Robert Hadžić, mag.oec.
Član organizacijskog odbora 10. Interenefa

Točno je trideset godina otkako je skovan pojam prehrambena suverenost. 1996. Na Svjetskom samitu o hrani, raspravljajući o prehrambenim sustavima na globalnoj razini, La Via Campesina pokrenula je borbu koja svakom slijedećom godinom dobiva sve veću težinu i važnost za dugoročnu opstojnost i održivost prehrane svjetskog stanovništva i zdravlja planeta. Tom svjetskom pokretu koji broji preko 200 milijuna članova trebamo zahvaliti što je pitanje prehrambene suverenosti danas na dnevnom redu kao jedna od prioritetnih tema globalnih, regionalnih i nacionalnih poljoprivredno-prehrambenih politika. Proizvodnja hrane nikad nije bila suočena s većim i težim izazovima nego što je to danas.

Prije 80-tak godina pojam prehrambene suverenosti nije mogao (trebao) postojati jer je bio utkan u sve pore društva. Ona je bila conditio sine qua non (uvjet bez kojega se ne može). Svaka suverena tvorevina bila je svjesna što za zajednicu znači proizvoditi dovoljno hrane kako bi se prehranilo stanovništvo. Pojavom država i razvojem gradova trebalo je osigurati dovoljno hrane za neproduktivno stanovništvo kao što su vojska, policija, čija je primarna svrha bila čuvanje ili širenje suvereniteta i reda zajednice. Prva i osnovna zadaća svakog društva (civilizacije) bila je prehraniti samog sebe.

Pojavom industrijske proizvodnje hrane nakon 2. svjetskog rata prehrambeni suverenitet biva sve jače nagrizen uslijed snažnijeg i dominirajućeg djelovanja korporacijskog okruženja i globalizacije. Industrijska poljoprivreda koja je nastajala u okrilju Zelene revolucije s današnje pozicije zapravo nas je dovela do “Zelene kataklizme”. Cijenu koju kao društvo plaćamo neodrživim praksama proizvodnje i distribucije hrane svake godine je sve veća. Silovanje prirode dovelo je zastrašujućeg gubitka bioraznolikost o kojoj ovisi više od 50% svjetskog društvenog bruto proizvoda. U posljednjih 40 godina populacija divljih vrsta smanjena je za 60%, a milijun vrsta je u opasnosti od izumiranja.

Zbog gotovo potpunog gubitka prehrambene suverenosti u pravom smislu riječi, tema koja se donedavna nije ni spominjala, odjednom postaje ključno političko i sigurnosno pitanje na globalnoj, regionalnoj i nacionalnoj razini. Geopolitička nestabilnost i neizvjesnost, pandemije i klimatske promjene traže od nas preispitivanje dosadašnjih modela upravljanja poljoprivredno-prehrambenim politikama i vjerojatan povratak Zemlji (Down to Earth) ukoliko želimo sačuvati dugoročnu održivost i opstojnost za buduće generacije.

Robert Hadžić, mag.oec.
Member of the organizing committee of the 10th Interenef

Food sovereignty – a brief history of the movement

It is exactly thirty years since the concept of food sovereignty was coined. In 1996, at the World Food Summit, discussing food systems at a global level, La Via Campesina launched a struggle that gains even greater weight and importance with each passing year for the long-term viability and sustainability of the world’s population’s diet and the health of the planet. We should thank this global movement, which has over 200 million members, for the issue of food sovereignty to be on the agenda today as one of the priority topics of global, regional and national agricultural and food policies. Food production has never faced greater and more difficult challenges than it does today.

Some 80 years ago, the concept of food sovereignty could not (should not) exist because it was woven into every pore of society. It was a conditio sine qua non (a condition without which one cannot do without). Every sovereign entity was aware of what it meant for a community to produce enough food to feed its population. The emergence of states and the development of cities meant that sufficient food had to be provided for the unproductive population, such as the army and police, whose primary purpose was to preserve or expand the sovereignty and order of the community. The first and most basic task of every society (civilization) was to feed itself.

With the emergence of industrial food production after World War II, food sovereignty has been increasingly eroded by the stronger and more dominant influence of the corporate environment and globalization. Industrial agriculture, which emerged under the auspices of the Green Revolution, has, from its current position, actually led us to the “Green Cataclysm”. The price we as a society pay for unsustainable food production and distribution practices is increasing every year. The rape of nature has led to a terrifying loss of biodiversity, on which more than 50% of the world’s gross domestic product depends. In the last 40 years, the population of wild species has decreased by 60%, and a million species are at risk of extinction.

Due to the almost complete loss of food sovereignty in the true sense of the word, a topic that was not even mentioned until recently, is suddenly becoming a key political and security issue at the global, regional and national levels. Geopolitical instability and uncertainty, pandemics and climate change require us to reconsider the current models of agricultural and food policy management and a likely return to the Earth (Down to Earth) if we want to preserve long-term sustainability and viability for future generations