Anatole: Atlantic network for a new local economy

Huertos urbanos. Su papel en la vida urbana

2012-02-23T09:00:00.000+01:00

por Manu Fernandez — Jueves, 2 de junio de 2011

Los huertos urbanos están ganando un interés creciente en los últimos tiempos como forma de ocupación ciudadana en diferentes espacios de la ciudad y así lo recogían La Vanguardia y El País hace unas semanas en dos artículos de agradecer ante el desinterés generalizado de los medios tradicionales en España por los temas urbanos. Que estas cosas lleguen a los medios de masas tradicionales es normalmente el termómetro que utilizo para saber si el tema en particular ha traspasado las fronteras de los medios especializados, porque a veces, de tanto estar en tus lecturas, acabas perdiendo un poco el sentido de la realidad.
La existencia de huertos urbanos no es una novedad; los bordes de la trama urbana, y no sólo ellos, han acogido siempre formas de cultivo de la tierra a medio camino entre la subsistencia, la resistencia contra el avance de la urbanización y la pervivencia de las formas tradicionales de vida en el campo. En este sentido, digamos que estas son fórmulas espontáneas. En cambio, lo que creo que está ganando fuerza son otras formas más actuales (y por eso son relevantes) vinculadas a la apropiación activa del espacio público, la reutilización creativa y comunitaria de espacios y solares en desuso y, en menor medida, la generación de alternativas de consumo.

Se trata de una práctica que inicialmente ha sido entendida como marginal o de contestación activa (como el caso de las expresiones de guerrilla gardening) y, por tanto, fuera de la agenda. Sin embargo, cuenta ahora con un contexto favorable. Como he comentado en otras ocasiones, esta es para mí una de las grandes hipótesis de la nueva agenda urbana que surge tras la crisis: la aceptación por parte de las instituciones locales de prácticas y propuestas que en los años de desenfreno protagonizados por proyectos icónicos eran descartadas como marginales y que, sin embargo, ante la nueva realidad de unas enormes dificultades financieras de los gobiernos locales, ganan peso como propuestas baratas y eficaces.

Más Información: La Ciudad Viva

La alimentación, una “nueva” forma de ver la ciudad.

2012-02-21T09:00:00.002+01:00

Con la industrialización, el desarrollo de los sistemas de transporte y la globalización se ha perdido la relación entre la economía basada en la alimentación y el caracter regional, espacial y social de la misma.

El aumento de movilidad ha traido consigo que nuestras constumbres alimenticias se hayan modificado enormemente durante el último siglo. Si antes se comían las verduras que se cultivaban en cada estación del año, la carne de los animales que pastaban en la región (cordero en Aragón, ternera en Argentina, etc) y sólamente la alta cocina disponía de ingredientes que venían de más allá de “las fronteras”, actualmente conseguimos en el supermercado casi cualquier ingrediente que se nos ocurra y nos apetezca porque “nos gustó tanto aquella vez que estuvimos en Italia o cuando fuimos a China, o durante aquel congreso en Brasil”. Los productos, como los sabores, se han globalizado. Hoy sin embargo entramos en la cuenta que estos “lujos alimentarios” son responsables en parte del 30 y un 40% de la emisión de CO2 a nuestra atmósfera, debidos a la producción, transporte y consumo (y desecho) de alimentos.

Más información: La Ciudad Viva

Rural Ireland will be main driver for Irish Economy

2012-02-16T09:00:00.003+01:00

Irish TD, Shane McEntee, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has stated that “one of the main drivers for the Irish economy over the next five years will come from rural Ireland“.

Speaking in Nenagh at a Bank of Ireland Agri Seminar, the Minister referred in particular to the hundreds of indigenous food companies across the country.

Minister McEntee went on to state that the Government intends to drive a very aggressive growth agenda for the agri-food sector and to increase the value of exports from the sector to €12 billion by 2020. He recognised the ambitiousness of this target saying how he was “consistently struck and encouraged by the tremendous positivity around agriculture and the agri-food sector. There is a welcome and increasing realisation that the agri-food sector is one of those that will play a critical role in our economic recovery. We have not alone a terrific story to tell, but we have an exciting story to tell – one full of enormous potential and ambition right across the various sectors”.

The Minister also highlighted the Bank’s role in developing the Agri-food industry through investment and urged everyone present to take advantage of the opportunity to hear what services are available.

Source: Rural Network Northern Ireland

Saving farmers, saving food

2012-02-14T15:58:00.000+01:00

Farmers’ incomes are falling while food prices are rising and more and more food is being bought and then thrown away. On 19 January, MEPs looked at food from two different angles: on one hand they propose helping farmers earn a decent income and preventing them from being squeezed between high raw material prices and low farm gate prices and on the other called for a stop to the enormous food wastage in the EU.

Raw material costs for EU farmers climbed an average of almost 40% between 2000 and 2010, while farm gate prices increased on average by less than 25%. Farmers are being "squeezed" between low farm gate prices due to the strong position of processors and retailers, and high raw material prices due to an increased concentration among producers of things like fertilizer, fuel and farm machinery.

Improving negotiating power

MEPs suggest that farmers should get together to improve their bargaining power and call on competition authorities to tackle abuses by dominant agribusiness traders, retailers and raw material producers.

They also want the European Commission to evaluate what impact EU legislation on food safety and environmental protection, which can increase the cost of food production, is having on the sustainability and competitiveness of European agriculture.

Learn More: European Parliament

Conferencias sobre la Dieta Atlantica

2012-02-09T09:03:00.001+01:00

Se pueden ver en este VINCULO

Rural Development In Action' Published

2012-02-07T09:03:00.000+01:00

The new ‘RDP in Action’ guide, has been published by the Rural Network NI and includes a range of projects and initiatives which have been implemented under the themes of Farming & Food, Environment & Countryside and Rural Life.

Comprising 50 projects which have been implemented under the current programme it also includes examples of how rural development funding is supporting rural life in the south of Ireland, Britain and Europe.

To download a copy of the publication please click here.

Source: Rural Network Northern Ireland

Grundtvig Course: Maintaining our health through sustainable food systems

2012-02-02T09:00:00.003+01:00

The workshop is addressed to people from Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany, who are interested in reflecting their habits of eating. We will start an exchange about the theoretical background of food production as well as our own role in maintaining it and possible alternatives.

We would like to initiate intercultural and cross-generational learning and hope to invite a group that is as diverse as possible regarding their social and cultural backgrounds, their ages and their living and eating habits.The foundation of the workshop is to learn about diet and nutrition and their effects on both the health of the consumers and producers. Theoretical and practical learning will come together throughout the course. To introduce one another the workshop will begin with a cooking activity. Everybody will create a specialty from their home country and share about their cultural cooking and eating habits. After this we will focus on a theoretical exploration of food related social topics (i.e. food scandals, additives, Genetic Engineering, factors of production within the EU, basic principles of organic farming). Equipped with this knowledge we will start an exchange with “experts“ from Berlin and the surrounding countryside. The program includes a visit to an organic farm and a Community Supported Agriculture project as well as a meeting with the NGO “foodwatch“ and a field trip with a medicinal herb specialist. You will also learn practical skills in the community garden that belongs to the KuBiZ-center and is used for organic cultivation of fruits, vegetables and herbs. The culinary recipes (like all other outcomes from the workshop) will be recorded on a CD and continue to inspire you back home. Additionally there will be sufficient space during the week for the exchange of individual experience and knowledge about food.

Date of the Workshop: 21/04/2012 - 29/04/2012
Workshop Organiser: solar e.V.
Contact details: Bernkasteler Str. 78 13088 Berlin DE-GERMANY
Tel.: 0049 (0) 30 96201345 // Fax: 0049 (0) 30 9251295
E-mail: solar@kubiz-wallenberg.de // www.kubiz-wallenberg.de

Recetas: Ni mata ni engorda

2012-01-31T19:58:00.001+01:00

"Ni mata ni engorda" es el blog de Rubén Amorín, ourensano de pro y gallego de convicción. En su descripción, Rubén explica que:

Si me preguntasen la definición de una Cocina yo les diría: “Lugar del mundo donde se fabrican momentos de felicidad”.

Y este es el uno de los pilares de mi pasión por el Mundo Gastronómico. Esos ratos que uno pasa entre hornillos y cazuelas aportan sensaciones que convierten la comida que luego degustaremos en algo más que un mero alimento. (...) Aprecio los buenos productos, como los de esta tierra, que son la base para crear buenas y sabrosas recetas, y desde aqui las compartiré con todos vosotros.

