Latin America Week 2011

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Tuesday March 15, 2011 12:54 by Lasc - Lasc info at lasc dot ie

LATIN AMERICA WEEK 2011

Latin America Solidarity centre :

LATIN AMERICA WEEK 2011

2nd – 9th April
 
Taste of Freedom: Growing Alternatives to the Food Crisis
 
About:
· Food Sovereignty: alternatives to the current food production and distribution systems
 
 
WHAT IS LATIN AMERICA WEEK
Latin America Week (LAW) is an annual programme of educational, cultural and campaigning events on issues relating to cultural, social, political, civil and economic rights in Latin America. The overall aim of LAW is to concentrate the attention of the public on Latin America for one week, so as to highlight the justice issues at stake in the region and thus to facilitate campaigning and solidarity actions between Ireland and Latin America. LAW is coordinated by the Latin America Solidarity Centre and organised locally by regional partners and activists.
 
Who will be the main speakers in LAW 2011?
 

Richard Intriago, Ecuador
Richard Intriago is part of The Conference on Food Sovereignty. Made up of 8 members, it is an advisory body to the government and the highest authority on Food Sovereignty in Ecuador. He is also President of the Small Farmers Association of the Coast of Ecuador. Under Richard the Federation is very politically active, and was involved in the Constituent Assembly that wrote the Constitution. The Federation also provides training on organic techniques. Outside of his work with the Federation, Richard heads a group of university students that work to promote agroecology and Food Sovereignty. He has studied in Cuba, worked as an advisor to the government in Venezuela and with the MST in Brazil. He has organised conferences and forums on sustainable organic agriculture at a regional level.
Carlos Gouveia Da Silva, Brazil
Carlos is a member of the Associação dos Produtores Autônomos do Campo e da Cidade (Association of Rural and Urban Autonomous Producers), Rio de Janeiro, a grassroots organisation set up in the 1980´s by a workers' school of self-management. Its main aim is to create a solidarity link between agricultural workers in the city and countryside. Currently, APAC is involved in rural and urban food growing activists’ networks with an agroecological perspective. APAC is a member of the Agroecology Coordinating Organisation of Rio de Janeiro. This organisation brings together grassroots movements working for Food Sovereignty and struggling against the neoliberal policies of the Brazilian agribusiness, genetically modified crops, concentration of land, and the use of pesticides.

Suzie Cahn, Ireland

Suzie has been vegetable gardening all her life, with her father, later for her own family’s needs and as a volunteer in schools where she has developed a gardening and nature program. In 2007 she set up a local voluntary group called Wicklow Community Gardening Group which has now become a network of over 10 community gardens.  She teaches courses at her Organic and Permaculture small-holding venue Carraig Dúlra, in Wicklow, and teaches Permaculture courses with Wicklow VEC and Greenworks.  She is involved both locally and nationally with Transition Towns, and together with her husband and a group in New Zealand is developing a local food hub called OOOOBY (Out Of Our Own Back Yard). The focus is on re-localizing food production and sustainability. She believes that reconnecting with nature is vital for us all if we are to learn to live healthily and sustainably and truly care about our environment. 
 

 
ABOUT LASC:

The Latin America Solidarity Centre (LASC), founded in 1996, is an initiative for development education, campaigning solidarity and cultural promotion, linking Ireland and Latin America.

LASC MISSION

LASC’s mission is to expose and challenge the current economic, social and cultural injustices in Latin America and Ireland, through public awareness raising, education, information exchanges and campaigns in solidarity with the people of Latin America who resist oppression and struggle to create a fair and inclusive society.

GORT: PUBLIC TALK WITH RICHARD INTRIAGO AND CARLOS GOUVEIA
DA SILVA
Monday 4th of April: Family Resource Centre, The Square. 7pm
COMMUNITY GARDEN VISIT: Old Fever Hospital, Gort, 3rd April, 11am

GALWAY: PUBLIC TALK WITH RICHARD INTRIAGO AND CARLOS GOUVEIA
DA SILVA
Tuesday 5th April: Galway Public Library, Augustine St. 6pm

LIMERICK: PUBLIC TALK WITH RICHARD INTRIAGO AND CARLOS GOUVEIA
DA SILVA
Wednesday 6th April: MC2005 (Millstream Courtyard Building, second
floor) University of Limerick, 2pm
EXHIBITION: Understanding Latin America: by 1st & 3rd year students of
Spanish
April 4th-8th, Language Resource Area, Languages Building,U.L
April 11th-15th, Limerick City Library

CORK: PUBLIC TALK WITH RICHARD INTRIAGO AND CARLOS GOUVEIA
DA SILVA
Thursday 7th April: Gresham Metropole Hotel, MacCurtain St. 7pm

DUBLIN: DAYLONG CONFERENCE with
RICHARD INTRIAGO
CARLOS GOUVEIA DA SILVA
SUZIE CAHN
The Oak Room, Mansion House, Dawson St, Dublin 2.
Saturday 9th, 10.30am-5pm

 
 
FOOD SOVERGNITY LAW 2010 explored the economic, social and political forces which prevent communities from achieving Food Sovereignty. It looked at how the food producing capacity of entire regions has been undermined by market-led food production models. The events during the week explored the rise in the price of oil, food speculation, the increase of cash crops and biofuels, the increased demand of emerging markets, unfair trade practices, etc. as causes of the food crisis. An important focus it's been Europe's role in these Neoliberal processes. LAW 2010 aimed also at building activism around the issue of food sovereignty in Ireland and Latin America.
 
 
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