Are you a student of Wageningen University and interested in food? Then, you might be eligible for a new Intensive Programme in which the Rural Sociology Group participates. During two intensive weeks in Cluj (Rumania) you will be introduced to traditional foods in a multidisciplinary setting. Students and lecturers from various European countries (France, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Rumania, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland) will discuss in an inspiring setting the relationship between microorganisms and traditional food; are they partners or competitors? The background of the students and staff varies from economy to food microbiology, geography, agro-forestry, food safety, animal product processing and of course rural sociology. For more information, please contact Els Hegger. Continue reading
Category Archives: Food
Churrasco
Meat. The most tender meat ever eaten. Here they distinguish between meat and chicken. Meat is red meat. This part of Brasil is known as Gaúcho country. It refers back to the only food that the first settlers were eating, meat for breakfast, lunch and diner. I always thought of the south of Argentina as the pampa land. But this landscape stretches well into Rio Grande do Sul. There is debate whether or not the Rio da Prata north of Buenos Aires is a division line, but those who do not take this consider all of Argentina, Uruguay and 63% of the state Rio Grande do Sul as “paisagem natural dos pampas”, some 700.000 km2. The Brasilian part is 178.243 km2 big and from a country perspective only 2 % of the Brasilian territory. However since it stretches over the most of this south state it is a significant landscape feature and cultural reference point here. In a way the southerners here have more in common with the “hermanos pampeanos do Uruguai e da Argentina” than with the north of Brasil.
So, I had my ‘initiation’ as a gaúcha helping out with the churrasco, the Brasilian bbq. Of course, it is a typical men’s thing the preparation of the churrasco. Who is cutting the meat on sundays? There is not much else to it than meat, some toasted garlic bread and beer. But what a meat! Especially the “picanha” cut of meat, the most tender meat you can imagen. So all you need is wood fire or wood coals, first quality meat, salt and a typical bbq place. These places you can find everywhere, for example on the roof of every tall apartment building. Stick your nose out of the window on a sunday at noon and you can smell the churrasco’s in the whole city. It is typical for sunday family life or ‘occasions’ such as the end of my time here. Thanks all for the wonderful time!
Porto Alegre’s 22 year old farmers’ market
On the saturday of my arrival in Porto Alegre, the “Feira dos Agricultores Ecologistas” was celebrating its twenty-second birthday. The market is situated at the border of the big Parque Farroupilha Redenção in the city centre and is at least a kilometer long. Back then, the market started with a group of citizens in Porto Alegre in search for healthier food both for the environment and for human health. The environment was not something which was considered a ‘political’ issue at the time of the ‘dictatura’. The environment therefore, was a topic for groups to come together and of course, discuss politics more broadly. More than twenty years ago, an environmentalist consumer cooperative was established which organised a wide network of farmers willing to produce differently which was back then, more of an activist- against mainstream – thing to do than today. The farmers called themselves ‘agricultores ecologistas’, which refers to this activism. They consider themselves different from the broader movement towards organic production which evolved later. The subtle difference between their name and terms like ‘organico’ or other terms such as ‘agro-ecologia’ can easily be missed by a visitor.
However, these things were explained to me by Flávia Marques with whom I went there and who is one of the professors at the Post graduate program for rural development (PGDR) and who has worked with various of the farmers for years. One of the farmers on the market is specialised in plants for medicinal uses, the topic of her doctorate thesis. Further down the market there was also an empty stand with an elderly woman sitting behind it. Here people can get free advice on ailments also from a natural medicinal or holistic point of view. This week, at the two farm visits near Pelotas, both farmers had an extensive garden with herbs for medicinal use near the house. Also the municipal garden in Dois Irmãos had an herbal garden organised around the various human organs. It is one of the many striking differences compared to home for me. I learned that knowledge of the beneficial use of herbs is widespread and is not limited to organic farmers or ecologically oriented consumers.
AFNs in Pelotas, Brasil
This week I am visiting the city of Pelotas, some 250 kilometers from Porto Alegre. As one of the three in the whole of Brasil, the Universidade Federal de Pelotas has a specialised Bachelor degree in anthropology. Today I will give a guest lecture within the course on food culture of Professor Renate Menasche on the link between Alternative Food Networks and food culture. Last week in the course for the PGDR in Porto Alegre, many students believed there are no AFNs in Brasil and that consumers are not willing to make an effort to engage with farmers. However, on our fieldtrip of yesterday we saw two very interesting examples of innovative farmers around Pelotas who produce differently ánd who market their produce differently.
Enio Nilo Schiavon took the time to lead us around his farm where he combines agro-forestry and agro-ecology practices in producing organic peaches, grapes, clementines, banana, sweet corn, broccoli, carrots, beets, fish and flowers and home-made juices. His production is organic but not organically certified, something which for smaller farmers is very normal; organic certification is too expensive. However, there are various ways to market organic produce without the official farm certification. For example by being part of a cooperative which has the certification and through this, the farm is also recognised as such. Or by building a trust relationship directly with consumers by way of selling on a farmers’ market. The latter is what Enio Nilo does, two times a week in two cities in this region. The farmers’ market are an initiative of the farmers themselves and are organised through their association ARPA-SUL. They are with 27 farmers, each offering other complementary products. Interestingly, they not only sell to the middle-class urban consumer, but also to many other small farmers in the region who are themselves tobacco growers.
A school meal in Dois Irmáos (3)
The school meal program in Dois Irmáos is an exceptionally good example for multiple reasons. First, there is a dialogue between rural extension, family farmers, the nutritionists and the municipality. This cannot be taken for granted and the absence of mutual understanding and trust is often a barrier in other places. The state is often not trusted by farmers, governments can change. Nutritionists may think too much in terms of nutrients and hygiene whereas family farmers are often not organised enough to meet the supply requirements. Or the cooking staff might object. In class, the example was given of a land settlement women’s cooperative baking bread which was refused by a school because the breads were too big and the cooking staff objected against having to cut the bread (instead of individual bread rolls).
Secondly, the facilities were modern, clean and spacious with lots of different activities for children. The school meal is strictly speaking not served at school but at the after-school day care center. It is normal in Brasil that children only go to school half a day. Most children go home afterwards and eat at home. A school meal is for those who need it, this can be because there is food insecurity at home, or quite the opposite, because both parents are working. In the case of the center we visited, it was aimed at children from the latter category. One of the activities is cooking lessons.
Thirdly, the scale of Dois Irmáos is that of a small town which makes it easier to localise the school meal. Not only because there are not too many mouths to be fed but also because of the logistics and coordination of getting the supply at times and intervals needed. The city of Porto Alegre is only now starting to look at possibilities to localise the school food from surrounding family farmers. Quite a challenge with the amount of children in schools and the metropolitan landscape.