Mis abuelas y mi madre han sido las causantes de todo esto, enseñándome en el día a día su buen hacer y poco a poco dejándome “solo ante el fogón”. Según ellas hay que usar siempre el mejor condimento hasta ahora conocido: cocinar sin prisas y con un toque de cariño.

Pueden consultarse las sabrosas recetas en : Ni mata ni engorda

European Parliament: Avoiding food waste

2012-01-26T06:52:00.000+01:00

Besides the election of a president and vice-presidents for the Parliament, one of the main subjects being debated during this session will be the food chain – imbalances in the food supply chain, the distribution chain for agricultural raw material and also food waste. Italian MEP, Salvatore Caronna (S&D) wrote a report on the latter which focused on how to avoid food waste.

According to a European Commission study, food waste in the 27 Member States of the EU has risen to 89 million tonnes (i.e. 179kg per person). By 2020, this figure is expected to have risen by a further 40% reaching 140 million tonnes. This waste includes an ever-increasing amount of foodstuffs that are still edible. However, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, by reducing post-harvest crop losses (about 14%) along with losses at distribution and consumption level, it would be possible to fulfil 3/5s of the requirements for increased cereal production needed globally by 2050.

In order to raise awareness among citizens and national governments, the Council and the European Commission have decided to act. This report recommends making the subject of food waste one of the priorities on the European policy agenda. It also suggests declaring 2013 “European Year against food waste”.

With the aim of halving food waste by 2025, this report highlights the steps to be taken to reduce it across all stages in the food chain, while keeping a close eye on the areas that will be affected – the climate and the economy to name but two.

Read More: The European Parliament in Action

Data collection - processing - reporting for agri-environmental policies (EUROSTAT)

2012-01-24T11:59:00.000+01:00

This document is the result of the DireDate project's task 6. DireDate stands for 'Direct and indirect data needs linked to the farms for agri-environmental indicators'. The DireDate project is a study financed by Eurostat, European Commission, and undertaken by a consortium led by ALTERRA (NL) (Service
Contract 40701.2009.001-2009.354).
The general objective of DireDate is “to create a framework for setting up a sustainable system for collecting a set of data from farmers and other sources that will serve primarily European and national statisticians for creating the agreed 28 agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) and thus serve policy makers, but as well agricultural and environmental researchers, observers of climate change and other environmental issues linked to agriculture”.

You can read the study for more information

Commission proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurement

2012-01-19T11:53:00.000+01:00

The Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth [COM(2010) 2020] is based on three interlocking and mutually reinforcing priorities: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation; promoting a low-carbon, resource-efficient and competitive economy; and fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.
Public procurement plays a key role in the Europe 2020 strategy as one of the market-based instruments to be used to achieve these objectives by improving the business environment and conditions for business to innovate and by encouraging wider use of green procurement supporting the shift towards a resource efficient and low-carbon economy. At the same time, the Europe 2020 strategy stresses that public procurement policy must ensure the most efficient use of public funds and that procurement markets must be kept open Union-wide.
This proposal has two complementary objectives:
• Increase the efficiency of public spending to ensure the best possible procurement outcomes in terms of value for money. This implies in particular a simplification and flexibilisation of the existing public procurement rules. Streamlined, more efficient procedures will benefit all economic operators and facilitate the participation of SMEs and cross-border bidders.
• Allow procurers to make better use of public procurement in support of common societal goals such as protection of the environment, higher resource and energy efficiency, combating climate change, promoting innovation, employment and social inclusion and ensuring the best possible conditions for the provision of high quality social services.

For more information, please read the proposal.

Aeiraland cultiva las primeras trufas gallegas

2012-01-17T19:13:00.000+01:00

AeiraLand es la primera empresa de Galicia y del Noroeste de España dedicada a la producción y comercialización de trufas. Su creación responde a un proceso que empezó como una investigación sobre la producción de este tipo de alimento en la comunidad gallega.
En la actualidad, y bajo la marca “Trufa Negra Atlántica”, la empresa ofrece variedades procedentes del arco atlántico, recogidas desde el sur de Portugal hasta el País Vasco. Debido a la inexistencia de tradición trufera en estas zonas, las trufas atlánticas son las más desconocidas, sin embargo, poseen un aroma más marcado que las más famosas de las áreas mediterráneas. Como resultado de un proyecto de investigación, AeiraLand ha realizado plantaciones experimentales en la montaña lucense y en zonas de la provincia de Ourense, con el objetivo de poder lanzar al mercado, en un futuro próximo, las primeras trufas gallegas del mundo. Existen varias zonas del territorio gallego, especialmente asociadas a las montañas de O Courel, que tienen un alto potencial como área de producción.
Hasta la fecha, se han plantado 10 hectáreas en la provincia de Lugo, y una pequeña parcela en Ourense. Para ello, se han utilizado distintas especies de árboles (encinas, robles, castaños y pinos) micorrizados, con diferentes especies de trufa (Tuber Melanosporum, Tuber Aestivum y Tuber Borchii). Las condiciones de los suelos y el clima de los espacios en los que se encuentran las plantaciones favorecen la intensidad de su aroma y sabor.

Mas Informacion y Fuente: Revista de Innovacion

Author Carol Deppe on growing ‘lots of delicious food for the least possible work’

2012-01-12T15:35:00.000+01:00

As weather patterns change and fossil fuel supplies dwindle, communities have to start thinking about food resilience. How can farmers and gardeners grow and preserve food amid rapidly changing weather conditions, and without easy access to cheap industrial fertilizers? In her new book, The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, longtime gardener and scientist Carol Deppe digs into just such questions.

You can read her interview at GRIST

Urban agriculture digs in: ploughing ahead, in the city

2012-01-10T15:32:00.000+01:00

In the last decade, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) have resurged in the North: in most European cities, waiting lists for allotments have grown, and city farms and school farms blossomed. However, most UPA still blends the frugal and the recreational, with a few financially viable urban farms getting by through the mutual benefits of employing special-needs patients in 'care-farming'. However after a recent launch conference of the Greater Liverpool Food Alliance (GLFA) in north-west England, urban agriculture is being seen as a tool of resilience for crisis-hit Western economies.
In the early 2000s, a World Health Organization report claimed that the commercial farmers of Greater London, plus its registered individual 'allotment' plots, produced some 9,400 tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually. Representing a mere two per cent of London's minimum recommended intake (FAO: 2 pieces of fruit, 200 grams of vegetables daily), it bears no comparison to the 80 per cent of all vegetables grown and consumed in Accra or Hanoi.
That such statistics are hard to find today for Liverpool, the fourth city of a major OECD country is a legacy of when food security had fallen off the agendas of most city managers. Few Western cities can actually answer the innocent query "how big is your city's harvest?" with either ease or pride. In North America, interest is richest in cities with high eco-awareness (the north-west) or in the coping strategies of places knocked down by recession, such as Detroit.
MAINSTREAMING URBAN AGRICULTURE
This is not really the foundation stone of a resilient, pro-active, food-secure city in a century of untold variabilities and vicious vulnerability - a notion much used at the GLFA conference held in July, 2010. Max Steinberg, CEO of sponsoring agency Liverpool Vision, made clear that the city's economic development company has no doubts about the core strategic role of UPA. "Most current urban agriculture projects focus on achieving social objectives. What differentiates this initiative is its focus on economic viability. Urban agriculture needs to become part of the mainstream economy, one of the key industries for a low-carbon, post-industrial society."
Aware that Liverpool is no early-adopter of UPA, the conference allowed practitioners (and bankers, community care agencies, business counsellors, dieticians, traders, retailers plus procurement agencies) to exchange experiences and aspirations. "The 85 attendees had enough ideas for ten times that number," smiled one organiser in UrbanAg. This community-interest company is co-funded by Liverpool Vision who, incidentally, describe their highly adaptable city as being "on the up". External reports of a soaring coriander crop, thanks to recent Somali immigrants, testify to this.

Read More at the New Agriculturist

Community-based Food Initiatives in the UK

2012-01-05T15:24:00.000+01:00

This article, written by Mark Stein, explains that community-based food initiatives have developed in the UK in recent years reflecting growing interest in developing local sources of food supply. Such initiatives often use volunteer labour and exploit urban land which is otherwise underutilised. They strengthen bonds within communities and can be particularly helpful for people with disabilities.
Community-based food businesses are not primarily engaged in the pursuit of profit although ideally they will be able to survive in the long term without public sector grant funding. They aim to reconnect people in a particular locality with food growing in the belief that this will lead to better nutrition, greener food production and more local jobs.
The context for the growth of these businesses is a radical critique of the current UK food system such as that expressed by the Hackney-based social enterprise Growing Communities in its “Manifesto for Feeding Cities" published in 2010:
“Currently the supermarkets and agri-business control our food. The centralised and industrialised system they have developed has provided us with plentiful, cheap food but at enormous cost to the environment and communities."
For reading the article, please click here.

