| Agribusiness Action Initiatives in Europe |
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In October 2002, representatives from Corporate Watch UK, Grassroots Action on Food and Farming and the Family Farmers Association attended the AAI launch in Chicago. Recognising the value in building a global network to respond to corporate power they convened a one-day event in Reading, England, entitled "Food in a Failed Market". This event brought together over 60 farmers, food system experts and activists from the UK, US and Canada and was the first step towards launching AAI in Europe. After a day of presentations and working group discussions, a smaller group was formed to explore how the AAI approach could be expanded to include representatives from across Europe. That workshop led to the formation of a European Steering Committee made up of representatives from Banana Link, Confederation Paysanne, Grassroots Action on Food and Farming, International Institute for Environment and Development, Pesticide Action Network–UK, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and AAI in Washington. The Committee decided to focus on planning and implementing the first AAI European forum, held at the European Parliament in Brussels in January 2004. The Forum brought together nearly 60 participants representing environmentalists, labour unions, consumer groups, farmers, academics, churches and policy advocacy organizations who share a common concern that monopoly power among the global companies that control markets for seeds, fertilizers, processing, manufacturing and retailing of food is detrimental to producers and consumers alike. Participants came from 10 countries in Europe, and from the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Chile, Brazil and the United States. Following the forum a one-day workshop was held with participants from Latin America, Africa and Asia to discuss launching AAI in those regions. This workshop was pivotal in the establishment of AAI in these regions. The forum in Brussels launched a cross-constituency working group to generate regulatory proposals to address supermarket buyer power in Europe. AAI's first global forum was hosted by AAI Europe and held at Highleighs conference centre in Hertfordshire, England in June 2005. 90 representatives of farmer, worker, consumer, environmental, faith-based and development organizations from Africa, Asia, Europe, South and North America met to discuss their concerns about the disproportionate economic power and political influence of large agri-food companies. A number of working groups emerged from the forum including a group focused on supply managment. |