Local Food, Farming & Fisheries

Mexico

Tosepan is a network of cooperatives with 35,000 members in Puebla, Mexico, dedicated to constructing a holistic, sustainable, locally- and democratically-controlled economy rooted in the indigenous culture and knowledge of the Sierra Norte. Tosepan is comprised of three civil associations and eight cooperatives, which together cover basic needs including organic ecological farming, natural building, local healthcare, decentralized renewable energy, and local finance. They also actively oppose globalization, and have successfully resisted corporate development projects including a planned Walmart. Read more about Tosepan in our article on Medium.

http://www.tosepan.com/

Croatia

Vestigium, a sustainability-themed community center in Croatia’s capital city, was created by six local women who recognized the need to combat the isolation of modern consumer culture by strengthening the local community. Vestigium has just opened the country’s first zero-waste café, Život, featuring locally sourced organic food bought in bulk with no plastic packaging. The center also offers classes in organic food production, a community-run library, and environmental education and waste reduction programs in the local public school. Visit the Vestigium website (in Croatian) for more information.

https://udrugavestigium.wixsite.com/vestigium

India

Vrihi & Basudha were originally established to save heirloom rice varieties, and to encourage the non-commercial exchange of seeds among local farmers. After nearly 20 years, Vrihi is now “the largest folk rice seed bank in eastern India”, with over 940 endangered varieties in its collection. Basudha, meanwhile, serves as an interdisciplinary research farm where sophisticated ecological studies are conducted to evaluate the differences between chemical versus ecological farming systems. Read more about Vrihi & Basudha in this Medium article.

Photo by Jason Taylor

https://cintdis.org/

Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers’ Forum & Shashe Agroecology School both work to support smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe as they exchange ideas about agroecology, reconnect with traditional farming practices, and lobby to protect their livelihoods from seed patent laws, the World Trade Organization and transnational corporations. Read the full story in this Medium article.

http://zimsoff.org