Cultures of Resistance

Until quite recently, farming had not changed much for thousands of years. Human and animal power was responsible for tilling the soil and harvesting crops, and nearly all food was produced in close proximity to where it was consumed. A number of developments in the twentieth century changed all that.

Cultures of Resistance supports efforts to make trade fair and to ensure that farmers and other producers in the global South receive just wages for their work.

For the last three decades, the Oakland-based think tank Food First has been on the forefront of the fight for food justice. Learn about how their research, analysis, advocacy, and production of educational materials shape agriculture policy debates and assists social movements working for food sovereignty.

Too often grant-making organizations are over-involved in influencing the priorities of the organizations they face. CoR has long been impressed by the work of Grassroots International, which provides a model for bottom-up grant-making. Learn more about how their support helps protect indigenous food cultures in Latin America.

Decades of evidence suggests that the use of toxic herbicides and pesticides pose risks to wildlife, ecosystems, and human health. In response, large agricultural biotechnology and chemical corporations like Monsanto have used self-funded studies to assert that their products are safe and have attacked evidence that brings those assertions into question. However, some recent lawsuits may force Monsanto and other firms to take responsibility for the safety of their products.

The Cultures of Resistance Network is happy to share some of the feedback from our Slow Food partners in Africa. Here is a summary of some of the latest progress made in promoting local food production and distribution, and in the support of local food traditions.

Slow Food International, with its myriad local chapters, or "conviviums," works to protect communities' abilities to produce their own ecologically safe and economically fair foods, while preserving indigenous cuisines from multinational agribusiness.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has for decades been on the forefront of international emergency medical aid. Cultures of Resistance supports MSF's new multimedia campaign, "Starved for Attention," which sheds light on the millions of children without adequate diets and the flaws of the international food aid system.

Women produce the majority of the world’s food, and yet the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 1.1 billion women worldwide lack access to many of the productive resources that are available to men, including seeds, tools, financial services, education, and land rights. Learn more about how groups like MADRE are drawing the important connections between food sovereignty and women's rights.