October 16 | World Food Day and the International Day of Action for People’s Food Sovereignty
Every year, on October 16, coinciding with World Food Day, the international peasant movement La Via Campesina calls for global mobilisation in support of people’s food sovereignty and against the growing power of transnational corporations over food systems.
This year’s call to action, under the slogan “End the Debt Trap! Food Sovereignty with Financial Sovereignty, NOW!”, highlights the close connection between debt, economic dependency, and the loss of control over our land, agricultural production, and food.
In a global system where land, seeds, water, and agricultural production are increasingly concentrated in the hands of large corporations, small-scale producers and rural communities face growing pressures. Rising production costs, limited bargaining power, economic insecurity, and dependence on large supply chains undermine their autonomy and threaten the viability of small-scale farms.
What Does Food Sovereignty Mean?
Food sovereignty is not just about ensuring an adequate food supply or access to healthy diets. Above all, it is about the right of people and communities to decide how their food is produced, distributed, and consumed..
It means ensuring that small-scale producers can earn a dignified living from their work, that consumers have access to quality, healthy, and affordable food, and that local communities retain control over their natural resources and productive capacities.
It also means enabling food systems that respect the land, biodiversity, local knowledge, and people’s needs, rather than being driven solely by profit maximisation.
Food sovereignty is therefore closely linked to social justice, economic autonomy, democracy, and the ability of communities to shape their own futures.
From a Global Demand to Local Action
At The High Mountains, we believe that the transition towards fairer and more resilient food systems cannot rely solely on decisions made at the national or international level.
Change can and must also be built from the ground up, through collective initiatives, collaboration, and new relationships of trust between those who produce our food and those who consume it.
This is the philosophy behind our efforts to develop a local food system in Epirus, Greece, based on the principles of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
Community Supported Agriculture offers an alternative model for organising food production and distribution, built on cooperation, commitment, and mutual support between producers and consumers.
By fostering more stable relationships and direct partnerships, it aims to provide producers with greater predictability and fair compensation for their work, while enabling households to access fresh, seasonal food from known sources.
At the same time, it strengthens local economies, reduces dependence on complex distribution chains, and builds stronger connections between urban and rural communities.
Supporting Small-Scale Agriculture Is About the Future of Our Communities
For us, supporting small-scale agriculture is about much more than the quality of the food that reaches our tables.
It is about enabling people to continue living, working, and building their lives in their own communities. It is about sustaining productive activities in villages, valuing local knowledge, creating opportunities for decent livelihoods, and strengthening the resilience of local economies.
In a region like Epirus, where many mountain and rural communities face population decline and shrinking economic activity, developing sustainable local food systems can play an important role in broader efforts to revitalise rural areas.
Connecting small-scale producers with households, organising food distribution collectively, and building lasting local partnerships are not simply matters of economic efficiency. They are ways of rebuilding relationships, trust, and communities.
Food Sovereignty Is Built Collectively
October 16 is an opportunity to reflect not only on what we eat, but also on who produces our food, under what conditions, who determines its value, and who truly controls the systems through which it reaches us.
Food sovereignty cannot be achieved through individual consumer choices alone. It requires collective organisation, public policies that support small-scale producers, the protection of common resources, and economic models that place the needs of people and the environment at their centre.
Because the future of our food is inseparable from the future of our communities. And that is a future we can shape together.
Source and more information: