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Food Sovereignty is more Important Locally
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Among the basic human needs essential for human survival is food. It is a human right to have accessibility, availability, and utilization of food for a healthy and active lifestyle at all times as defined in food security. Characterized by food security is the necessity of people having the right to choose the form and type of food to eat, where to get the food and how they get the food. Food sovereignty entails breaching the gap of structural inequalities that hinder people of diverse social classes equitably accessing desired amounts of food (U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance, 2007). Thus, food sovereignty aims at attaining food justice for each individual. Therefore, individuals should take charge of their nutrition and food production making food sovereignty an important factor locally than nationally or globally.
Out of the local context’s sustainable efforts to obtain food sovereignty, a nation obtains both food security and food sovereignty then the world at large reflects whatever takes place in the local context. At the local level, individuals are able to define their own environmentally and culturally fit food systems (Leventon & Laudan, 2017). Creating initiatives that locally address challenges facing food production, supply and utilization scale up food sustainability. It is difficult to address global food security challenges yet food grows locally. Defining local challenges is a step away from addressing national and global challenges facing food sustainability. In most instances, the locals understand their way of life, food production systems and the challenges and possible solutions. Also, culture and the environment culminate the food chain systems making it of great significance recognizing the local context.
At the local level, people are able to shun away from practices and policies that harm their food production systems. Mostly, global trade policies and practices obtain a general view of states’ agricultural practices with less or no integration of the locals’ opinion. Also, national practices may not be ecologically sound to food production in certain regions. However, local food sovereignty promotes policies and practices that serve the rights of the local people to safe, quality and healthy food CITATION Mic151 \l 1033 (Pimbert, 2015).
Food sovereignty locally promotes the existence of short food chains. Some foods are perishables and long food chains would lead to perishable items which are a loss and waste of food that would be utilized by people in need of food. Moreover, Pimbert (2015) states that short food chains promote economic and social benefits. For instance, they create a sense of communal ownership, builds trust and social bonds. Such bonds enhance the spirit of agricultural responsibility in securing food hence creating food sovereignty. Additionally, they generate jobs as individuals work in farms or firms within their regions. Employment generates revenue to the country, thus strengthening the local economies as the higher share of the value created from agricultural practices remains with the producers.
Consumers shop for food at their most convenient places which is a local store near their residential places. However, convenience varies from the ability to purchase everything in one place, accessible parking, near the homeplace to fair prices (Megan et al., 2010). Nonetheless, food decisions are locally made and there exist more incentives to purchasing local foods than others. For example, Megan et al. offer an example of Cascade Fruits’ case where families receive a weekly delivery of vegetables and fruits with free delivery schemes for individuals within a 5-mile radius. Unlike the Tesco company that strategizes on local as th...