Les Français préfèrent consommer local

2012-01-03T17:11:00.000+01:00

Les Français sont réticents face à la mondialisation et privilégient l'achat de produits et services locaux pour faire vivre l'économie de proximité, selon un sondage Ifop.
Pour vivre heureux, consommons local. C'est ce qui ressort d'un sondage Ifop* paru mardi. A la question, "la mondialisation est-elle bénéfique pour l'économie locale?", trois Français sur quatre se sont déclarés "pas d'accord". Dans le détail, 49% d'entre eux ne sont "plutôt pas d'accord" et 26% ne sont "pas du tout d'accord", selon cette étude commanditée par le loueur de voiture ADA. Pour 89% des personnes interrogées, "plus l'économie se mondialise, plus il est important de privilégier l'économie locale", contre 11% en désaccord avec cette idée. Une majorité des sondés (64%) n'est pas d'accord avec la phrase: "la mondialisation est une tendance positive", 32% étant "plutôt d'accord".Selon l'étude, une grande majorité d'entre eux (89%) privilégie "les produits et services locaux à prix équivalents ou moins chers". Parmi les raisons invoquées pour justifier l'achat de produits et services locaux, 71% estiment qu'il s'agit de "faire vivre l'économie locale". Pour 33% des Français, "les produits et services locaux inspirent davantage confiance" et 32% évoquent "un geste écologique". Dans le détail, 40% des moins de 25 ans et 41% des cadres déclarent que "c'est plus écologique". Enfin, 88% des sondés se disent "satisfaits des offres de produits et services locaux de proximité".

*Ce sondage a été réalisé en ligne entre le 11 et 13 octobre 2011 auprès d'un échantillon de 1.027 personnes représentatif de la population française âgée de 18 ans et plus.

Source: TF1

Food for Bristol

2011-12-22T17:08:00.000+01:00

This report builds on findings in the Bristol Peak Oil report and explores the strengths and vulnerabilities in the current food system that serves Bristol and the city region in more detail. The report is primarily a descriptive baseline study of the main elements of the food system with an analysis of its resilience. It looks at the ‘positive powers’ cities may have in relation to their food systems and it makes suggestions for action. The work of researching and preparing the “who Feeds Bristol” report was commissioned and funded by NHS Bristol and undertaken by Joy Carey, an independent food systems planner and researcher. The document was published in March 2011.Feeding Bristol successfully in the future will depend on the planning that is taking place right now. The future effects of climate change and of peak oil mean that we need to develop innovation in the production, distribution and consumption of food within our local communities. This is a necessity to ensure healthy, sustainably produced food is available to everyone. On 10 March 2010, the Bristol Partnership held a conference at Bristol City Council to discuss elements of these issues and talk about local food projects. Supporting the move towards a more sustainable, healthy city Bristol City Council has an internal Food Interest group that meets quarterly. Membership represents the services in the council that regulate, procure, provide, allocate space for and dispose of food.

If you want to know more about this initiative, please visit Bristol homepage

Le commerce de proximité : une valeur sûre pour dynamiser les territoires

2011-12-20T17:03:00.000+01:00

Une étude de l'Insee publiée en mai 2010 chiffre à 600 000 le nombre de commerces de proximité sur un total de 830 000 commerces, soit 72 %. En terme de masse salariale, les commerces de proximité représentent 1,2 millions de personnes. Très représenté dans l'habillement, le petit commerce spécialisé (boulangerie, boucherie, poissonneries, commerces de journaux, pharmacies, etc.) et les petites surfaces alimentaires des enseignes de distribution, le commerce de proximité se compose d'établissements de quotidienneté dans lesquels le consommateur se rend fréquemment, voire quotidiennement.

Le commerce de proximité est un référentiel économique pour les territoires et les communes rurales. Dans ces communes, il représente 44 % des commerces, soit 10 points de plus que les commerces de proximité situés dans les zones urbaines. Le commerce de proximité dynamise l'économie locale, créait du lien social et maintient un minimum de cohésion territoriale. Toujours est-il que la moitié des communes rurales de France métropolitaine ne disposent d'aucuns commercent de proximité.

Continuer a lire cet article sur Les Echos (09/11/11)

Economía de proximidad

2011-12-15T17:00:00.000+01:00

Sin olvidar el importante papel que la Globalización ha desarrollado en el acercamiento al “otro”, hay que volver la vista a la Economía de proximidad.

Como destaca Juan José Goñi[1] “Lo global progresa homogeneizando la diversidad, … refuerza el sentido de pertenencia e identidad de lo propio, de lo individual. La alternativa es: lo mío o lo de todos. Valoramos lo mío frente a lo de todos, lo público, que pertenece a muchos desconocidos entre sí. … Con pocas opciones de sentir e influir en lo público abandonamos el interés por aquello que no sea lo rigurosamente particular. Son terceros impersonales los que nos conducen a través de la política, el mercado, los movimientos religiosos y los principios universales del bien público, la libertad, la democracia y la ética, generando una desafección de las personas respecto de los problemas sociales. La sostenibilidad, la eco-economía, la calidad de vida, la diversidad, la solidaridad y otras capacidades de las que adolecen los sistemas vigentes dependen de volver a reconsiderar el valor de lo próximo, la forma en la que nos organizamos socialmente y cómo repensamos la gestión de los bienes particulares y colectivos….”
En esta línea de pensamiento se sitúa el informe de Michèle Deboneuil “La economía cuaternaria, un crecimiento sostenible a construir” dirigido a la secretaria de Estado del Gobierno francés. En él se apuesta por el concepto de economía cuaternaria, como aquélla en la cual los bienes y servicios se reúnen en ofertas agrupadas con el fin de satisfacer mejor las necesidades de cada persona, ¿por qué deberíamos tener cada uno un vehículo en el centro de la ciudad si podemos disponer de un coche en servicio libre? ¿Es necesario invertir en una cortadora de césped si es dos veces menos costoso hacer mantener tu jardín?

El reto es “pasar de un sistema en el que los flujos de consumo o de energía son absolutamente delirantes para ir hacia otro en el que se satisfacen las necesidades de los más cercanos geográficamente y los deseos de los más próximos. Se trata al mismo tiempo de un vivero de empleo considerable que beneficiará al conjunto de la población, en términos de calidad de vida, de bienestar, así como de desarrollo sostenible”.

Extracto de Propuestas en el ámbito económico-institucional en El Blog de la Fundación Novia Salcedo

L'économie de proximité, une alternative à la crise

2011-12-13T17:58:00.000+01:00

Avec la crise, l'économie mondiale a perdu de son crédit. Les citoyens n'ont plus confiance. Pour éviter la déconnexion, une solution, l'économie de proximité. Une idée défendue lors de la table ronde "Economie de proximité : quand l'économie redécouvre le local".

Le concept n'est pas nouveau. Il est pourtant mal connu du public. Pour Bernard Pecqueur, professeur à l'Institut de géographie alpine de Grenoble, il s'agit "d'une économie qui valorise le contexte territorial où vivent les gens, et crée un ensemble historique, culturel, et de paysage". Cyril Kretzschmar, conseiller délégué à la nouvelle économie à la Région Rhônes-Alpes, défend pour sa part une approche plus pragmatique, "l'artisanat, l'économie sociale et solidaire, et les très petites entreprises (TPE) à ancrage local représentent l'économie de proximité. Cet ensemble pèse près de 80% de l'économie de notre pays". Pascal Canfin, député européen vert, illustre le propos par deux exemples: "Il y a deux gisements majeurs de l'économie de proximité. Les services à la personnes au sens large, c'est à dire relevant du care, et l'économie écologique, qui repose sur un circuit court, notamment en matière alimentaire."

