Thank You For Participating in the 2023 #IGrowYourFood Action Day!
To celebrate five years of #IGrowYourFood, we partnered with the Intercontinental Network of Organic Farmers Organisations (INOFO) to host a live stream discussion on 14 September 2023 at 13:00 CEST titled “Nourishing the world in times of crises - Farming and food production for the future”.
Thales Mendonça moderated the discussion alongside three organic farmers who were the panellists: Julitza Nieves, Hans Bartelme, and Bibong Widyarti. They discussed, shared their experiences, and also responded to questions from the audience.
We also curated video messages from organic and agroecological farmers worldwide that you can share all year round.
Watch the discussion here!
Thales Mendonça is a farmer working with agroforestry and mushrooms. He is also a technical consultant specialist in organic production and commercialisation, as well as various topics related to organic agriculture. Additionally, he holds the position of Global Relationship Manager at INOFO.
Hans Bartelme is an organic farmer with 50 hectares of arable land, 10 hectares of grassland, and one hectare of forest. He also serves as the Vice President of Naturland e. V. and is one of the chairmen of the Working Group on Organic Farming (AÖL).
Julitza Nieves is the founder of Productos Montemar, a food community that is developing value-added products from fruit farm production, particularly focusing on traditional and “forgotten” tropical fruits grown in Puerto Rico. Additionally, she is a Slow Food Convivium Leader.
Bibong Widyarti has dedicated over 25 years to being an organic farmer and activist in Indonesia. She continues to work as a trainer and farmer assistant, covering topics related to ICS and PGS. Furthermore, she is the author of the book "Organic Living: A Brief Guide to Behaving in Harmony with Nature".
Celebrating five years of #IGrowYourFood
This year on 14 September, marked five years of #IGrowYourFood, the first global action day celebrating the people who sustainably grow our food. Since 2019, we have provided a platform for hundreds of farmers to share their experiences and challenges, and exchange with their counterparts from all over the world.
During this time, organic and agroecological farmers and advocates have taken to social media to share the challenges farmers face, how we can support them, and why they choose organic. This year was no different!
Drawing inspiration from our principles of organic agriculture, global action day was the perfect opportunity for everyone to unite and listen to the voices of the phenomenal farmers growing our food.
Supporting sustainable agriculture and food production like organics is one of the most important interventions we can make for our world’s future.
Organic farmer & Ireland’s Minister for Land Use & Biodiversity
We launched a video showing:
- What tools you could use to prepare for the action day
- How you could participate in the action day
- Why it is important to amplify farmers' voices
Watch the tutorial video here!
On the action day, 14 September, we hosted a live stream that featured organic farmers from all over the world. They talked about the challenges that organic farmers in different regions of the world face and shared their expertise on how they overcome them.
Looking for inspiration? We curated a number of video messages from the amazing farmers growing our food sustainably, from all over the world. We invite you to check out their videos and listen to their messages!
Much as the action day is done, the work of farmers is not. We encourage you to share these farmers' messages all year long as the content is strong and ever-green.
With the action day being held annually, it is never too early to prepare for the next one!
We encourage you to prepare your message, ahead of time. Whether it is a video or photo quote, we provide the tools needed to guide participants through the process.
For example, you can make a one-minute video highlighting the impact of organic farming on soil, or share your thoughts on gender equity in agriculture, etc.
Check out a tutorial video on how to film your message for #IGrowYourFood or use this template to create a photo story with your message.
If you don’t manage to create your own message, there is a lot of content in our #IGrowYourFood library that you can use. Ahead of the action day, we’ll share the official #IGrowYourFood toolkit – complete with ready-to-post visuals, messages, and videos – so you’re fully equipped to join us!
By disseminating these messages across social media platforms, organic and agroecological farmers' voices resonate globally, increasing their impact and visibility.
- Go to your favourite social media channels, search #IGrowYourFood, then like and share as many videos and articles as you can!
- Use the #IGrowYourFood playlists from 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to find videos that resonate with you and post them from your channels.
- Make sure you use the #IGrowYourFood hashtag when sharing your message so we can find and re-share your post!
- Choose organic produce which ultimately supports the farmers who work to put organic on our tables
- Check out the social media wall where you will see the content produced by farmers shared worldwide!
Let us continue to celebrate the farmers who produce our food in harmony with nature!
I could watch these all morning. I realise my tribe is all over the planet. They all look different, speak different languages but they say the same thing.
