John Kinsman on Food Sovereignty - 2 of 2
Channel: Daniel Tucker
Date: 2011-10-06

John Kinsman Interview 
Conducted live at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum (Chicago)
September 27th, 2011
By Daniel Tucker

John Kinsman is an organic dairy farmer and forester from Lime Ridge, Wisconsin.  He raises 36 cows on a 150-acre farm -- 80 acres of which are devoted to rotational grazing and hay production, while another 70 acres is devoted to woodland.  John Kinsman is president of Family Farm Defenders (FFD), a group he helped found in 1994 to promote sustainable agriculture, fair trade, workers rights, animal welfare, consumer safety, environmental stewardship and -- above all -  food sovereignty.   He is also the secretary of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC). Through FFD, John also works to relocalize food/farm economies and forge new economic relationships between consumers and farmers.  One example of this is the Family Farmer Fair Trade Project that enables FFD to direct market cheese from Cedar Grove in Plain WI, giving farmers a fair price while providing a healthier rBGH free alternative to consumers.  John remains one of the leading U.S. critics of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and is also an outspoken critic of corporate globalization.  As one of the farmer leaders involved in Via Campesina, the largest umbrella organization for farmers, fishers, foresters, hunters, gatherers, and indigenous peoples in the world -- he has also traveled extensively around the world to share the message of food sovereignty. 

Daniel Tucker is the co-author of Farm Together Now (Chronicle Books, 2010). See http://farmtogethernow.org/