Category Archives: Food

SPIN farming and other forms of urban agriculture

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On the last day of the second week of my course ‘Understanding Rural Development’ I discussed the topic of urban and peri-urban agriculture. As background to this topic I mentioned the following trends:

Given these trends, the question is how to feed the growing urban population and to do this in a sustainable and healthy way. In class we discussed whether or not urban and peri-urban agriculture are a means to feed the urban citizen. And, elaborating on that, what kind of (peri-)urban agriculture is desirable and/or necessary. Continue reading →

Evolution of Rural Development Paradigm in Brazil

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In a recent research seminar prof. Sergio Schneider (schneide@ufrgs.br), coordinator of the  Rural Development Post Graduate Program from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), presented a telling analysis of major changes in Rural Developments Policies in Brazil in the last twenty years. He explained that the recent evolution in rural development policies, as effectuated by president Lula, has to be understood within the context the evident political struggles on land. Brazil is a large country with traditionally a sharp contrast between the interests of agro-industrial conglomerates and social rural movements of landless people and peasants (e.g. MST).

This is reflected in a dualist agrarian structure between capitalist and entrepreneurial family farming and peasant familiy farming and rural poor (landless) who are struggling for survival and autonomy. In 1995 1 % of the owners with more then 1000 ha owned 45% of all land, while 90% of the owners with less then 100 ha owned only 20%. An unexpected and striking consequence of rural poverty is, that food security in rural areas is significantly lower then in urban areas. In rural areas 26% of the housholds suffers severe food insecurity versus 17% in urban areas. Because of this dualist agrarian structure Brazil is probably the only country in the world with two Ministries of Agriculture, serving different needs.

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Smagen af Fyn (the taste of Funen)

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This weekend I stayed in Middelfart on the island Funen between Jutland and Zealand (on which Copenhagen is located). For many Danes, Funen represents the island you simply have to cross by highway to arrive in Copenhagen.

However, it has a really beautiful small scale landscape full of hills! The island is fairly round in shape, around 100 kilometers in diameter and is scattered with villages, old manor houses and wind shielding wood groves and hedgerows. It has a very good sea climate and one of the best soils for farming in Denmark. This is why Funen has a tradition in horticulture. It once served as the Vegetable & Fruit garden of Denmark. Whereas in many other places in Denmark and in Europe the Farm Shop was re-invented during the last decade, here it is a phenomenon which never disappeared. You can find self service shops along the roads and many of them, ranging from horticulture, to dairy and meat, organic as well as conventional, are organized in a network called Smagen af Fyn, which means something like the Taste of Funen. There are quite a number of local food producer networks in Denmark and several researchers at IFUL are studying the various aspects of these networks.

Excursions give real-world examples

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Excursion 02-03-2009, Course Globalisation and Sustainability of Food Production and ConsumptionBy Zachary Daly – exchange student at Wageningen University from Guelp University, Canada.

It’s always nice to be able to actually go out and see real-world examples of what you are studying and reading about in class. During the course Globalisation and Sustainability of Food Production and Consumption we had the opportunity to visit some farms. As such it was very interesting to see and talk to two organic farmers that are involved in alternative food provisioning networks, but work in a quite different way. The first farmer, Gerrit Marsman, has a mixed farm called De Eerste with a cheese factory and home delivery service, employing about 10 persons. He was ideologically very dedicated to what he was doing, talking about the madness of the global trade in feed and food, the health problems that the use of chemicals in agriculture cause, and the problem of a short-term and money-oriented economy leading to financial crisis. The second farmer, Rene de Lange, appeared to be less ideological motivated and more pragmatic. His family owns has a brand new farm with milking sheep in national park De Weerribben, a protected landscape of high cultural and natural value. A high milk production per sheep is important to him and his wife, as well as a hygiene-proof processing unit to make cheese, yoghurt, and ‘feta’. They market their products under the label of Weerribben Schapenzuivel (sheep dairy), through a wholesaler, to organic food shops all over The Netherlands, and even for export.

A Future for Food

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Cover page of the 'Future for Food' report Gradually more countries are developing a more holistic policy approach to food. Today I came across a report entitled A Future for Food: Adressing public health, sustainability and equity from paddock to plate, written by Australia’s Public Health Association (PHAA). In this report the PHAA states that Australia is in urgent need of an integrated food policy and calls on public bodies (such as governmental departments and the education sector), private parties (such as the food industry) and the voluntary sector (e.g. community based organisations) to realise this integrated approach to food. The strength of this report is its focus on food as a multi-dimensional policy domain; i.e. a food policy should not solely focus on nutrition but should also include a broad approach to public health as well as issues of environmental quality and social inequalities. What I particularly like in this report is the aim to involve the education sector in a national integrated food policy: “to ensure basic food literacy and skills education is available in all schools in Australia, as well as being available via community-based education initiatives“. Teaching children about the many aspects of food could be, I believe,  a very fruitful strategy to prevent a significant increase in food related health, environmental and social problems in the near future. In that respect it would be interesting to learn from countries, states or cities that have adopted an integrated approach to food policy, including involvement of the education sector, in the (recent) past.