Un système imparfait mais nécessaire

Les intervenants, pourtant partisans de l'économie de proximité, ont pointé les défaillances du système. Premier risque majeur pour Bernard Pecqueur, "le risque d'enfermement. La formule communautariste est un piège mortel". De son côté, Alain Even estime "qu'il faut penser l'économie de proximité comme un développement intégré où les différents acteurs, publics et privés, sont amenés à se rencontrer et se coordonner", pour permettre aux projets de perdurer. Suite à une intervention du public, la question du prix à la consommation de l'économie de proximité a été posée. "Sur un circuit court, à qualité égale, les produits sont moins chers car il faut penser en terme de coût global, répond Cyril Kretzschmar, élu Europe Écologie. Par exemple, si on achète un tee-shirt chinois à 2 euros, son coût réel est beaucoup plus élevé, car il faut tenir compte de son empreinte carbone". Une réponse qui ne satisfait pas totalement Pascal Canfin: "Il faut penser aux citoyens. Avec la crise et l'état actuel du pouvoir d'achat, le consommateur se dirige logiquement vers le produit le moins cher. Du coup, il est préférable d'aller vers des circuits de proximité au gain immédiat en terme de pouvoir d'achat. C'est le cas, par exemple, pour les transports, grâce à des formes innovantes de transports collectifs (taxis solidaires, covoiturage) moins chers qu'une voiture, ou encore pour le logement et les coopératives d'habitants qui produisent des logements beaucoup moins onéreux".

Pour continuer à lire cet article d' Armelle Semont sur Journées de l'économie, cliquez ici

Distance, land, and proximity: economic analysis and the evolution of cities

2011-12-08T17:53:00.000+01:00

G Duranton, the author, attempts to provide a synthesis of the long-run evolution of cities by taking an economic perspective. He defends the idea that urban growth for preindustrial cities has been limited by the tyranny of distance. Then he argues that technological progress, by fostering mobility, has reinforced economies of agglomeration and thus allowed for larger cities. This has led to the development of industrial cities and the dominance of the tyranny of distance. Nowadays, however, technological progress in communications and telecommunications seems to be challenging the rationale for agglomeration in cities as more and more economic interactions can be realized at arm's length. Increasing mobility may have turned into a threat for cities, hence the prediction about the demise of cities. Nonetheless, it is argued that the `tyranny of proximity' may provide a strong glue to keep postindustrial cities together.

Should you be interested in the book, PLEASE VISIT IDEAS

Foodprints

2011-12-07T15:29:00.000+01:00

From a FOAM reflection

2010 was declared “The year of International biodiversity,” and also a year in which Stockholm was “Europe’s Green Capital.” With these two celebrations, Foodprints explores how the discipline of biomimicry can promote urban food resilience and opportunities for biodiversity to flourish in urban developments. There is an inherent relationship between the city and how food arrives on our plates. We want to investigate how to create “resilient” cities that mimic nature’s ecosystems, where all the elements are interactive, responsive, engaging, conducive to life, abundant in feedback loops, and always making best use of resources. Our goal will be to bring forward a food culture inspired by these ecosystems through the creation of a biologically-centred toolkit which we will apply on the urban visions for Norra Djurgarden area of Stockholm.
We have been threading together both scientific, futuristic, artistic and sensory perspectives to review our urban ecology and the way we feed ourselves. Food becomes our communication device, and we will present our explorations in a måltid designed around experience through the senses. We hope that reaction to the meal and proposals, can inspire guests involved in the development plans for the Norra Djurgarden scheme to create food system resilience as part of the sustainable planning process. In turn, Foodprints has been collaborating with a variety of disciplines in a very creative process: science and biology with the built environment and experiential design, creating a multi-disciplinary cocktail of collaborations and introducing this strong community of solutions to the city.

Accepting complexity’ of the food system

2011-11-24T12:15:00.000+01:00

From a lecture of Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City

Bifurcation in the food system often leads to polarized and unproductive debates about the future of food systems. Carolyn suggested that we see the true complexity, and go beyond these dichotomous debates.
Working with the enemy: to what extent should researchers and nonprofit organisations work with large corporate actors toward sustainability? Are we doing anything new if we’re working with the corporations? Carolyn said that ultimately it is a paradox — there is no ideal solution. But the important thing to examine is: what are the models that we need to move forward? Carolyn suggested a control for scale – so that supermarkets don’t get so big and powerful that they no longer need to play by the rules. But the question of ‘How do we deal with Wal-Mart?’ needs to be attacked with a ’multi-faceted, multi-front’ approach — seeing the complexities of the reality and the several different types of solutions that might address these problems.
What can encourage systemic changes, other than a ‘crisis’, such as the Havana urban farming (2000) example or the UK Dig for Victory (1940) example? Carolyn said that in truth we are in crisis, but no one is acting like it’s a crisis. In reality, we are almost at the tipping point, so the question is ‘what is going to push us over the edge?’
Source: Sustainable Food Blog

Reform of the European Common Agricultural Policy

2011-11-22T17:11:00.000+01:00

Proposals Lack Ambition to Mainstream Sustainainability Says IFOAM EU Group

On October 12, 2011, the European Commission unveiled its proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020. The lacks ambition where substantial commitments are needed to shape future farming to ensure the delivery of tasty food and a clean environment says the European group of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM EU Group) in a recent press release.

According to the group's president, Christopher Stopes, "this CAP reform comes at a time of scarce public funding and austerity discussions - which should be a reason to clearly re-focus funding towards measures that deliver to societal needs". Furthermore he adds "Society wants tasty and healthy food, clean water, diverse landscapes and vibrant rural economies.

We also need to ensure biodiversity and food security for future generations, and food producers have to deal with climate change. All this cannot be obtained by continuing with business as usual – but although we can see some new greening attempts, the Commission proposals are much too close to that."

See more here.

Food miles

2011-11-17T16:52:00.000+01:00

Food miles is a term which refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental impact of food, including the impact on global warming.

The concept of food miles originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. It was conceived by Professor Tim Lang, at the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) Alliance.

Some scholars believe that an increase in the miles food travels is due to :

the globalization of trade
the focus of food supply bases into fewer, larger districts; drastic changes in delivery patterns
the increase in processed and packaged foods
making fewer trips to the supermarket.

At the same time, most of the greenhouse gas emissions created by food have their origin in the production phases, which create 83% of overall emissions of CO2.

A range of studies compare emissions over the entire food cycle, including production, consumption, and transport. These include estimates of food-related emissions of greenhouse gas 'up to the farm gate' versus 'beyond the farm gate'. In the UK, for example, agricultural-related emissions may account for approximately 40% of the overall food chain (including retail, packaging, fertilizer manufacture, and other factors), whereas greenhouse gases emitted in transport account for around 12% of overall food-chain emissions. The goal of environmental protection agencies is to make people aware of the environmental impact of food miles and to show the pollution percentage and the energy used to transport food over long distances.
Researchers are currently working to provide the public with more information.

More information here.

EU scientists vet food marketing's health claims

2011-11-15T17:40:00.000+01:00

      The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its scientific evaluations of 2,758 of health claims for the marketing of foods. Only one fifth of these claims were ultimately approved. The evaluations form part of the EU's strategy for encouraging consumers to make informed choices in their diet.

      Rejected claims include those where beneficial effects to humans lacked evidence, such as some foods claiming "antioxidant properties" or easing "renal water elimination". Similarly, vague claims such as assertions of added "energy" and "vitality" were rejected.

      But not all food products marketed as good for health fall in this category. Professor Albert Flynn, who chaired the panel in charge of reviewing the claims, said in a press release that EFSA's independent evaluation had concluded that a considerable number of claims made on foods "are backed by sound science, including claims related to a wide range of health benefits."

      Claimed that were approved by EFSA as scientifically-grounded included those on certain fibers and blood cholesterol, walnuts and improved functioning of blood vessels, and the enhanced sports performance through carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks.

More information here.

Is local food better ?

2011-11-10T17:10:00.000+01:00

      In 1993, a Swedish researcher calculated that the ingredients of a typical Swedish breakfast-apple, bread, butter, cheese, coffee, cream, orange juice, sugar-traveled a distance equal to the circumference of the Earth before reaching the Scandinavian table. In 2005, a researcher in Iowa found that the milk, sugar, and strawberries that go into a carton of strawberry yogurt collectively journeyed 2,211 miles (3,558 kilometers) just to get to the processing plant. As the local-food movement has come of age, this concept of "food miles" (or "-kilometers") -roughly, the distance food travels from farm to plate- has come to dominate the discussion, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Western Europe.

      The concept offers a kind of convenient shorthand for describing a food system that's centralized, industrialized, and complex almost to the point of absurdity. And, since our food is transported all those miles in ships, trains, trucks, and planes, attention to food miles also links up with broader concerns about the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-based transport.

