The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is proud to present the 5th annual Food Sovereignty Convergence, this year hosted in Brisbane by local legends Robert Pekin & Emma-Kate Rose of Food Connect at their newly crowdfunded & community owned Food Connect Shed!
Convergence is a space where Australia’s food sovereignty movement comes together to debate, collaborate, share, and strategize to advance food sovereignty in Australia, and build the movement for the future. From farmers to consumer advocates, food rights activists to chefs, from researchers to community organisers: we encourage everyone working on food sovereignty and food system change to join us to help shape the agenda for the coming year.
Food sovereignty asserts the right of peoples to nourishing and culturally appropriate food produced and distributed in ecologically sound and ethical ways, and their right to collectively determine their own food and agriculture systems.
Sunday night: Food Sovereignty Convergence Dinner and Farming Democracy author panel
This year, Convergence kicks off on Sunday evening with a panel discussion on AFSA’s new book, Farming Democracy, with the authors and other small-scale producers discussing the real costs and value of farming, what it takes to build a better food system from the ground up, what works, and how we can make radical change.
Monday: Convergence Un-conference
Monday’s Convergence discussions open with lightning talk sessions that will spotlight the diversity of people and experiences that make up our food and farming systems, including women, youth, people of colour, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ people. Convergence will continue with on Monday with un-conference sessions and break-out discussions on the key current issues for the food sovereignty movement, our roles in it, and next steps. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Tuesday: Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance AGM
Convergence concludes on Tuesday with AFSA’s Annual General Meeting, where members can raise, discuss, and vote on key issues for action and governance decisions for the coming year. The AGM will be followed by time to share a potluck lunch with your fellow members – we welcome you to join us and, if you are able, bring something to share.
The Food Sovereignty Convergence is central to determining the work that AFSA does to advance food sovereignty and address the important issues in our food system. For that reason, we encourage everyone’s input on identifying the key issues for the food sovereignty agenda, and for discussion at Convergence. We look forward to seeing many voices join this year’s conversations on food sovereignty and hope to have your voice be one of them!
Ahead of Convergence, we encourage you to join the FSC Facebook group to add to the pre-event discussions about what issues and topics you would like included at Convergence: https://www.facebook.com/groups/917279945015531/
Support the Food Sovereignty Convergence
Ticket prices for the Food Sovereignty Convergence are kept as low as possible to enable as many people as possible to participate in the discussion.
If you have capacity to contribute to Convergence with a donation in addition to your ticket price, this will help to cover the full costs of the event, and support AFSA’s work advocating for food sovereignty in Australia. Your support is greatly appreciated, and enables Convergence to be an inclusive and democratic space for the food sovereignty movement in Australia
