Feed the world without destroying the planet tour coming soon!

Really pleased to be on board with this, Mindanao is the site of an ecosocialist struggle, a little bit of hope that ecosocialism via indigenous, workers and peasants can grow in Asia like it has in Latin America....I would love to get out to Mindanao at some point (however trying to stick to my no fly policy!) , any how spread the word, this is going to be good.



Feed the world without destroying the planet
Tour of Philipina Ecosocialist

In November 2011 Socialist Resistance and Green Left will be hosting a national tour on the vital subject of food production and food sovereignty.

This is a crucial subject in a world where soil erosion, desertification and famine for millions of poor people is an ever-increasing reality while the profits of large landowners and supermarkets continue to soar.

The main speaker will be Maria Neri B. Pampilo from Mindanao in the Philippines. Maria is a longstanding activist and ecosocialist. She will share her fascinating experiences in the struggle for land reform and for ecologically sustainable food production.

The rise in monocultures, particularly in the countries of the south, together with climate change itself is one of the bases for soil erosion and desertification. Agribusiness calls for ever-increasing yields which may have benefit in the short term but at a devastating long-term cost. The massive increase in pesticides pollutes rivers and oceans too, while forests are cleared.

The cost to human communities is also immeasurable – peasants are thrown off their land as land reform is reversed in the insatiable search for profit. Millions are forced to migrate to unsustainable cities – living in shantytowns with no infrastructure.

Samir Amin, the economist and writer on development issues, has argued that agriculture is one of the new frontiers for capital. Over the last few years appreciable amounts of speculative capital has moved into food production forcing food prices up. At the same time there has been a massive expansion of a unprecedented phenomena – the land grabbing, particularly in Africa, by both private and state capital, for the production of both food and agrifuels.

There is resistance – from the growth of militant peasant and indigenous organisations in many parts of the globe, the pioneering of organic agriculture in countries as diverse as Cuba, Venezuela and the Philippines and of guerilla gardening in the deserts of post-industrial cities in the United States such as Chicago.

But the opportunity for ecosocialists in Britain to explore these topics in depth doesn’t come often and we hope you won’t miss this opportunity

For further information contact:

philipinnestour@socialistresistance.org

Confirmed dates:

Leeds Thursday 10 November

London Saturday 12 November, University of London Union, Malet Street

Brighton Monday 14 November

Birmingham Tuesday 15 November

Cambridge Thursday 17 November

Manchester Saturday 19 November

Oxford Thursday 24 November