      In this sense, life-cycle analyses of the current food system offer a paradoxically hopeful perspective, because they suggest that, if the goal is to improve the environmental sustainability of the food system as a whole, then there are a variety of public policy levers that we can pull. To be sure, promoting more localized food production and distribution networks would reduce transport emissions.
      But what if a greater investment in rail infrastructure helped to reverse the trend toward transporting more food by inefficient semi-truck? What if fuel economy standards were increased for the truck fleet that moves our food? Or, to name one encompassing possibility, what if a carbon-pricing system incorporated some of the environmental costs of agriculture that are currently externalized?
      Local food is delicious, but the problem -and perhaps the solution- is global.

See more here.

Future of Scotland's food chain

2011-11-08T16:36:00.000+01:00

The importance of Scotland developing a resilient food supply chain and growing more of its own produce has been highlighted in a new report.

Mapping and Analysis of the Resilience of the Food Supply Chain in Scotland suggests Scotland is currently dependent on imports. It shows that global food chains may be vulnerable to both short and longer term emergency situations which could disrupt this supply.
The research will be used to help businesses prepare for future scenarios such as flooding, health scares and the impact of climate change.

Measures in Scotland's new national food and drink policy which aim to address food security include:

Building capacity and skills to produce food and keep food production at the heart of farming
Build food security into the delivery of our farming, fishing and aquaculture policies.
Support the appropriate legal framework to ensure our food and drink producers, processors, retailers and consumers are treated fairly
Fund new research to help meet the challenges of food security in Scotland and the rest of world

The Scottish Government is also providing advice and additional funding to local producers to help them develop markets for their products and encourage the growth of farmers markets, farm shops and local food initiatives. Work is continuing with the Scottish Retailers' Forum to help producers and processors identify new markets for their products in our supermarkets. And a new Retailers' Charter has been signed by eight of the UK's leading supermarkets.

More information here.

Rencontres PSDR CLAP

2011-11-07T17:48:00.000+01:00

Ces rencontres avaient pour ambition la diffusion et la discussion autour de quelques éléments d'analyse produits par les équipes de chercheurs impliqués dans le projet CLAP.

CLAP (Compétitivité Localisation Action Publique) :
Ce projet a pour principal objectif d’évaluer les gains et coûts liés à l’agglomération d’activités agricoles et agroalimentaires.Cette évaluation a été menée en étudiant d'une part les déterminants de la localisation de ces activités au sein du grand Ouest, et d'autre part l'impact du contexte local sur la performance des exploitations et des firmes de l’agro-industrie.
In fine, l'ambition du projet est de définir dans quelle mesure, les politiques publiques, peuvent influencer, conforter, la compétitivité des secteurs agricoles et agroalimentaires sur le territoire du Grand Ouest dans une perspective de développement soutenable.

Un projet du PSDR Grand Ouest (Pour et Sur le Développement Régional) :

C'est un programme de recherches interrégional et pluridisciplinaire initié par l'INRA et le CEMAGREF en partenariat avec les régions : Basse-Normandie, Bretagne, Pays de la Loire et Poitou-Charentes, dont les objectifs sont :

Analyser les processus de développement territorial et plus particulièrement le rôle et la place des activités agricoles et agroalimentaires.
Apporter une contribution opérationnelle au développement territorial à travers la fourniture d’outils et méthodes pour ses acteurs, dans une démarche de co-construction.

Ce sont environ 50 personnes qui se sont retrouvées l'espace d'une journée à l'Agropole, accueillies par l'AC3A et la Chambre d'Agriculture de la Vienne.

Plus d'information et source.

Le commerce de proximité

2011-11-03T15:36:00.000+01:00

Le plan d’actions en faveur du développement du commerce de proximité présenté en juin 2008 par le secrétaire d’Etat en charge du Commerce, de l’Artisanat, des PME, du Tourisme, de la Consommation et des Services s’articule autour de trois objectifs forts :

identifier les bonnes pratiques et assurer leur diffusion aux plans local et national
réformer les outils de soutien aux projets innovants, fédérateurs et porteurs de croissance pour le commerce de proximité
valoriser le commerce de proximité.

La déclinaison de ces objectifs a mené à conduire les actions suivantes :

une campagne d’information en direction des consommateurs confiée à l’Institut national de la consommation (INC) dans le cadre des émissions de télévision « Consomag », de chroniques pour les radios et d’un film pour la presse vidéo.
une communication visant à promouvoir les formations, les métiers et les carrières du commerce de proximité est lancée début mars sur le thème « Ma passion, j’en fais mon métier ». Elle comprend notamment la création d’un site Internet
une série de quatre appels nationaux à projets innovants et rassembleurs sur les thèmes suivants: « commerce et nouvelles technologies de l’information », « commerce et développement durable », « commerce et services connexes », et « commerce et accessibilité ».

Le premier appel diffusé le 5 juin 2009 a permis la sélection par la Commission d’orientation du commerce de proximité de six projets ( les consulter ).

Le deuxième appel à projet, visant à recueillir les bonnes pratiques sur le thème « commerce et développement durable», lancé le 25 janvier 2010, a permis de sélectionner 6 projets sur 28 présentés ( les consulter ).

Le troisième appel à projet portant sur les bonnes pratiques en matière de "commerce de proximité et services connexes" a sélectionné un seul projet ( le consulter ).

Et le quatrième appel à projet portant sur les bonnes pratiques en matière de "commerce de proximité et accessibilité " a permis de sélectionner 6 projets sur 17 présentés( les consulter )

Plus d'information et source.

Stratégie mobile pour les distributeurs et commerçants de proximité

2011-10-28T16:29:00.000+02:00

La stratégie mobile est un enjeu majeur dans nos sociétés actuelles.

La téléphonie mobile évolue constamment, et il n’a fallu que quelques années seulement avant que les consommateurs n’adoptent les téléphones « intelligents ».

Ces (r)évolutions technologiques ont entrainé des bouleversements dans les usages. Confronté à des habitudes de consommation en mutation, les distributeurs innovants ont dû s’adapter et ont rapidement développé des applications mobiles sur iPhone pour se démarquer de la concurrence.

Les entreprises les plus prospères ont poursuivi leurs efforts en multipliant les développements d’applications ainsi que leur maintenance pour être disponibles sur les autres systèmes d’exploitation disponibles tels qu’Android ou Blackberry. Hier, les principaux indicateurs de performance suivis étaient le positionnement dans l’Apple Store et le nombre de téléchargement d’applications chaque mois.

Aujourd’hui, nous assistons à un profond changement dans la stratégie mobile des distributeurs et des commerçants de proximité. Tout d’abord, nous passons d’une communication de marque à une diffusion d’informations pratiques pour le consommateur (horaires d’ouverture, plan d’accès, parking à proximité…) et surtout d’informations commerciales locales mises à jour régulièrement (promotions, coupons de réductions, opérations événementielles,…).

Plus d'information et source : Les Echos

Agriculture in an urbanizing society

2011-10-25T11:45:00.000+02:00

International Conference on Multifunctional Agriculture and Urban-Rural Relations. The Netherlands | 1 - 4 April 2012.

Research on multifunctional agriculture and changing urban-rural relations is highly fragmented, both disciplinarily and geographically, which is due to the multiplicity of activities, the multi-scalar character of multifunctionality and the geographical contextuality of expressions of multifunctional agriculture. Hence, this conference aims to advance the scientific state of the art in research on multifunctional agriculture and urban-rural relations by bringing together scholars from a wide range of disciplines (sociology, economics, spatial planning, land-use planning, regional planning, urban planning, crop sciences, animal sciences, soil sciences, architecture, etc.) from many parts of the world. rking group convenors of the conference invite you to submit abstracts for the April 2012 conference in Wageningen, The Netherlands. 20 different working groups will be organised during the conference. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 20 December 2011. IN WG 14 the topic will be: Public food procurement. Most schools, colleges , universities, hospitals , prisons and other public institutions receive their food supplies from different sources and programmes. Countries have different structures and indicators of success. They also face different problems, challenges and sustainability is a question. Producers’ views and how food is purchased also varies. It is important to show value for money, volume and types of food purchased by the programmes to improve livelihoods, nutrition, health and reduce poverty in selected regions. Are there existing policies, guidelines and plans for public food procurement? Who are the actors and how do they adhere to the rules and regulations?
Worldwide, school feeding programmes are a common concern and have similarities and or differences. A reflection on aid effectiveness and sustainability reveals challenges in especially resource limited countries. It is a concern to relate how decisions are made for public food procurement and priorities set for resource allocation. Whose responsibility is it (donors, international agencies, national and local governments, farmers and individuals) and therefore the sharing of experiences on programmes is important for ensuring sustainable food security. For one of the millennium development goals focuses on sustainable development.
It is known that rural areas produce food for the cities, yet in some countries urbanisation is fast growing, with the youths migrating to cities and food production going down. In addition, climatic change is impacting on the food security, how is public food procurement going to be sustained to improve smallholder agriculture? For most home grown school feeding programmes are meant to support these small farmers and improve their household incomes.
As a result food systems and chains can be changed and transformed by agencies and states/ local governments. Agricultural crises are affecting food production and the economic crunch is leading to high food prices which makes a significant drawing to public food procurement channels. What would be the effective measures for ensuring sustainability? What are the supply chains and demand likely to be met as the world changes?

