On Friday 28th October around 25 people attended the talk Ecological Crisis and Class Struggle given by a member of Sukar Horia. For an hour we listened to the origins of our present-day climate emergency and what are the main contributors to it here in the Basque Country, the biggest company being Petronor. We heard about the various solutions that are being offered as part of the European Green Deal to get us out of this crisis and we saw that the climate crisis does not and will not affect everybody in the same way. In general, the people who will be affected most will be in the least developed countries, countries that are least responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases. But inside the developed countries also it will be the poorer sectors of society that will be most affected. Without neglecting our own responsibility for Sukar Horia the solution lies in changing the capitalist system which is the main reason for this climate crisis.
In the question and answer section at the end most of the interest centred on what each one of us can do to fight climate change and one of the solutions mentioned was the need to support local farmers by eating local food. In the area there are many local producers who offer weekly food baskets with produce from local organic farms. Food sovereignty based on fresh, organic local food is and will be more and more important but to have this we need farmers and farmers need land. So it was with enormous pleasure that this year, the biggest ecological fair in Iparralde, Lurrama, was not held in Biarritz as usual but in the nearby village of Arbona, and more particularly in the field which has been occupied by local farmers to stop the land being exploited by speculators interested in using the land for construction. The title of the fair left no room for doubt, “Our land, our food” which leads us to mention another interesting initiative in the Basque Country, Errigora!
Errigora is an initiative by the farmers of the south of Nafarroa to sell their products and at the same time help the Basque language in the area. It has been successfully going for a number of years and this year the slogan chosen is “The people make the country!” So if you are interested in consuming quality products, helping the farmers in the south of Nafarroa and helping the Basque language go into the web-page and select the box of products that you want. But it must be done before the 11th November!!! As Aritz Gamboa says every evening on the ETB 1 programme “Biba Zuek”, “Herriari eutsi, lurrari lotu” and the only way we can ensure we get quality food is by supporting our local producers. Members of BBT can buy a number of local products and you can also get your weekly food basket every Wednesday. In fact, the consumer group is at the heart of our transition!
Lurrama bazooka, Arbona, 2021ko urriaren 24an.