to the heart of the problem? Leigh Goodmark and Stella Nyanzi go head to head.

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Protesters make the link between climate change and wildfires at the British Museum, which receives sponsorship from oil firm BP.Photo: Joseph Edwards

Temperature check

The burning issue; Breaking the mould; Here comes the sun.

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Illustration: P J Polyp

Big Bad World

Filtered. Cartoon by P J Polyp.

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Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/Instituto Lula

The Interview: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Brazil’s former leader is the frontrunner in polls for the 2022 presidential election, well ahead of Jair Bolsonaro.

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Photo: Brian Cahn. Zuma Wire/Alamy

Hall of Infamy: Marjorie Taylor Greene

Idiocy coated in patriotic self-righteousness courtesy of Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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Photo: Etinosa Yvonne

Southern Exposure: Etinosa Yvonne

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

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Illustration: Marc Roberts

Only Planet

No results found, by Marc Roberts.

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Agony Uncle: Does international ‘voluntourism’ do more harm than good?

Agony Uncle: Does international ‘voluntourism’ do more harm than good?

Ethical and political dilemmas abound these days. Seems like we’re all in need of a New Internationalist perspective. Enter stage: Agony Uncle.

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What if…

Armed forces were abolished? Symon Hill plots a path to peace

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The Puzzler

The Puzzler

Crossword Puzzle, Association Words and Wordsearch

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Film, Book & Music Reviews

Mixed Media: Books

Mixed Media: Books

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka; Little Brother by Ibrahima Balde and Amets Arzallus Antia, translated by Timberlake Wertenbaker; World Politics since 1989 by Jonathan Holslag; Patriarchy of the Wage by Sylvia Federici.

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Mixed Media: Film

Mixed Media: Film

I’m Your Man directed and co-written by Maria Schrader; Sabaya directed and written by Hogir Hirori.

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Mixed Media: Music

Mixed Media: Music

Drawing Life by Jocelyn Pook; K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us by Xhosa Cole.

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Spotlight: Peggy Seeger

Spotlight: Peggy Seeger

Folk music royalty Peggy Seeger speaks to Louise Gray about her life, her music, and her political activism.

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