Abstracts for this working group can be submitted to:
Juliet Kiguli | Makerere University, Uganda | jkiguli2002@yahoo.com
Convenors:
Juliet Kiguli                  Makerere University, Uganda
Nashiru Sulemana        University for Development Studies, Ghana
Kevin Morgan               Cardiff University, United Kingdom

New Connections in Food Research : Cardiff University

2011-10-20T12:08:00.000+02:00

Place to Plate: New Connections in Food Research
2 April 2012
Cardiff University

This is a conference by and for Ph.D. and early-career researchers studying food. It is inter-disciplinary and welcomes participation and contributions from diverse perspectives.

Early-career researchers are invited to share their interpretations of the themes to challenge us to realise new connections between places, disciplines and concepts. Food students are encouraged to inspire their peers to learn from unusual allies and to seek answers in unexpected sources. In the spirit of new connections, the conference will also trial innovative ways of preparing an academic conference and aim to establish an enduring inter-disciplinary and international network in food studies.

Bookings will open in early 2012. In the meantime, you are invited to have your say in how the day will run. Visit http://placetoplate.wordpress.com/ to suggest ideas for the programme and to find out more.

Themes“Food is what connects us all to each other and to the natural world, which makes it an incredibly powerful medium for thinking and acting collaboratively.”
- Carolyn Steel author of Hungry City.

What we eat and where it comes from are fundamental questions in light of today’s global challenges around issues such as health, agriculture, development and sustainability. A sound food system is central to the resilience of society, economy and environment, and, as one of life’s
essentials, food is unique in its power to communicate such concepts to the public. But whilst food is a topic which can touch almost every academic discipline, research is too frequently confined by subject boundaries.

This conference will bring together those studying food, no matter what their backgrounds, to generate unique and enlightening perspectives that can break disciplinary boundaries and forge new relationships both conceptually and personally. It will consider questions such as:

    What does a resilient food system taste like?
    Can food be a key to unlocking transition?
    What is the recipe for a healthy community?
    Is good practice a moveable feast?
    Fair for whom: where is the justice in sustainable food?
    Are we going global, local or glocal?
    How do we eat: do we understand the socio-cultural issues of food?

And, of course, we invite your participation in defining panel and roundtable themes: this is, after all, a conference for us and by us.

The conference has received funding from Cardiff University Graduate College.

Source: Sustainable Food Blog

Communicating Solutions about Food Waste

2011-10-18T11:58:00.000+02:00

Bryna Jones , Director of Communications at Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited,

As planners and communicators, we tend to underestimate the difficulty involved in changing behaviour. CBSM assumes that there are a variety of barriers that exist to behaviour change. Because behaviour change is complex, carefully selecting the behaviour to be promoted is vital to starting a campaign well. After the behaviour has been identified then the barriers and benefits associated with the selected behaviour must be isolated. For example, to dissect the issue of food waste, we would start by using a tool such as a problem tree to assess its specific problems, causes and effects. We can use the outcomes of this exercise to choose one behaviour change that will measurably reduce the negative behavioural trend within our chosen population.
Once these steps have been completed, we can move on to designing a strategy that utilizes behaviour-change tools to address barriers and benefits. Piloting the strategy is vital to success. The cornerstone of sustainability is delivering programs that are effective in changing people’s behaviour. If the pilot doesn’t provide measurable outcomes, then it’s time to revise, or select a more appropriate behaviour change. Once a program has been broadly implemented, evaluation must occur to understand its long term effect.
Strategic communications is involved at every step of this process.We must carefully select the language we use, the communications tactics we implement and the ways we measure the success of the campaign. Each campaign will be unique given the issue, audience, behaviour to change, and its barriers and benefits, but there are two key points to be aware of:

Providing information is not enough
Scaring people (or making them feel guilty) is unlikely to engage them

People are motivated:

    To know and understand what is going on – they hate being disorientated or confused
    To learn, discover and explore – they prefer acquiring information at their own pace and answering their own questions
    To participate and play a role in what is going on around them – they hate feeling incompetent or helpless

In order to communicate sustainable development successfully, we must link our communications to these needs and motivators, using audience research to decide which communications tools and tactics will be most effective. Making communications personal and practical, by overcoming barriers to change and promoting its benefits, is at the heart of CBSM. This is how we can encourage people to live more sustainable lives.

Source: Sustainablecitiescollective.com

Colloque de présentation des résultats de programme PSDR Grand Ouest

2011-10-13T16:56:00.000+02:00

Le colloque de présentation des résultats du programme PSDR Grand Ouest se tiendra les 7 et 8 décembre 2011 à Nantes (Hôtel de Région des Pays de la Loire).

Ce programme lancé en 2008, avait pour objectifs d'analyser la place et le rôle des activités agricoles, agro-alimentaires et de la pêche dans les processus de développement territorial et d'apporter une contribution opérationnelle au développement des filières et des territoires du Grand Ouest.

Le colloque sera organisé autour de trois sessions durant lesquelles les résultats marquants des différents projets seront présentés :

         1. Marchés - Territoires et compétitivité

     2. Développement des territoires et environnement

       3. Élevage et territoire

Au cours de ces deux jours, une place privilégiée sera accordée aux réactions et discussions à partir de ces contributions.

Le programme de ces journées est accessible à la rubrique "Programme" sur le site dédié au colloque et en pièce jointe.

Nous vous remercions de retenir dès à présent la date et de diffuser cette annonce dans vos réseaux.

Inscrivez-vous dès à présent (inscription gratuite, mais obligatoire) car le nombre de places est limité.

Pour en savoir plus :

sur le colloque : https://colloque.inra.fr/resultats_psdrgo

sur le programme PSDRGO : http://www.psdrgo.org/

Cellule d'animation PSDR GO LERECO
Centre de recherches INRA Angers-Nantes
Site de la Géraudière - B.P.71627
44316 NANTES Cedex 03 - France
Tel: 02.40.67.51.71 / 02.40.67.52.49
Fax: 02.40.67.50.74
Email: psdrgo@nantes.inra.fr

Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Ethical Perspectives on Land Use and Food Production

2011-10-11T12:34:00.000+02:00

From 30th May to 2nd June 2012 the 10th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics (EurSafe) which will be held in Tübingen (Germany). The conference theme is Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Ethical Perspectives on Land Use and Food Production.
Climate change is one of the major framing conditions for sustainable development of agriculture and food production. This is connected to ongoing changes in and of land-use practices which are related to local, regional and global scales, often dubbed as ‘glocal’ situations. That characterisation also applies to the closely related land and waters use domains of forestry and fisheries.
Agricultural and food ethics and its adjacent fields need to address well known, but aggravated ‘old’ problems. These are, among others, desertification due to temperature increase, changing precipitation regimes, unsustainable and/or unfair land-use and water regimes, pressure on arable land due to the loss of coastal areas, soil degradation and suburban sprawl, and the strain placed on both environment and animal welfare as a consequence of a growing worldwide demand for animal products. Also the manifold socio-economic implications on justice and fairness have to be investigated from different ethical perspectives.
At the same time, however, climate change creates specific effects: There are and will be new irreversible changes of natural and anthropogenic systems. Mitigation and adaptation measures to counter or slow down climate change have already resulted in considerable changes in agri- and silvicultural land-use. This is mainly but not only due to the significant increase in growing plants for energy supply (“biofuels”). Another perspective is the purchase or long-term tenancy of arable land or of water rights in the countries of the global south by wealthy nations and by transnational enterprises. In the case of animal production, specific dilemmas arise when a narrow focus on carbon efficiency favours intensive production systems which are decoupled from many traditional agricultural considerations.
These issues are only some of the many dimensions which demand reflection from an agricultural and food ethics perspective and thus examination by the community of scholars involved in EurSafe. The 10th EurSafe Congress will address the topic of climate change and sustainable development under four main perspectives: (1) food production, (2) preservation of natural resources, (3) lifestyles (4) general philosophical and historical issues of climate change, sustainable development and food ethics. There are overlaps, so sessions within the programme will examine different foci providing a stimulating and challenging array of contributions to the Congress.

