Via Campesina grew out of a 1992 global gathering of leaders from various movements who recognized the need for solidarity between peasant and small farmers, and the need for an international movement that could be globally strategic and tactical. Today, it is a vibrant international farmers movement consisting of tens of millions of peasants, small and medium sized producers, rural women, indigenous people and agricultural workers struggling for land and freedom.
Perhaps the most recognizable members are French farmer Jose Bove and Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser. Bove famously drove his tractor into a McDonalds restaurant, symbolizing the struggles of small French farmers against U.S. agricultural imports, junk food, genetically modified crops, and intensive industrial agriculture. Percy Schmeiser, an organic soy producer stood up to biotech giant Monsanto who successfully sued him for patent infringement when their GM rape seed blew uninvited onto a ditch alongside his crops.
Via Campesina stretches from India to Honduras, from Brazil to France, and is comprised of regional networks in every continent. Every day Via Campesina organizes to advance the struggle for farmers' autonomy; every three years they meet to advance their causes internationally.
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