Food. Justice. Work.
The Checkout centers the voices and efforts of essential workers on the frontlines of our food system. Now more than ever, our food system is in a constant state of flux, radical change and crisis. From political economy and supply chain analysis to public policy, labor organizing and community struggles, The Checkout will expand the horizon of what is necessary to create a just, equitable and progressive food system.
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Episode 48: Jose Vivero Pol on The Food Commons
What do we mean by the food commons? What can we learn from Nobel-prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom about debunking the “tragedy of the commons” mythology?
Why is food treated like a commodity and how can food be a common good? Who stands to gain by shifting this paradigm?
Jose Luis Vivero Pol is Programme Officer, Global Network Against Food Crises at the World Food Programme. Jose has a PhD from the Catholic University of Louvain. He is an anti-hunger and social rights activist with fourteen years of experience on food security policies and programs, Right to Food advocacy, nutrition interventions, and food sovereignty in Latin America, Africa, and the Caucasus. Additionally, he has experience in biodiversity conservation and plant genetic resources. An agricultural engineer by profession, his current interests include the ethical, legal, and political dimensions of the transition toward fairer and more sustainable food systems, the governance of global commons, and the motivations for biodiversity conservation and anti-hunger actions. He is an editor of the Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons, an indispensable resource on the topic.