Food First - Definition

Food First, also known as the Institute for Food and Development Policy, is an Oakland-based, member-supported, nonprofit, self-described as a "'peoples' think tank and education-for-action center," founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins.

Food First supports a bottom-up approach to solving world hunger, asserting the ability of all countries to feed their own people if they would focus on agriculture for subsistence rather than for export.

Food First strongly opposes the policies of such "free market" institutions as the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF). As of 2004, Food First is active in the campaign against the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

• Food First official site (http://www.foodfirst.org/)