Category Archives: General

General issues.

Metabolic rift

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Organic recycling was part of the urban ecology during the middle ages. “However, as cities grew larger, their self-regulatory ecosystems began to break down” Carolyn Steel writes in her instructive chapter ‘Waste’ in Hungry City (2008:251). “If the ‘filth and muck’ of fourteenth-century Coventry caused a nuisance, that of London, a city 10 times the size, can be readily imagined.” (ibid). The other side of the coin was the state of agriculture, which was facing a rapidly decreasing soil fertility (see earlier blog 18-8). It was what Marx called ‘metabolic rift’ a rift in the metabolism of the human relation to nature through labor which “disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and the earth, i.e. it prevents the return to the soil of its constituent elements consumed by man in the form of food and clothing” he wrote (cited in Foster 1999:379).

Marx was not alone in his opinion and he himself was greatly influenced by Justus von Liebig. Proposals to compost human waste as part of the design of the urban waste disposal system were propagated and sometimes tried in the UK, France and Germany (see Steel chapter Waste) and in the Netherlands (in Groningen see earlier blog 16-8). The sewage system with no in-built recycling won, most of the world sewage is dumped in the ocean untreated. The metabolic rift in terms of Marx widened and its effect is only delayed by chemical fertilizers and global transport. Yet, “nutrients found in sewage are a finite commodity” (Steel 2008: 259). In a few decades when the mines with phosphates are empty and the oil has leaked away in the sea, human sewage will most probably become a valuable resource again.

City and waste

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We are very familiar with recycling paper, glass and recently, plastic. It feels good that this waste is turned into a resource again. Many of us are also recycling food scrapes through municipal services, backyard compost heaps or small-scalle vermiculture.  However,when we are flushing the toilet, we do not often see our own waste as a valuable resource.

Our sewage system seems the only and logical answer nowadays but it was highly debated in the 19th century for its disadvantages before it was adopted (like pasteurisation was rejected by medical doctors  because it would also kill all the ‘good’ in milk, see Dupuis 2005). Alternatives were cesspools or the barrel system. Cesspools and sewage pipes were believed to leak and thus to contaminate the groundwater. Contaminated groundwater due to the absence of city-wide waste disposal systems was, by then, seen as the primary cause for outbreaks of cholera and typhus in the mid 19th century.

barrel cart Groningen

The Netherlands had a vocal protagonist of the barrel system in the medical doctor Ali Cohen from Groningen (Houwaart 1997). He became nationally known for his zeal for urban waste disposal. The barrel system simply meant that human waste was collected in barrels which were emptied in a cart behind horses. The waste was then turned into compost at a city composting place after which the compost was sold to the farmers outside the city. Cohen strongly believed in the composting of human faeces as a fine example of restored balance between man and nature, city and countryside.

Various Dutch cities tried the barrel system. However, it turned out not to be profitable, except in the city of Groningen. The special conditions in north of the Netherlands, including the existence of good waterways and large farm holdings in the immediate area were lacking in other parts of the country ( Houwaart 1997). While other cities started investing in sewage systems, the barrel system continued in Groningen until the beginning of the 20th century. Not a very clean practice, emptying barrels in the middle of the street. But the city government always refused to improve the system despite new ideas such as not emptying it on the spot but changing the barrel for a cleaned and disinfected one.  The result was that at the end of the 19th century the city was, totally unlike Cohen’s ideals, stuck with a very outdated waste disposal system compared the other Dutch cities.

Art and social interaction on Mando; Call for Researchers

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The Wadden Sea coast of Denmark from Tønder to Blaavand is a beautiful natural and rural area with three wadden islands Romø, Mandø and Fanø. For the third time, the biannual Wadden Sea Festival from 4 to 12 september draws attention to this area with various forms of Contemporary Art at many different places. One of the art projects is organised by Foundation Waddenart on the island Mandø. This is a special island, very small and only accessible at low tide through a gravel road at the sea bottom.

The project Any Questions on Mandø is an interdisciplinary project, an experiment to integrate art and research in one project and at the same time embed the project in a local place. Foundation WaddenArt started in collaboration with SDU to explore the question of quality of life for the inhabitants at Mandø in October 2009. The findings fed into the Call for Artists to attract Contemporary Art in Installation art, Performance art and Landart. Five different artist(groups) have been selected to work daily to create works of art during the festival in september. 

