As Venezuela is experiencing some of the worst food shortages in its history, Plan Pueblo a Pueblo is working on a solution to bridge the gap and achieve food sovereignty.
When you read about ongoing crisis in Venezuela and its impact on food insecurity, you may not hear about one of the most innovative, people-led solutions delivering fresh, affordable food across the country—Plan Pueblo a Pueblo, or Plan People to People in English.
Recently awarded the 2019 Food Sovereignty Prize by the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance, Plan Pueblo a Pueblo sources fresh fruit and vegetables from small producers across Venezuela and distributes them across a network they have been building since 2015. Their name defines their approach: they are working to get food for the people who need it directly from the people who are growing it. This approach has several advantages: it provides consumers with more nutritious and affordably priced food, provides a more environmentally-friendly alternative to industrial agriculture, and promotes and supports local farmers. It’s also helping farmers to recover native seed varieties and local produce that were seen as unprofitable in large-scale agribusiness.
Pueblo a Pueblo works alongside other organizations to supply food in the face of major shortages and to reform food networks across the country. Not only is this revitalizing sustainable agriculture, it’s rebuilding seedbanks and strengthening distribution networks and other facets of the supply chain that have been impacted in over the last several years. Working to foster food sovereignty and ensure the right to nutritious food, Pueblo a Pueblo also engages in education and democratic decision making to build a mutually beneficial food system defined by solidarity among people and equity for all.
To learn more, you can livestream the 2019 U.S. Food Sovereignty Prize Ceremony on Thursday, October 10th at 8:30 PM Eastern / 5:30 PM Pacific through the USFSA’s Facebook page. Click here to register for the livestream.
For more on the great work Plan Pueblo a Pueblo is doing, click here.
Want The ROOT Report in your email? Sign up today at www.whyhunger.org/TheROOTReport
