Carlos Marentes from La Via Campesina, Pat Mooney ETC group, Lise-Anne Leveille Union Paysanne-La Via Campesina, Eric Holt-Giménez Foodfirst, debating about corporate strategy to control the food system.

"Agribusiness have increased their lobbying capacity in the United States by some two and a half fold, since Obama came into power", says Pat Mooney. From Monsanto to Nestle, there is immense pressure on the food system to try and totally control it. With all the money and lobbying power corporations are finding success in many parts of the world.

Lise-Anne (from Union Paysanne-La Via Campesina) tells us that the government policies are often suiting corporate interests and young farmers are finding it difficult to do farming due to lack of access to land and resources. Carlos Marentes struck a positive note, when he called for food sovereignty as an alternative to the current corporate led food systems - which can keep the farm and the community healthy. In Quebec, for instance, the community supported agriculture and organic basket of vegetables is really growing in demand. Eric from Food First added that this is not just an issue of agriculture but also a question of the future of the planet. "We desperately need the peasant model of production", he insists. "Food sovereignty is a social project and we must adopt it. But that also means that the country side has to be a good place to live. It is tough to live in the countryside now. This means we will have to direct our resources into the country side.", he added.

Source: Focus Puller/ WSF TV - wsftv.net/Members/focuspuller/videos/fsm2016-montreal-canada-food