Rogersville, Thursday, November 7, 2019 – The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick (NFU-NB) in coordination with NFU Youth members, La Via Campesina (LVC) North America and La Ferme Terre Partagée are hosting approximately 30 La Via Campesina youth delegates from across North America in November. This dynamic, politically oriented gathering is co-financed by the European Union and La Via Campesina international.
Delegates will gather for a week of sessions that will include topics such as, climate justice, popular peasant feminism and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants. An afternoon outing will allow delegates to visit an Indigenous run food centre. Evenings of the conference will feature Acadian music and cultural history. Residents of the local community and NFU-NB members are invited to attend the social evening on Wednesday November 13th.
Some of the main goals of the gathering are strengthening relationships, energizing one another to take leadership roles within LVC, learning about each other’s respective struggles and histories, and mobilizing for common action.
“The youth of LVC is the present and the future of the movement, it’s our responsibility to be sure that the youth are well represented inside the region and also at the international level,” says Pierre‐Olivier Brassard, cooperative member of Ferme Terre Partagée and NFU-NB Board Member. “Peasant agroecology and food sovereignty is what we stand and fight for! We look forward to sharing collective knowledge about LVC processes, both regionally and internationally, learning together in horizontal learning structures, and bringing back our experiences to our respective organizations.”
The conference will take place at the Rogersville Community Centre, where all meals and sessions for delegates will take place from November 11thto 15th. Simultaneous translation will be provided for Spanish-English. Members of the NFU-NB and local community are encouraged to lend winter clothing items such as hats and coats, as well as blankets to the delegates who will be staying locally. The open social evening will take place November 13th at 7:30pm at the Rogersville Community Centre; all are welcome, with no cost.
