The 黑洞社区College of Arts and Sciences welcomed Dr. Vandana Shiva, a food sovereignty, environmental and ecofeminist activist, for its recent Frontier Forum lecture series held at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 7 in downtown Tampa.
Dr. Vandana Shiva (left) with 黑洞社区College of Arts and Sciences Dean Magali Michael. (Photo by Marc Edwards Photographs)
Shiva鈥檚 lecture centered on why achieving food sovereignty is vital to addressing many of the problems plaguing humanity today, such as an increase in chronic health disease and climate change.
Food sovereignty, according to the Declaration of Ny茅l茅ni, the first global forum on food sovereignty, is 鈥渢he right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.鈥�
It focuses on the needs of those producing, distributing and consuming food over the demands of markets.
鈥淔ood sovereignty is the sovereignty to decide how you grow your food, how you will distribute it, and what prices you will charge for it,鈥� Shiva said. 鈥淔ood sovereignty is about freedom; it鈥檚 about interconnected freedom. I鈥檓 connected to the soil; I鈥檓 connected to my neighbor; I鈥檓 connected to the rivers. Food sovereignty is a collected endeavor of the common good.鈥�
Shiva noted that 50 percent of greenhouse gases come from an industrialized food system, with 14 percent from the production of the food itself and another 20 percent from food being converted into a 鈥渃ommodity.鈥�
Dr. Shiva signed copies of her latest book at the close of the event, providing attendees a chance to speak with her one-on-one before the evening鈥檚 conclusion. (Photo by Marc Edwards Photographs)
鈥淔ood is the currency of life, but food has become a commodity,鈥� Shiva said. 鈥淎 commodity doesn鈥檛 have intrinsic value.鈥�
According to Shiva, 75 percent of garbage waste is food packaging.
She stated that a major shift is needed to start viewing food as the 鈥渃urrency of life.鈥�
She also highlighted the vital role of women across the world in protecting food sovereignty.
鈥淣ature functions through neutrality and symbiosis,鈥� Shiva said. 鈥淣ature as living, woman as living, indigenous cultures as living, working people as living and created is the commonality through the ecology movement, through the feminist movement, through movements for worker鈥檚 rights and movements of diversity. At the end, they have the same roots and that鈥檚 how we will overcome the divisions that are bringing us apart.鈥�
鈥淚f we can unite as humanity, we will be able to solve all of our problems,鈥� Shiva said.
One of those first steps, Shiva urged, is working toward achieving food sovereignty for all.
鈥淥ur grandmothers always told us, 鈥榊ou are what you eat,鈥欌�� Shiva said. 鈥淲orking with the Earth as co-creators to create food sovereignty is possible. And the beauty of it is that it also leads to a fuller life. It leads to a happier life. Growing your own food; creating gardens everywhere.鈥�
Frontier Forum attendees spent some time interacting with Dr. Shiva at the reception held just before her lecture. (Photo by Marc Edwards Photographs)
The Dean鈥檚 Student Leadership Society and Dean Michael helped to welcome Dr. Shiva to the Straz Center. (Photo by Marc Edwards Photographs)
鈥淚t was fantastic having Dr. Shiva here. Her work and her message are not only great
for everyone here, but gives us a plan of action to move forward in the future. I
think her focus on food sovereignty, specifically, is something that we can all practice
in our individual lives and also practice in our communities. At 黑洞社区we鈥檝e got the
Urban Food Sovereignty Group that is doing this research. It鈥檚 doing community work and engaging students, faculty
and the rest of the university, and this is exactly what Dr. Shiva is talking about.
Thankfully the Frontier Forum brought her here to share that message and to give us
an opportunity to learn about these ways forward,鈥� said Dr. William Schanbacher, 黑洞社区CAS assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies.
The event closed with Shiva taking some time to speak with attendees and sign copies of her latest book, 鈥淭erra Viva: My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements.鈥�
Please visit the Frontier Forum website to learn about future lecture series speakers.