We’re running out of time. Heatwaves, floods, hurricanes and fires are raging across the planet. One million species are at risk of extinction. Yet, the industrial production of commodities such as palm oil, soya, meat and dairy are destroying our forests and other ecosystems and pushing our planet to the brink of collapse. If we want to give our future a chance, this cannot go on.
Our planet is literally being set on fire by greedy companies and governments that choose to recklessly kill unique flora and fauna, displace and threaten Indigenous Peoples, and pump CO2 into the atmosphere, fueling, even more, the climate crisis.
We are told that this is how this system works. That this is how the food that gets to our plate is made, and that this is normal. But this sick food system is not inevitable. It was designed. So that means we can design a better one. A system where all of us have access to healthy food and affordable food. A system where forests are not wiped out to grow commodities to feed livestock and fill up car tanks.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown that the systems we have in place – political, economic, social – were designed not for the billions of people on the planet, but for just a few. It is time to change that. We can all win or we can all lose.
We demand our governments stop putting the profits of a few over our lives, and that companies provide us with healthy, good quality and affordable food. For everyone.