Category Archives: General

General issues.

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.

Food romance

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The rediscovery of food, as good food, as delicious goal in and of itself, as a link to doing good, fuelled organic, local and gourmet niche markets. In her excellent book Hungry City, Carolyn Steel investigates the relationship of us, urbanites, with our food. Is this a sign of reconnection?

For foodies – like me – there are ‘festival marketplaces’ where their romance with food can reach exhilarating heights in the face of so much authentic and artisanal products. One can marvel over the latest authentic chocolate, over that particular healthy seaweed and over this special free range chicken from France. The success of these type of markets – based on food tourism – suggests that we have not lost appetite for food, yet ordinary street markets are having a hard time.

“This seeming paradox”, argues Carolyn, ” is explained by the fact that food is not embedded in our culture. We only lavish time and money on it when we are ‘treating ourselves’ not as part of daily routine.”

She concludes therefore, that these festival food markets are in fact “a manifestation of our overwhelming disconnection with food”. In similar fashion Dan Barber is critical about our real connection to food in this TED talk where he gives a hilarious account of the romances he had with two fish. As he shows, restoring the regenerative capacity of our ecology is the only real connection to quality food.

Chicken wings and cat feed

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In our wealthy nations quality food is treated as a speciality, for those occasions where we have something to celebrate – maybe…because those chicken wings on offer this week cannot be left on the supermarket shelve….

source; felinefuture.comIn the words of a radio advert of an animal welfare Ngo; “this week chicken wings, again cheaper than cat feed. Ever asked yourself how this is possible?” Cheap food comes at a price, the price we do not pay directly, we pay indirectly, by becoming resistant to antibiotics we heard last week. Its heavy use in amongst others the chicken industry poses serious human health consequences.

The Dutch supermarkets are notorious for their narrow low price/best deal strategies. In his excellent analysis “Het boodschappenbolwerk” of the insular Dutch supermarket branch Frits Kremer shows how this sector has been able defend, divert, ignore and ridicule quests for more responsiblity on their part for a sustainable food supply chain.  Contrary to many of their European colleagues, they hide behind ‘this is what the consumer wants’ instead of taking the kind of leadership which their market power obliges.