{"id":3264,"date":"2013-11-05T10:33:19","date_gmt":"2013-11-05T15:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2013-11-05T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2013-11-05T15:33:19","slug":"occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupying and Attending the World Food Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"wfp<\/a>Two weeks ago, I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the World Food Prize<\/a>\u2019s Borlaug Dialogues series.\u00a0 The prize is based on the vision of Norman Borlaug, founder of the \u201cgreen revolution<\/a>,\u201d whose work focused on increasing the yield and durability of plants.\u00a0 As you can probably imagine, the World Food Prize (WFP) has come under criticism in recent years for its focus on high-yield, high-profit productivity.\u00a0 (Having DuPont and Monsanto as major sponsors will do that to you.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile and elsewhere in Des Moines\u2026a relatively small but vocal group had organized an \u201cOccupy the World Food Prize<\/a>\u201d campaign to voice a variety of complaints about the WFP.\u00a0 Central among their complaints was the WFP\u2019s decision to honor three \u201cbiotechnologists,\u201d including an executive from Monsanto and a researcher for Syngenta, two companies known for their work with genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I was able to attend both the Borlaug Dialogues and an event sponsored by the Occupy folks.\u00a0 Talk about a study in contrasts!\u00a0 It was striking to hear two vastly different perspectives on agriculture, food and solving hunger.\u00a0 The contrast brought to the fore some important debates that can be heard even among ELCA World Hunger folks.<\/p>\n

\"grimsson<\/a>

President Grimsson of Iceland speaking at the World Food Prize.<\/p><\/div>\n

The WFP hosted a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of corporate and public figures, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Howard G. Buffett, President Gr\u00edmsson of Iceland, and the executive officers or presidents of several large corporations.\u00a0 They spoke of public-private partnerships, corporate investment and trade policies.\u00a0 The major events ceremony was filled with pomp and circumstance, the awardees heralded by ceremonial horns.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the attendees at the Occupy event at First United Methodist Church were college students and community activists, dressed in jeans and serenaded by a guitar-playing troubadour waxing poetic about the differences between being \u201cthe shovel or the s—.\u201d\u00a0 In sharp tones punctuated by applause and cheering, the speakers railed against \u201ccorporate greed\u201d and political influence.\u00a0 They praised the \u201cgrassroots\u201d and the \u201cpower of the people.\u201d\u00a0 Public-private partnerships are the very symbol of corruption and injustice in their eyes.<\/p>\n

\"turkson<\/a>

Cardinal Peter Turkson addresses the Occupy the World Food Prize crowd.<\/p><\/div>\n

The differences here beg the question: where does legitimate power come from?\u00a0 Is solving hunger a \u201cgrasstops\u201d campaign or a \u201cgrassroots\u201d movement?\u00a0 In the wilderness, the devil tempts Jesus by offering him control of all the kingdoms on earth (Matt. 4:8-9).\u00a0 Jesus rebukes the devil, choosing instead the life of servanthood and solidarity among the \u201cgrassroots,\u201d a life that leads him to the cross.\u00a0 But what a ruler Jesus might have been!\u00a0 What does this say about not only how we exercise power, but what kind of power we seek?\u00a0 Is there room for both power from above and power from below?<\/p>\n

Agribusiness<\/i> or Agriculture<\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cit is true; agriculture is a business\u2026\u201d \u2013 Eve Ntseoane, WFP panelist<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must bring agribusiness into [the conversation and highlight] the opportunities of farming as a business, as entrepreneurship.\u201d \u2013 Mpule Kwelagobe, WFP panelist<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporate interests have re-made agriculture in their own image\u2026farming is \u2018good business\u2019 because it is a way of life\u2026It\u2019s agriculture<\/i> not agribusiness<\/i>.\u201d \u2013 Jim Hightower at Occupy the WFP event<\/i><\/p>\n

Is food production a way of life \u2013 a culture \u2013 or is it a profit-driven business?\u00a0 The difference might seem trivial \u2013 a matter of semantics \u2013 but the perspective each offers is vastly important.\u00a0 Consider: \u201cThe emphasis seems to shift from perceiving food as a \u2018commodity to be consumed\u2019 to food as an \u2018unexpected gift to be received\u2019\u2026\u201d (Samuel Torvend, Luther and the Hungry Poor: Gathered Fragments<\/i>, 98.)\u00a0 What do we lose and what do we gain by shifting farming from culture to business?<\/p>\n

Us or Them?<\/span><\/p>\n

The language of \u201cinsiders\u201d and \u201coutsiders\u201d was muted at the WFP, though to be honest, the folks in attendance with whom I spoke seemed reluctant to ask questions about the role of power in decision-making.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, this was not the case at the Occupy event.\u00a0 Here, the presenters were clear: some \u201cinsiders\u201d have power, and they tend to abuse it.\u00a0 The mass of \u201coutsiders\u201d without financial or political power must use their numbers to seize power from the \u201cgreedheads\u201d and \u201cmoney elites.\u201d\u00a0 There was a clear division between \u201cinsiders\u201d \u2013 those with wealth and influence on their side \u2013 and \u201coutsiders\u201d \u2013 agitators with morality on their side.<\/p>\n

Is there room for both in the movement to end hunger?\u00a0 In an ideal situation, those with traditional power will listen to those with \u201cpeople\u201d power to correct injustice.\u00a0 Practically speaking, though, two obstacles make this very difficult.\u00a0 On the one hand, the \u201cinsiders\u201d must allow the grassroots to have a place at the table.\u00a0 On the other hand, the \u201coutsiders\u201d must take the risk that this table is a place where authentic dialogue about solving hunger can occur.\u00a0 \u201cWhoever is not against us is for us\u201d (Mark 9:40).\u00a0 \u201cWhoever is not with me is against me\u2026\u201d (Matthew 12:30).\u00a0 Which is it?\u00a0 Must we choose?<\/p>\n

The contrast between the two events was thought-provoking for me.\u00a0 Where do you stand on these important debates about solving hunger?\u00a0 Does power come from above or below?\u00a0 Is food a commodity or a gift?\u00a0 With whom should we form networks?\u00a0 What do we gain when we take a side on any of these issues?\u00a0 What do we lose?<\/p>\n

Ryan P. Cumming is Program Director for Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Two weeks ago, I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the World Food Prize\u2019s Borlaug Dialogues series.\u00a0 The prize is based on the vision of Norman Borlaug, founder of the \u201cgreen revolution,\u201d whose work focused on increasing the yield and durability of plants.\u00a0 As you can probably imagine, the World Food Prize (WFP) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOccupying and Attending the World Food Prize - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Occupying and Attending the World Food Prize - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Two weeks ago, I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the World Food Prize\u2019s Borlaug Dialogues series.\u00a0 The prize is based on the vision of Norman Borlaug, founder of the \u201cgreen revolution,\u201d whose work focused on increasing the yield and durability of plants.\u00a0 As you can probably imagine, the World Food Prize (WFP) […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-05T15:33:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"henrymartinez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"henrymartinez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"henrymartinez\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a1018dc9fc22a555bce363e07989f79\"},\"headline\":\"Occupying and Attending the World Food Prize\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-05T15:33:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":920,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/wfp-banner-244x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/occupying-and-attending-the-world-food-prize\\\/\",\"name\":\"Occupying and Attending the World Food Prize - 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