For Immediate Release 10/8/12
Contact: Family Farm Defenders #608-260-0900
Family Farm Defenders is extremely proud to host the Wisconsin leg of a Midwest tour by Mrs. Jeomok Bak and Ms. Junkyoung Lee, representatives of the Korean Women’s Peasant Association (KWPA) and recipients of the 2012 Food Sovereignty Prize which is being awarded to them in New York City on Wed. Oct. 10th at 7 pm at the National Museum of the American Indian (One Bowling Green, lower Manhattan)
The Food Sovereignty Prize was first awarded in 2009 as an alternative to the World Food Prize founded by “the father of the Green Revolution,” the late Norman Borlaug. While the World Food Prize emphasizes increased production through technology, the Food Sovereignty Prize champions solutions coming from those most impacted by the injustices of the global food system. In honoring those who are taking back their food systems, the Food Sovereignty Prize affirms that nothing short of the true democratization of our food system will enable us to end hunger once and for all.
Family Farm Defenders itself received the Food Sovereignty Prize at the Food, Culture, and Justice Conference in New Orleans in Oct. 2010, and has been a close ally of the KWPA for many years as part of La Via Campesina, the largest umbrella grassroots organization for family farmers, farm workers, fishers, herders, hunters, gatherers, and indigenous people in the world.
For more details on the Food Sovereignty Prize itself, visit: www.foodsovereigntyprize.org
Most recently, FFD has worked closely with the KWPA to oppose corporate globalization schemes such as the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). FFD president, John Kinsman, traveled to South Korea in early 2011 to join Korean allies to speak out against these policies that hurt family farmers and urban consumers in both countries. It is expected that the KWPA delegation will highlight the dangers of KORUS and TPP while on their visit, and urge U.S. citizens to contact their elected officials to oppose these forced trade deals.
While in Wisconsin, there will be several opportunities for the media and general public to meet Mrs. Jeomok Bak and Ms. Junkyoung Lee and discuss the significance of winning the 2012 Food Sovereignty prize and their effort to defend the future of small-scale agriculture in their country.
Fri. Oct. 12th Meet & Greet from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Willy St. Co-op, Community Rm (1221 Williamson St.)
Free and open to the public with some light snacks provided.
Sat. Oct. 13th Meet & Greet from 8:30 am – 9:30 am King St. Corner – Capitol Square, prior to a walking tour of the Dane County Farmers Market.
Sat. Oct. 13th Meet & Greet as part of the Reedsburg from Scratch event of the Fermentation Fest 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Reedsburg Country Club (3003 E. Main St. in Reedsburg) Cost for this event is $25 and includes a wide variety of local food and drink. To register, visit: www.fermentationfest.com
After their Wisconsin visit, Mrs. Jeomok Bak and Ms. Junkyoung Lee, will continue on to Iowa for another series of public speaking events with other U.S. food sovereignty allies before heading back to South Korea.
