The vast majority (70%) of the world’s population is fed and nourished by local, ecological systems of food production1. But these systems are severely threatened and undermined by industrial systems of agriculture that are controlled by corporations and promoted by governments. These industrial systems have exacerbated or even created the multiple crises of rising food prices, poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss. Industrial agriculture and the global food system contribute an estimated 44-57% of global greenhouse gas emissions2. This is ignored at our peril. Since the idea of producing food as an industrial product to maximize profit was introduced, corporations have accelerated the race to control more and more aspects of the food system, including land, water, seeds, and markets. Industrial agriculture is driven to maximize what it can extract from the soil, at literally any cost. Soils are becoming starved, and addicted to chemical fertilizers and inputs, destroying biodiversity and resilience. The idea of Food Sovereignty developed as a response to the crises facing the world’s farmers and food systems. It was not developed by economists, politicians, academics or corporations. The concept of Food Sovereignty evolved through the experience and analysis of the people on which the world’s food supply still depends: small scale food producers themselves. It is therefore not based on abstract theories about profit, growth and GDP. Food Sovereignty is rooted in the complex realities of producing, buying, selling and eating food. It is not a new idea, but rather it recognizes all the dimensions of a healthy, ethical and just food system. Food Sovereignty is thus a more holistic system than Food Security. It recognizes that control over the food system needs to remain in the hands of farmers, for whom farming is both a way of life and a means of producing food. It also recognizes the contribution of indigenous peoples, pastoralists, forest dwellers, workers and fishers to the food system. It ensures that food is produced in a culturally acceptable manner and in harmony with the ecosystem in which it is produced. This is how traditional food production systems have regenerated their soils, water, biodiversity and climactic conditions, for generations.