Our mission
Our mission is to support a new generation of land managers able to sustain soil fertility, biodiversity and their communities, ready to demonstrate and teach urban citizens how they produce food and relate to nature.
Our Concerns
Many people are starting to realise that there are some major problems in the way we feed ourselves. Food has aways been our principal way to relate to nature and our own nature. Not any longer.
1. We over-exploit animals and the soil
Because agriculture became something too far away to feel involved in, and because we are still generally comforted by the idea that modern farmers know what they are doing, the only thing that remains interesting when buying food is the price. The quest for the lowest price, especially pursued by supermarkets, force farmers to overexploitation.
Results:
- Drastic diminution of the agro-biodiversity, not enough future genetic resources for crossing;
- Soil erosion, humus loss, soil fertility loss, future food production in danger.
2. We are not adapted to 100% pre-processed food diet
The food processing industry covers up lack of taste in industrial farm products with salt, fat and artificial flavors. They make nutritional inferior products attractive by fooling our senses. Children are mostly used to eat sterilised food and loose literally contact with the earth and bacteria that help to build up their immune system. They don’t help out anymore in physical work outside, practice too little sport, and loose progressively their natural instinct on what and when to eat, demanding constantly fast food and sugary products (viscous circle).
Results:
- Obesity epidemic
- Allergy epidemic (from 5% after the WO II, up to 25% of the population now)
3. We rule out nature
We generally don’t know that ecosystems are needed to support agricultural systems. So we allow loss of species, and loss of ecosystem functions.
Results:
- Fragmentation of habitats, isolation leading to mass extinction of species
- Lack of knowledge among children, leading to alienation of nature and own nature as well
4. We rule out landscape
We don’t really know what it takes to protect cultural heritage on the countryside, and don’t see that besides so called modern farmers, different farming systems exist that produce food and maintain landscapes at the same time.
Results:
- Loss of gigantic historical work and knowledge of traditional agricultural systems
- Only one type of model farm keeps being supported and constitutes an enormous waste of public money in agricultural subsidies
The beginning of the solution is easy!
- Eat seasonal, eat local (visit farm markets, order an organic farm food box, eat SlowFood)
Manifesto
Our relation with nature is shaped in the first months and years of our lives
- We need to give our children a chance to be in the nature and learn from nature as often and early as possible.
- We need school gardens back in our education, preferably directly connected to the school canteen’s supply.
- We need food and taste education for all children to discover what is real food.
When during our youth is our feeling of responsibility for the community and the environment addressed?
- The state should stimulate the development of community responsibility and responsibility for the environment and nature by introducing a civil service for helping the rural population and nature protection projects.
More than 50% of the world population live in cities without sufficient access to green areas
- We need green corridors from the city centre to the countryside in order to safely walk or bike to and through green areas outside town.
- We need to protect and develop urban agricultural plots as it is provides important supplement for city people’s diet, especially in times of raising food prices.
- We should stimulate a more active participation of citizens in their food supply by harvest excursions and farming work and courses.
Care for the landscape, nature and the environment is not part of the food price
- Instead of subsidising polluting intensive farming we should give farmers more compensation for their efforts to manage land in a sustainable way.
- A market should be created for selling “ecosystem functions” and creating “landscape elements”
Tourists and second house owners are not giving enough to the countryside and the environment in which they recreate
- Much more tourist accommodations should be built according to natural and traditional local building style stimulating the use of local crafts and materials that can be recycled.
- Second home owners who replace retreating farm life should pay a special tax to maintain the landscape in order to stimulate the creation of a new generation of land managers.
- Tourists and tourism businesses can help local farmers by investing in their farm and buy their products.