New Ecuador Constitution - Sustainable Food Sovereignty

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http://us.oneworld.net/article/357819-new-constitution-recognizes-food-sovereign\

ty-ecuador

New Constitution Recognizes Food Sovereignty in Ecuador October 3, 2008

*OneWorld.net's take: Ecuadorians voted in a new constitution last week that

recognizes peoples' right to sustainable food production -- particularly

local production by small farmers -- and nature's right to remain

unexploited, report two farmers' and fair trade organizations.*

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Fishermen in Ecuador now have more legal rights that protect their way of

life. © El Freddy (flickr)*The new constitution " suggests the initiation

of a paradigm shift from the agrarian and food

model<http://www.fian.org/news/press-releases/the-new-ecuadorian-constitution-wo\

uld-recognize-food-sovereignty-as-means-to-realize-the-right-to-adequate-food-3>\

that

has been applied in Ecuador and that has generated a dependence on the

large transnational corporations, food insecurity and systematic violations

of human rights, " states the FoodFirst Information and Action Network.*

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*The constitution

<http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/04-7>also enables the

president to run for reelection, dissolve Congress, and

exert great control over the country's central bank, said the Christian

Science Monitor.*

Ecuadorians' New Constitution Makes Food Sovereignty a Right

From: Grassroots

International<http://www.grassrootsonline.org/blog/ecuadorians%E2%80%99-new-cons\

titution-makes-food-sovereignty-right>

October 2, 2008

On September 28, 2009, Ecuadorians approved a new constitution that includes

an article granting nature the right to " exist, persist, maintain and

regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in

evolution. " The new constitution recognizes the right of all Ecuadorians to

have access to sufficient resources to feed themselves in a sustainable

manner with respect to cultural differences between people and communities.

A priority is local food production, recognizing implicitly that the right

to adequate food represents, among many things, the right of the small food

producers, harvesters and fisherpeople to acquire appropriate resources and

the right to rely on the laws, measures and programs that assist them in

providing food.

*For more information about new nature rights in Ecuador, visit Grassroots

International.*<http://www.grassrootsonline.org/blog/ecuadorians%E2%80%99-new-co\

nstitution-makes-food-sovereignty-right>

Ecuador Constitutional Assembly Approves Rights of Nature In New

Constitution

From: Global Exchange <http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/5922.html>

September 28, 2008

California—Today, the people of Ecuador voted to recognize the inalienable

rights belonging to ecosystems in their new constitution. A set of

groundbreaking articles that transform the status of nature from mere

property to a rights-bearing entity are now incorporated into the national

charter. Ecuador, one of the world's most biodiverse places, has set a

precedent for other nations who have struggled against multinational

corporations' exploitation, which has turned ecosystems and whole

communities into sacrifice zones. The world watches as Ecuador takes its

first step into what many people believe is the legal unknown.

The inspiration for today's remarkable achievement comes from municipalities

across the United States where rural communities have already developed and

adopted Rights of Nature ordinances, first developed by the Community

Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Ecuador's Constitutional Assembly

asked CELDF to suggest Rights of Nature language for their draft

constitution, based on the municipalities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New

Hampshire that have taken the lead nationally and globally.

Global Exchange rights-based organizer, Biggs, who partners with

CELDF to assist communities in passing these new laws, is blazing new ground

in California: " Ecuador and U.S. communities—from Santa Cruz, California to

rural Pennsylvania—are passing laws that assert the rights of nature to be

wild, and boldly changing the way we protect the environment. " Biggs is

organizing with Monterey, Nevada City and Santa Cruz, which are among the

first California communities working to pass local laws to change not only

nature's legal status nature, but also its culture.

Local Nevada City, California concerned resident Debra Weistar: " For 150

years, the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range has been exploited for

profit. There is still a " gold rush " mentality here that implies that there

are riches in these hills for the taking. Ecuador is leading the way on a

national level, and it has created momentum that may evolve into a movement.

I can follow and emulate that model to help my own community. "

Local Monterey organizer Elsa Dooling: " In our community on the Central

Coast of California we have enormous, highly valuable natural resources that

are supposedly being protected under current regulations. The Monterey Bay

National Marine Sanctuary says our coastal waters are protected, yet not

only are large commercial farms pouring hundreds of millions of pounds of

toxic pesticides into our air, water and soil, but so are our cities and

counties. If our community was able to stand up and say the natural habitat

of the Bay has rights—true and recognized rights—we'd be able to legally go

after the polluters for violations and stop the assault that is killing our

fragile coastal ecosystem. "

States Biggs: " Slaves were once also considered property under the law. We

needed to write new law in order to change the cultural understanding, the

cultural climate. This is the kind of change represented by these local

efforts, and now Ecuador. We need many more communities to stand up for the

environment in the places where they live. " Across the U.S., communities are

making demands for a new system that prioritizes environmental health over

corporate profits.

*To read more about legal and other initiatives to protect the environment

from corporate exploitation, visit Global

Exchange.*<http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/5922.html>--

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to

conscience, above all liberties. - Milton, Areopagitica

Deut 11:15 He will put grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will

have plenty to eat.

Check out my blog - www.ericsons.net - Food for the Body and Soul