Despite confronting occupation in Palestine or the effects of failed immigration policies in rural Washington, two grassroots groups have continued the struggle for their communities’ rights to a just food system.
For their efforts, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine and the Bellingham, Washington-based Community to Community Development (C2C) are being honored with this year’s Food Sovereignty Prize. The announcement was made this week.
Now in its 6th year, the Prize is awarded by the US Food Sovereignty Alliance, a network of anti-hunger advocacy organizations, and seeks to laud those who work towards combating the injustices created by the global food system. “In honoring those who are taking back their food systems, the Food Sovereignty Prize affirms that nothing short of the true democratization of our food system will enable us to end hunger once and for all,” a statement from the Prize’s website reads.
Previous winners have included La Via Campesina, the Landless Workers Movement of Brazil and Family Farm Defenders.
The UAWC’s nearly three decades of work is borne out of the Israeli occupation’s continued land and water grabs—issues that directly affect farmers. The group’s efforts include creating seed banks and farmer cooperatives.
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