More information about the 1oth EurSafe Congress can be found at the Congress website.

Source: Sustainable Food Blog

Cantines : le ministère place les menus sous surveillance

2011-10-06T11:24:00.000+02:00

Le décret sur les règles nutritionnelles est paru dimanche 2 octobre 2011. Les professionnels redoutent l’absence de dialogue avec les services de contrôle. Le ton est donné: « Nous allons surveiller les menus, avertit Bruno Lemaire, ministre de l’agriculture. Il doit y avoir :
    plus de produits laitiers,
    plus de fruits au dessert,
     le moins possible de friture,
    et une alternance entre viande et poisson dans la semaine ».

Attendu depuis un an, le décret et l’arrêté détaillant les règles nutritionnelles à suivre par la restauration scolaire sont parus au Journal Officiel ce dimanche 2 octobre 2011. Ces règles fixent notamment la taille des portions mais aussi la fréquence à laquelle tel ou tel groupe d’aliment doit être présentés aux enfants, sur une série de 20 repas.

Agrores craint l’inspection coercitive – Le décret prévoit que les services vétérinaires vérifient l’application de cette réglementation sur la base des menus et des fiches techniques des plats présentés au cours des trois derniers mois. « Il est essentiel que ces inspections soient constructives, qu’elles permettent d’instaurer un dialogue avec les professionnels, sinon ils vont se braquer, prévient Christophe Hebert président de l’Association nationale des directeurs de restauration municipale (Agores). Or j’ai eu l’occasion de rencontrer les responsables des services vétérinaires en charge de la restauration collective, lors de réunions au ministère. Leur conception des contrôles est coercitive. Pas question de faire du conseil, c’est le retour du bâton qui s’annonce ».

PLUS D'INFORMATION ET SOURCE: LA GAZETTE DES COMMUNES

Swansea Food Connections

2011-10-04T13:49:00.000+02:00

Evidence showed that the diets of the people of Swansea were (not eating) healthy (Health In Wales 2001/2002 - National Assembly for Wales (2000) Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000). The research showed that there were inequalities in diet between those on higher and lower incomes, and the most striking difference was in the variation in the amounts of vegetables and, in particular, the amount of fruit, eaten by those with lower incomes.
Evidence also showed that those on low incomes, or those who had to rely on public transport, often found it difficult to access shops offering healthy food choices. In addition, the food available to them was likely to be more expensive. Thus the need to reduce the inequalities was identified.
The need to establish such a project was linked to
•the work on the Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategy for Swansea. This aims to improve the health, social care and well-being of all the citizens of Swansea, by ensuring that everyone is supported to achieve the best level of health and well-being possible. It also aims to ensure that communities and individuals are well informed and, as far as possible, take responsibility for their own health and well-being. Taking a preventative approach, one of the aims of the Strategy is to encourage organisations to work together to promote healthy food, and link this to physical activity.
•At a national level, the need for such a project was linked to the Welsh Assembly Government and Food Standards Agency Nutrition Strategy “Food and Well Being, 2003”. This aims to improve the diet of all people in Wales, particularly prioritising low income and vulnerable sectors of the population.
If you want to know more, just visit FOOD VISION

Estudio sobre el comportamiento de los consumidores transfronterizos

2011-09-28T16:24:00.000+02:00

BIHARTEAN con los estudiantes del IUT de Baiona presenta la síntesis de una encuesta sobre el comportamiento de los consumidores de Gipuzkoa en Iparralde y de los de Iparralde en varias ciudades de Gipuzkoa.
Los estudiantes han realizado 300 encuestas en varios lugares de Iparralde y de Gipuzkoa:
- Biarritz, San-Juan-de-Luz y el centro comercial BAB2
- San-Sébastian centro, Irùn Mendibil y el centro comercial Garbera
En estos documentos, se pueden apreciar los resultados mas sobresalientes :
- en el primero se trata del comportamiento de los consumidores de Gipuzkoa en Iparralde
- el segundo resume el comportamiento de los consumidores de Iparralde en Gipuzkoa.

Fuente: Diputacion de Gipuzkoa

What are local food jobs?

2011-09-22T12:03:00.000+02:00

Sustainable agriculture certainly requires more people-power than conventional farming methods, but despite the long hours a farmhand might work, they are exempt from overtime pay and are likely not paid at all during the off-season. Beyond the farm, much of the Good Food movement is being carried out by non-profits, who (especially in this economic climate) are increasingly relying on poorly-paid or unpaid interns rather than full-time staff. But the real story behind local food system job creation may potentially lie in the promotion of jobs in the local distribution, processing, and wholesaling sectors. As the global agricultural system has taken over these sectors have declined in many parts of the country. While these jobs may be less sexy than the idea of a small-farmer, they are certainly still very necessary to truly scale up the impact of a regional food system.
Earlier this year, Green For All, a green collar job advocacy group released a report called "Green Jobs in a Sustainable Food System." The report outlines the workers employed in each sector of the food system and spotlights a few innovative approaches to employment in each section, including the fair-wage organic produce distributors Veritable Vegetable, and companies that include workforce training programs as a part of their business model, like Sweet Beginnings LLC. The value of this report is the reminder that a local food job is not inherently better than a regular old food system job. Good Food Jobs provide opportunities where they might not have existed otherwise, but also pay well enough to support a family, are conducted in safe working conditions, and provide ample space for personal autonomy and professional growth.
A pessimist might point out that if the economy keeps tanking we might end up creating a class of poorly paid farm and food-workers who provide edible treats for our increasingly wealthy elite overlords. Hyperbole aside, the food system world holds a lot of promise for job creation and community economic development, but it shouldn't be pursued blindly. Careful consideration needs to be paid to the quality of jobs we are advocating for, not just the quantity.

Source: Sustainablecitiescollective.com

Ombudsman: Commission clarifies permitted food contamination levels after Fukushima nuclear accident

2011-09-20T12:16:00.001+02:00

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has welcomed the European Commission's clarifications concerning the maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination for foodstuffs in the EU, following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission for these clarifications after several citizens complained about a lack of information concerning changes made to the maximum levels. In its opinion, the Commission explained that, immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the maximum radiation levels permitted in foodstuffs imported from Japan to the EU were higher than those permitted in Japan itself, but were lowered to the Japanese levels a few weeks later.

Complaints about lack of information concerning contamination levels

In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami damaged the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, which led to increased radioactive contamination in the surrounding area. In the weeks following the accident, the Ombudsman received several complaints from citizens suggesting that there was a lack of information about changes made to the maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination for foodstuffs, imported from Japan to the EU.

The Ombudsman opened an inquiry to obtain precise information on the maximum permitted levels before and after the Fukushima accident. In its opinion, the Commission explained that immediately after the accident, the EU activated the emergency mechanisms it had adopted in the wake of the Chernobyl accident. These included maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination for foodstuffs, such as baby food or dairy products, as well as for feed. These levels were higher than the Japanese levels. In April 2011, therefore, the Commission decreased the maximum permitted levels to bring them into line with the Japanese levels.

The Ombudsman commended the Commission's detailed explanations which he considers useful for European citizens. In the interest of providing citizens with a maximum of information on the matter, he decided to publish the Commission's opinion together with his decision. Both documents are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/cases/decision.faces/en/10827/html.bookmark

The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration in the EU institutions and bodies. Any EU citizen, resident, or an enterprise or association in a Member State, can lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman offers a fast, flexible, and free means of solving problems with the EU administration. For more information: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu

Urban food growing in city re-development

2011-09-15T12:23:00.000+02:00

Growing food inside cities as tool or contribution to the re-vitalisation of city quarters, neigborhoods or completely new city developments is currently in high fashion. The examples of successful integration of food growing or even bigger…urban agriculture in city development, however, are still scarce. Designers and artists are at the forefront of imagining what it can be like. For example, the PeerGroup currently runs a project with a neigbhorhood in the city of Groningen which took on the responsibility to care for pigs at a brownfield site in the city. But to actually combine creative imagination with the reality of re-development of a place, its people, culture and institutions is quite something else. In Cologne they have tried this recently with open space methodology and the ideas of Continous Productive Landscapes. A process of planning and discussions was organised to re-develop the working class neighborhood Ehrenfeld. Food and food growing were explicitely taken into account here.

