Stop the Food Crisis Mobilization

On June 3-5, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will host the High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy in Rome.  It will be attended by the UN Secretary General, several Heads of State including President Lula of Brazil and President Sarkozy of France we well as World Bank and IMF representatives, where they will discuss ways to address the current global food crisis.

GCAP is calling for a global day of action on or around June 1, to demand that governments Act Now to End Poverty and Inequality and Stop the Food Crisis.

GCAP demands that world leaders take immediate action to address the food crisis by:

• mobilizing emergency funding to prevent starvation
• removing perverse incentives to turn food into biofuels
• managing financial speculation
• tackling the underlying causes by ending harmful trade policies and investing in sustainable agricultural productivity in developing nations
• honouring their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals

Below are some suggested actions which can be taken on or around June 1:
 

• Peaceful march, walk or demonstration
• Protest outside a government building or House of Parliament
• Display banners (white bands) and other materials with ‘Stop the Food Crisis’ and key demands
• Meet with heads of state, parliamentarians or local government to deliver our demands. This could involve a symbolic gesture such as handing over a bag of rice or grain wrapped in a white band
  
• Publish an article or letter in the national or local press
  
• Organise a press conference with civil society representatives, experts such as economists, academics and people involved in the food and agriculture industry, government representatives and, most importantly, those affected by the food crisis themselves in countries in the South, or in the North, testimonies from women and young people most affected
• Issue a press release
• Direct people to sign a petition or take an e-action. See our online petition
• Organise a 3 day fast, now or during the 3 days of the meeting (June 3-5), one day for every billion people who live on less than $2 a day
• Organise a performance of the Poverty Requiem or play it at an event