San Francisco Chapter - International Day of Peasant Struggle 2011 Event

On April 17th in San Francisco, California, one hundred people gathered to grow solidarity between food justice movements in the cities and the food sovereignty organizations in California and beyond. Organized by the Bay Area Friends of the MST, the celebration for the International Day of Peasant Struggle was held at the San Francisco Art Institute and co-sponsored by the Urban Studies Department of the Institute.

Dr. Miguel Altieri, professor of agroecology from University of California at Berkeley, gave one of the keynote addresses, explaining the crisis of corporate agriculture and the way that peasant agriculture holds the key to the future

A panel on Food Justice in the City and Beyond featured speakers from Planting Justice, Phat Beets, and People's Grocery.

Following a free lunch of organic tamales, a second panel, Farm Workers Across Borders, with members form the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA), Agriculture and Land-based Training Association (ALBA), and the Oaxacan Children's Garden

Eric Holt-Gimenez from Food First gave the closing keynote, focusing on the need for social movements for food sovereignty and food justice to create alliances for a common struggle against the corporate food regime.

At the end of the event about 35 people marched to a Trader Joe's nearby to demand that they sign a contract with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) for fair wages and human rights for farm workers in Florida, California and worldwide! Globalizemos a Luta! Globalizemos a Esperança!