There is also space for three researchers to be involved in the project in september. We ask researchers to reflect from a research background in the social sciences or art & humanities to what they observe during the festival. We ask you to observe and write a short story based on personal experience and empirical observation which can be performed during the closing event on Mandø. Are you interested questions such as; How does contemporary art relate to the cultural and social life of the community on Mando? How do the people on Mando relate to a festival that is not theirs? How is Mando expressed? What symbols the links between past, present and future? What are defining factors in change and stability? Then please look at this link for the full Call text and the way to submit your interest to Foundation Waddenart.

Sustainability Festival & Biodiversity

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It was great weather at the Sustainability Festival in Hemmen last saturday. And buzzing with people at the various places in Hemmen where small scale activities were organised. At the Smidse, which was the main organiser, there was a market with sustainable products such as ecological garden design, electric cars, sustainable paint and a collective who wants to develop a housing site with straw/wood constructed houses.

As ngo Stichting Hemmens Land we also had a stall to launch our new project “Hemmens Land in Bloei”. More than 30 people adopted pieces of 15 square meters of flowery field margin. There are too few flowers which affects the butterfly, the Gelderlander had just reported that same day. Indeed, the adoption of 15 square meter of flowery field margin serves multiple purposes which all come down on enhancing biodiversity, which again the Gelderlander noted down during the festival.

It helps the organic farmers in Hemmen in their pest control, it enriches the landscape and it supports the bees and butterflies which are under treat. On two pieces of land in Hemmen, one of which is opposite the bee-stall which will receive hives from Wageningen during this year, we have sown 3000 m2 with a mixture of more than 20 field flowers fitting the clay soil of this area. The two pieces will be marked with a sign where adopters can see the landscape and pick some flowers. In fact, the year subscription to a piece of flowery field margin is not more expensive than an average bundle of flowers from a shop.

The municipality of Over-Betuwe was well represented during the political debate in the afternoon. All parties in the council were present to give their vision on sustainability in Over-Betuwe. The municipality has a very ambitious sustainability policy with no less than 73 action points to become climate neutral in 2030. A much debated policy since the current times of budget cuts and elections make priorities necessary.

A citizen initiative that actually aims to enhance biodiversity, one of the points in the action plan was therefore welcomed by the municipality. After the political debate, it was time for all ‘sustainability’ initiatives in and around Hemmen to present their projects and businesses. During the presentation of the field margin project of our ngo, the municipality came forward with a donation of 250 euro for our “Hemmens Land in Bloei” project, which we appreciate very much.

With their support and the first 30 citizens as adopters we made a good start last saturday. Coming sunday we have a stall at the fair in Elst. Quite a few adopters more we need before we have the 3000 m2 covered. And if we succeed we are dreaming for next year of a longer field margin along the Hemmensestraat which would make a beautiful entrance to the village.

Food Flight

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The first people have entered the airspace again after almost a week of non-mobility at this side of Europe. While the large number of grounded people can slowly start to return, also freight transport by air can resume itself. Schiphol is packed with just-in-time deliveries such as consumer electronics and also perishable things like flowers, vegetables and fruit. Albert Heijn reported no immediate problems last week friday in the NRC just after the closure of Schiphol, but there was optimism then about the time it would take to re-open the airspace. Most of the supermarket’s food is transported over land, specific things like tropical fruit salad might get out of stock, the newspaper reported. It might be interesting to see what is not available anymore after a week of silence in the air. This extraordinary situation might further inspire the emerging practice of urban food planning and policy.

Food planning has risen in attention (see also earlier blogs) because of the “new food equation” (Morgan and Sonnino 2010). By this, the authors refer to a combination of factors which together make that food supply matters again as a political issue. They mention amongst others:

– Rapid urbanisation and rise of the number of people dependent on food supply

– Land conflicts and new colonialism

– Climate change effects such as water stress

– The food price surge of 2007/ 2008 and consequent food riots.

Food security, therefore, has become a national security issue again in many countries. So far, however, not really for us, it seemed. The ash coming down in silence might draw extra attention to the logistic miracle of keeping the shelves full with the thirty thousand items or more per supermarket each day. A vulnerability assessment of the food system might not be such a bad idea in the light (or darkness) of an eruption of the second, much larger volcano on Iceland.