In this issue:
Messages from the Editorial Advisory Committee, President Katie Ward, Women’s President Toby Malloy, Youth President Stuart Oke; reports from First-Time Convention Attendees
Introducing Jessie Macinnis, Youth Vice President; Riley Côté-Demerchant, Region 1 Board Member
Resolutions passed at the NFU’s 49th Annual Convention, November 22nd to 24th, 2018 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Remembering Brendan Flood
Articles:
Standing up for Seed Sovereignty – This is the first in a series of reports on presentations at the NFU 49th Annual Convention. With the renewed threat to farmers’ right to save seed through the Seed Synergy initiative, we felt this was the most important report to include in this issue. See the back page for information on how to order recordings of convention presentations.
La Via Campesina makes history with UN adoption of peasant rights declaration — by Jessie MacInnis, NFU Youth Vice President – In December 2018, the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) was formally adopted at the United Nations General Assembly.
Climate Change Reflections – by julie Enman – julie from northern BC/Yukon attended La Via Campesina’s (LVC’s) Climate Collective meetings in Managua, Nicaragua. While most of the delegates were from Africa, South and Central America and Indonesia, she noted the parallels in the issues we confront in spite of the distance between our locations.
Announcing the new website! – The new NFU website is a custom‐designed site, includes all the content from the old site, and adds new features to make it more attractive and accessible on desktop, tablets and smart phones. Here is a tour guide to help you explore.
Seed royalty consultation meetings reveal strong farmer opposition – In November and December 2018 Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada (AAFC) held four Value Creation Stakeholder Engagement Meetings on two proposed options for imposing royalties on newer varieties of farm saved seed. They were testing the waters to see which version would be most acceptable as they prepare to bring in new regulations in February 2020 under the UPOV ’91 Plant Breeders Rights Act.
The Beingessner Award for Excellence in Writing – What will farming look like for young farmers in 30 years? is the winning essay by Cherry Halcovitch. At 28 years old, he is a first generation farmer currently residing in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and working as Community Grower for Roots to Harvest, a youth focused not-for-profit that uses agriculture and food to promote community and connection.
