[caption id="attachment_260" align="alignright" width="300" caption="NGOs and CSOs participate in the Committee on World Food Security`s 36th Session"][/caption] From Chris Leather (Oxfam): ... Be a part of the NGO Constituency within the "International Food Security and Nutrition Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)". Please read the following background information and let us know if you would like to be a member of the NGO Constituency.
[caption id="attachment_252" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Maize Crop in a GMO-free zone , Basque Country, France"][/caption] A coalition of European social movements, farmers organisations, and NGOs demand to put access to quality affordable food and fair market prices for farmers at core the of EU agriculture and food policy. Proposals from the European Commission to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013 show signs of fairer distribution of subsidies, according to the coalition. [1]
Woman Pastoralist (Image from www.maragindia.org)
Yesterday the Mera Declaration was adopted by the Global Gathering of Women Pastoralists.  I facilitated the Declaration working and drafting group and I can say that the women worked hard to ensure that the declaration addressed all of the key issues facing women pastoralists today. The result is a declaration outlining their commitment to continue to protect ecological biodiversiy and to forward equitable and just pastoralist societies.

“Pastoralist societies face more threats to their way of life now than at any previous time. Population growth; loss of herding lands to private farms, ranches, game parks, and urban areas; increased commoditization of the livestock economy; out-migration by poor pastoralists; and periodic dislocations brought about by drought, famine, and civil war are increasing in pastoralist regions of the world.” Fraktin, Elliot. 1997. “Pastoralism: Governance and Development Issues” in Annual Review of Anthropology. 26:235-261.

NB this post is a few days late as I have not had internet access until now. [caption id="attachment_220" align="alignleft" width="1024" caption="Camels en route to Mera, Gujarat, India"][/caption] It was a pleasant flight on Kingfisher Airlines from London to Mumbai. I was able to sleep through most of it. I have another 8 hours to kill in Mumbai Airport and I have already made two trips to the food court and had some amazing food.
NB: This is a few days late as I had no internet access until now En route to India and working through the first of two eight hour layovers. This trip has come about so quickly that I feel remarkably unprepared and somewhat unsure of how I feel or how I should feel. I wonder what Baudrillard would say about that? The simulation of a trip: Reality negated by so many other “visits to” and “vistas of” India: Predetermined, socially acceptable emotional cues have been successfully implanted and are ready to be performed before, after and during my stay.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="266" caption="Iron rich red soil near Paint Pots mineral springs in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada."][/caption] Message from Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, CityUniversity, London: Gradually, one of the oldest food policy concerns is resurfacing globally – the issue of soil health.  At times, I have wondered if Soil Scientists are themselves becoming an endangered species, as here in Europe, (and in the UK), there has been remarkable complacency for a long time. Over the last decade, however, some welcome urgency has crept back in.
“EXPLORING CHANGE THROUGH FOOD”
CALL FOR PAPERS: SIXTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FOOD STUDIES
MAY 28 – 30, 2011
The 2011 CAFS conference theme, which reflects the Congress theme, is “EXPLORING CHANGE THROUGH FOOD ”. We invite session proposals or individual paper proposals dealing with the connections of food production and consumption to notions of exploration and discovery. Submissions exploring differences in regional and local foodscapes; examining the relationship between changes in urban consumption patterns and tastes and their effects on literal and metaphorical rural topography; and investigations of community development through food are particularly welcome.
From the newsletter of the Working Group on Agrarian Reform and Territory, of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty - IPC: How to participate in the Online Consultation of Civil Society Organizations´ Proposals to the FAO Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Land and Natural Resources Tenure Following the process for the elaboration of the civil society document set out by the International Facilitating Team at the beginning of 2010, the drafting committee has prepared the first draft for wide consultation. The document has been drafted based on the outcomes on the four regional consultations held in Kuala Lumpur, Brasilia, Rome and Nyèlèni and on the inputs collected through an online questionnaire. The reports of these four CSO consultations can be found elsewhere on the website.