Okay.
I've been invited to meetings with the Quebec UPA, the UPA DI also. The National Farmers Union are members of la Via Campesina, which is an international farm organization that represents hundreds of millions of farmers and fisherfolk all around the world. It's the alternative to IFAP.
I have the international food sovereignty declaration here. Food sovereignty cannot be redefined. As you describe food sovereignty, that's exactly what it is. It is respecting people's right to culturally appropriate food. When I spoke earlier today, a lot of my language was really based on food sovereignty. We're so tied to our trade agreements. They actually are null and void of consideration for human rights and culture. And food is not a right, because if you give somebody a right, you can take it away again. Food is something that everybody should have access to, and food sovereignty ensures that.
Actually, I was in Africa this year, and so was Kalissa. We were invited to attend the International Forum for Food Sovereignty. It was the first-ever international forum on food sovereignty. We met in West Africa, in a tiny little village in the middle of the desert. It was no Sheraton, believe me. We slept on concrete floors, on mattresses this thick. Five hundred people from all around the world who are fisherfolks and peasants and pastoralists and farmers met together and came up with a consensus document, and this is what it is. This is the international food sovereignty declaration.
We believe that if governments use this as a basis and a foundation for agricultural policy and food policy--and this also talks about economic stability, that we should be economically stable if we are producing food--we would in fact have incredible prosperity. We would have vibrant communities. We would be protecting the environment. Consumers would benefit, farmers would benefit, the environment would benefit. It's like a win, win, win.
Food sovereignty is an excellent model. But let me remind you that it cannot be redefined. This is a declaration that was brought together...and the 500 of us represented millions of farmers. It was a real honour to be there. There were representatives there from UPA DI. They were there as observers only. They couldn't actually participate, because they're not members. They had not really engaged.