We talked to Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy, about hunger, food and agroecological alternatives, during a day-long colloquium at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, The Netherlands, on Monday 12 December 2011. The event brought together some of the world's leading radical thinkers and activists working on the issues of food and the future of farming. Speakers included Olivier de Schutter, Frances Moore Lappé, Miguel Altieri, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, Robin Broad and Tony Weis.
Presentations addressed the following questions: How do we understand and tackle the interlinked agrarian and environmental crises? What types of policies create sustainable development that guarantees justice, equality and autonomy for poor and marginalized communities? What types of food movements have emerged and why, and with what challenges?
Eric argues that real change in the food system needs to be brought about by people - the farmers, producers, consumers and communities who want equal access to healthy food and a healthy environment. There needs to be both practitioners - people who are building alternatives, and the advocates - the educators and policy researchers.
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