Category Archives: Food

Thesis: the vegetable network

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100_5864By Esther Veen, PhD student of Rural Sociology

Urban Agriculture is a trendy concept for a lot of recently set up neighbourhood gardens in cities. The goal is to connect people and food again is often said. I researched four neighbourhood gardens, looking specifically at the social and dietary effects for the people involved. While the new gardens are part of a trend, some gardens have a long history of a traditional allotment complex. Especially THOSE gardeners who not necessariy identify themselves as part of an urban agriculture movement, generally harvest large amounts of produce, that they cannot all consume themselves. Many of them therefore share their harvests with friends, families and colleagues. Continue reading →

Agro-ecology debated in Wageningen – grassroots science series

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Under the heading of Grassroots sciences St. Otherwise has organised a new series to debate the agro-ecology approach, see the website for the programme and to make a reservation.

Monday, March 18 will be the next event, called The power of agro-ecology. This is part of the Rode Hoed debate series ‘It is the Food Stupid’. Venue: Forum building, Wageningen.

The agro-ecology movement is gaining momentum worldwide. Family farmers, sometimes in collaboration with researchers, have successfully developed agro-ecological innovations that use local resources and work with nature to strengthen production systems, increase farmer autonomy and maintain productivity. This makes farming more resilient, and less dependent on expensive external inputs such as chemical fertilizer and pesticides. What has agro-ecology achieved? Can  it feed the world? What choices can we make to give it a fair chance? And what  challenges are there for Wageningen University? Irene Cardoso (professor of soil science and vice chair Brazilian Agroecology Association) and Tom Saat (organic farmer and winner of the 2012 Ekoland Innovation Prize) share their insights and experiences. You are invited for a drink afterwards. Follow it live at http://wurtv.wur.nl/. Find out more on Facebook.

Continue reading →

Profitable organic farming – contribution to ‘The Broker’ food security blog

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Profitable organic farming is a contribution of colleague Ina Horlings the ‘The Broker online‘ blog on food security.  The Broker has four interesting blogs from a manyfold of people across the world.

Future farmers in the spotlight: A project to raise awareness for the situation of young farmers in Europe

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Future farmers in the spotlight

‘Future farmers in the Spotlight’ is a project to raise awareness for the need of young farmers and more sustainable food production systems in the European Union.

Describing the idea with the words of project founders Juliane Haufe and Joris van der Kamp:

“Many farmers are reaching the age of retirement: only 6% of Europeans farmers is currently below the age of 35. Young people are needed to take over to sustain food production!
But how can a young future farmer nowadays start up an inspiring farming project? Which options are there to get involved in food production? Which (new) concepts will make a farm sustainable in an ecological sense, will provide an adequate income and will create an added value for the civil society?
These questions urgently need an answer!
Future farmers in the spotlight is looking for these answers! We are visiting already existing farming initiatives all around Europe and make short documentaries!”

To find out more about the project and to watch interesting video clips about the troubles and joys of young farmers across Europe, please visit future-farmers.net

Interesting forum discussion: Urban and Peri-urban agriculture and short food chains: Lessons from the South

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The SUPURBFOOD project (www.supurbfood.eu) is looking to identify experiences from the global South and North with recycling of nutrients, waste and water in urban and peri-urban agriculture, short chain delivery of food in urban and peri-urban areas, and multifunctional agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas in order to enrich South-North exchange and collaboration. We are specifically interested in innovative experiences – with a special focus on the type of business models that were applied, the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and their sustainability.

This specific discussion will run on the Forum from 4-30 March 2013. Continue reading →