Second Sustainable Food Planning Conference – Reminder

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As I announced in a blog on the 31st of March, the Urban Performance Group of the University of Brighton (UK) will host the second European Sustainable Food Planning Conference on 29 and 30 October 2010. Planning for sustainable food production and consumption is an increasingly important issue for planners, policymakers, designers, farmers, suppliers, activists, business and scientists alike. In the wider contexts of global climate change, a world population of 9 billion and growing, competing food production systems and diet-related public health concerns, are there new paradigms for urban and rural planning capable of supporting sustainable and equitable food systems? This conference will promote cross disciplinary discussions between active researchers and practitioners in response to this question, and related issues articulated during the first European Sustainable Food Planning Conference held in 2009 in Almere.

Working at a range of scales and with a variety of practical and theoretical models, we will review and elaborate definitions of sustainable food systems, and begin to define ways of achieving them. To this end 4 different themes have been defined as entry-points into the discussion of ‘sustainable food planning’. These are:

  1. Urban agriculture;
  2. Integrating health, environment and society;
  3. Food in urban and regional planning and design;
  4. Urban food governance

For each theme we are seeking contributions. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words, and e-mailed to Andre Viljoen (a.viljoen@brighton.ac.uk) no later than the 31st May 2010.

For more information, see the conference website.

Intensive Program Slovakia

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By Marlies Meijer, MSc student

When I first heard about the Intensive Programme in Slovakia, I did not really know what to expect. The core of my MSc lies at land use planning, but for my thesis I choose a combination with rural sociology. What triggered me the most was the country. I’ve never been to Eastern (or Central) Europe and saw in the IP a great opportunity to experience transition from communism to capitalism and into EU-membership recently. On the first day the exchange with other students (about 40 from 12 universities, and even more countries) turned out to be just as interesting. Encouraged by cheap beer we had long discussions about everything, but still, mostly about the role of agriculture in the different countries.

For me the three day excursion to different villages in the Nitra-region was definitely a highlight. We were divided into small groups, each with a different region. My group stayed in a small cottage, north of Nitra. We were introduced to mayors of the small villages. I liked to see the differences between the Dutch planning system, where everything is arranged from paving stone to strategic master plans for 2030; and the project-based development in the little Slovakian villages: “if we have the money, we’ll think about constructing a sewerage system next year”. It makes all problems we have on the Dutch countryside (like “verrommeling”) relatively small.

The second day we went to a large cooperative farm. The size was overwhelming: 3000 ha., 120 employees, 800 cows and immense fields of rapeseed. But this was not everything; the cooperative farm (a legacy from communist times) had supporting departments in almost all layers of the market. We visited a bakery, a tool shop and a local grocery store (“Our Home”), all embodied in the cooperative. It put quite a different perspective on the development of short-supply-linkages. Small farms struggle in Slovakia, and we did not see many small scale (innovative) initiatives. What surprised me the most was that agriculture seemed to be disintegrated from all kinds of regional developments. There were no relations between local administration and the agricultural sector, and agriculture was not seen as a positive contribution (or even part of) to the landscape. Moreover the EU LEADER programme focussed in this region on social and economic developments; agriculture was not mentioned in the main objectives. Not surprisingly, since many villages suffer from more urgent problems, like ageing, unemployment, depopulation and a lack of basic social services.

But still, it pointed out that rural development cannot be just about agriculture, it is about the development of rural region entirely as well. Apart from farmers there are so many local actors that also could and should be included. For me it also pointed out that land use planning and rural development are not so different in essence. While approaches could be different, in the end it is about the same: sustainable development of (rural) regions.

Developing Czech Sitopia

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How to get good quality food from your own region? Where to buy fresh and organic food which is in season in the Czech region of Dvur Kralove and in cities such as Trutnov and Broumov? How to get a network going of (potential) producers and (potential) consumers? These were among the questions discussed during a seminar about quality food and permaculture which was held at MIZ in Zdoňov, near the Polish border around 3 hours northeast from Prague on the 14th of May.

During the seminar different aspects of permaculture were presented in both Czech and English to the 10 participants mainly from around Zdoňov. We discussed how to enhance biodiversity, how to build fertile soil, how to start ecological farming and how to set up a regional food network. The seminar concluded with a joint initiative of three presenters to get themselves and their aims known in the region so that other people with similar interest, both consumers and producers can respond.

In a way, this was a tiny start in making Sitopia, I realized today listening to the guest lecture of Carolyn Steel for the Bsc course ‘Agrarische en rurale ontwikkeling; sociologische perspectieven’. Sitopia, she explained is derived from the words “Sitos” and “topos” meaning “food” and “place”. Making place through food, through meals, through sharing, through caring about the origins of your daily meal and thus, searching for a kind of human connection to food which can hardly be expressed in the anonymous context of the supermarket. In this Czech region, there is not much infrastructure yet beyond the faceless produce from globally operating supermarket chains. But just like in many other countries, mentality is shifting and new networks are born each day.

Intensive Experience Slovakia

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by Petra Rietberg

From April 25th to May 1st, an intensive program (IP) on ‘the role of agriculture in regional identity and competitiveness in rural areas’ takes place in Podkylava, a small Slovakian village. For two weeks, around 50 students from countries all over Europe gather to see and analyze rural development in Western Slovakia. Since our flight is obstructed by the ash of Eyjafjallajökull, Marlies and I head off for a journey by car, train and bus and, eventually, are able to make it in time. The majority of the participants has found similar solutions, so the program proceeds as planned. Continue reading →

Many new experiences in direct marketing, part 4

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By Corinna Feldmann – MSc Student

Food boxes

I already spent one month at the farm in Nettelkamp (Lüneburger Heide) – it is quite amazing here. Each day a lot of food boxes are filled with good organic products and delivered to couples, families and companies. I like the idea of supplying about 1300 customers per week with healthy and fresh foodstuff. But it also means a lot of organisation and coordination. We are always very busy with harvesting herbs and vegetables (it is time for asparagus right now), pre-packing, and the ordering of the right amount of products. Many people work in the office and deal with the requests and complaints of the customers. Although we put a lot of effort into the packing of the food boxes, some customers do not exactly receive what they ordered.

Last week I carried out a survey among all the customers to find out more about the reasons why they order an organic food box. Almost all of them sent back the questionnaires. Now I have got a lot to do with the evaluation of this survey. It is also going to be part of my final report.

Since Monday we got support from two trainees – one is from Uzbekistan and the other one from Russia. They help us with the field work and practise the German language.

Every once in a while there are cultural events in the farm barn. This weekend a choir and a group of drum players are performing in the evening. Thus, I made a lot of cake today and prepared dough for pizza. As you can see, it is not getting boring here, although it is quite a small village in a very rural area.