Food sovereignty enshrines a nation’s right to produce food respecting local cultural diversity.

Evidence

Shiva (1997, 2000) has argued that globalization creates ‘development’ and ‘growth’ by the destruction of the local environment, culture, and sustainable ways of living. While Shiva does not explicitly refer to the capabilities framework, her focus certainly is on those capabilities surrounding food production that are crucial to individual, community, and cultural functioning. The argument from critics such as these is for systems of ‘food sovereignty’, or the right and ability ‘of each nation to maintain and develop its own capacity to produce its basic foods respecting cultural and productive diversity’ (Via Campesina 2002). — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 320

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines food sovereignty via Via Campesina as the right and capacity of each nation to produce its basic foods respecting cultural diversity.
• ADDENDUM: Connects to the eco-justice theme of traditional food systems and the recognition of ways of life as justice claims.
• XREF: Ties food sovereignty to recognition/capability justice across Eco-Justice course; echoes earlier book claims about denial of recognition to traditional food systems producing food insecurity. — connects to: Denying recognition to traditional food systems produces food insecurity — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 302