Source: Sustainable Food blog

Stafford Borough Council’s experience

2011-09-13T13:43:00.000+02:00

At Stafford Borough Council’s first Environmental Forum in October 1997, delegates recommended that a Local Food Links Initiative in the Stafford Borough area be developed as part of the Local Agenda 21 work being undertaken. ‘Workshops’ produced a draft Action Plan from which a range of initiatives has subsequently been established.
This was further enhanced by the Council’s Environmental Working Party on the 6th May 1998 which agreed that a ‘Food Festival’ be arranged later that year.
There were opportunities to provide a range of projects under the Local Food Links Initiative, which aimed to promote and achieve a more sustainable food system. In addition, as part of the Council’s Economic Strategy, there was a commitment to promote trading between local businesses and the development of local supply networks.
Progress has been made in the following areas:
•Stafford Food Festival
•Farmers’ Markets in Stafford
•Existing shows promoting local food
•Demonstrations of local food
•Local events organised in conjunction with the Farmers’ Market linked to National Campaigns e.g. Apple Day, Fairtrade Fortnight, Great British Breakfast, health events etc.
•Taste of Staffordshire Awards
•Production of Farm – School Link Education Pack, supporting the National Curriculum
•Use of allotments via the Allotment Mentors Scheme
•Tourism Awards include Local Food Category
•Ensuring allotment usage is high
•Support of Staffordshire Orchards Initiative
•Staffordshire Local Food Directory of Farms, Shops, Deliveries etc. (updated 2005)
•Support of Healthy Living, Nutrition and Diet projects
To learn more, please visit FOOD VISION

Consumer driven food networks

2011-09-01T12:31:00.000+02:00

Consumer driven food networks are differently named and organised in every country. At the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) conference we saw many types and forms passing by in the working groups within the theme Food networks and supply chains. GAS groups in Italy, AMAPs in France, CSA’s and Community food co-ops in the UK, food coops in Germany, ‘proximity contract farming groups’ in Swiss, Grupo de consumo’s in Spain, Food teams in Flanders. Consumer driven food networks are scattered all over Europe it seems. It seems indeed but not evenly distributed. There are approximately 15 CSA’s only in the Netherlands and a very recent initiative to create food coops, called ”voko’s”. Uniquely here are the many adoption schemes; adopt a chicken, apply tree or cow. But initiatives are not booming like Italy, Spain or France. In his concluding presentation, Henk Renting offered a few factors for the non occurance of consumer driven food networks in countries such as Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Ireland… First of all, farm structure and the scale of farming matters. Where the farming structure is based on large scale farms integrated into the bulk supply chain it is difficult to conver to on-farm processing or direct marketing. The availability of local and/or organic products in the conventional supply chain. The existence of tradition in gardening and the way food is cultured into society.
The existence of a tradition of gardening is an interesting one. Will such a tradition inspire or hamper the establishement of consumer driven food networks? In comparative EU perspective the Netherlands has low levels of food provisioning by self-growing showed Petr Jehlicka and Joe Smith in another working group which would fit low levels of consumer driven food networks too. On the other hand, countries like Poland or Czech Republic have very high levels of food self-provisioning but low incidences of consumer driven food networks as presented by Lukas Zagata. Of course there a complex context around this but it is therefore time to start relating and researching both practices at the same time. Household food provisioning strategies are not yet on the radar of researchers working with alternative food networks. The fact that work on household food provisioning strategies was presented at other places simultaneously to the working group on consumer driven food networks is illustrative.

Source: Sustainable Food Blog

Atlantic Diet

2011-08-29T17:01:00.000+02:00

The Atlantic diet is based, primarily in cooking, grilled, stew and baking rather than frying. The characteristics of the Atlantic Diet are:
• Abundance of seasonal food, local, fresh and minimally processed.
• Abundance of food from plants: vegetables, fruits, cereals, breads and grains, potatoes, chestnuts, nuts and legumes.
• Plenty of fish consumption, shellfish, molluscs and crustaceans, frozen or canned.
• Consumption of dairy products, especially cheeses.
• Consumption of pork, beef and game.
• Consumption of wine, normally with meals and in moderation.
• Use olive oil for dressing and cooking.
• Preferred Culinary preparation: cooking, iron, oven and stew rather than fry.
One of the internationally institutions acknowledged on the subject is the Atlantic Diet Foundation, created in May 2007 by the University of Santiago de Compostela, which was declared “of health interest” by the Xunta de Galicia. In addition, since 2002, it must be mentioned the biannual food and nutrition congress, held in Baiona , that works on the Atlantic diet so as to convert the Atlantic Diet in a global benchmark in healthy eating. Its members say that the pattern of Atlantic Diet should be established taking into account food whose consumption covered traditionally the majority of input energy, nutrients and nutritional components of interest.

MORE INFO: SABORES GALEGOS

Experiences in the Mediterranean

2011-08-24T12:06:00.000+02:00

Dynamization of the local economies throught interregional coopertaion in the Mediterranean area. Two case studies: CHORD & INNOVATEMED

Regions from Italy, France, Greece and Spain have joined their efforts to implement two European initiatives co-financed by the European programme MED. The awareness of the strong potential of the Mediterranean basin to overcome traditional problems has been the reason.
Next Thursday 15^thSeptember will be take place The Final Conference about these two Mediterranean pilots at the Committee of Regions in Brussels. In this act will be analyzed the results of this projects and how the combination of innovation with traditional and high added value features throught clustering process unlock the development of the tourist sector of these Mediterranean basin regions.
The main objective of INNOVATE-MED, led by Naples Province, is improving the level of technical development of local and regional SMEs so as to enhance innovation and achieve a higher level of competitiveness in the global market.
On the other hand, CHORD is focused in to develop and experiment a common strategy to govern and implement innovative cultural services and promote initiatives based on the cultural attractiveness and heritage of the Mediterranean area.

MORE INFO

Forth Valley Food Links

2011-08-18T14:04:00.000+02:00

Forth Valley Food Links came into being in June 2002 with its mission to help develop the local food sector in Forth Valley and realise the concept of local food for local people.
Of particular concern is increasing the availability of locally grown produce, but until the longer-term (but on-going) efforts to encourage more local growing and supply 'bear fruit', the project must supplement the currently limited local production with produce from farm shops and wholesalers in the area. However the project continues to encourage farmers to look at ways of supplying more of their existing meat, fish, eggs, dairy and processed farm products to markets and outlets within Forth Valley rather than further afield.
In partnership with a variety of local food producers, suppliers, retailers, community groups, agencies and other organisations throughout Forth Valley the project aims to develop sustainable, community-oriented food growing, distribution and consumption.
The emphasis is on increasing the availability of locally-grown fruit, vegetables, meats and other fresh produce, by encouraging greater diversity of production and seeking ways of channelling more of it directly to local markets and outlets.
A Key part of Forth Valley Food Links work concerns the concept of sustainable food production, distribution and consumption. The remit includes a commitment to try to reduce 'food miles' through the projects’ activities.

For more information, please visit FOOD VISION

What is food mapping?

2011-08-09T13:40:00.000+02:00

“Food mapping is an opportunity for policy makers at local and national levels to work with others to develop an evidence base for assessing need, developing action plans and monitoring progress. In doing so, food mapping could help bring about positive change and effectively tackle the interlinking barriers to healthy food access. Food mapping can help inform an appropriate, joined-up and supportive policy framework for improving food access over time” Community Food and Health (Scotland).
Food mapping has been defined as the process of finding out where people can buy and eat food, and what the food needs of local people are. It is a type of needs assessment that aims to identify the geographical areas or communities that have the greatest needs in terms of access to food. This generally relates to access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables and other healthy foods, however, food mapping may also be used to identify the availability of other specific types of food e.g. local produce or ethnic foods. The area covered by a food mapping exercise could range from a small village or urban estate, to large city or a whole county. Food mapping is one of the first activities that should take place when you are thinking about setting up a food project, and even more so when planning to deliver a programme of different activities to increase access to healthy foods. This is so that you can identify what problems there are with accessing food in an area and then plan initiatives that aim to deal with these problems.

For more information and a toolkit, please visit FOOD VISION

A place for food in pro-development planning?

2011-08-04T12:25:00.000+02:00

By Jess Halliday

The launch of the UK’s new draft National Planning Policy has food and environmental groups fearing for the future of the country’s green spaces and town centre, as the coalition government’s idea of ‘sustainable development’ has a strong pro-development flavour.The draft was launched last week and is open for consultation until October.
It is often easiest to understand the implications of policy proposals by listening to groups wearing the goggles of their own interests, giving them an incredible ability to read between the lines:
A framework that slashes back over 1000 pages of policy to just 58 means slicing through bundles of red tape and turning new projects into reality more quickly and more cheaply. Hurrah, say the developers and building companies.
But a growing body of planners, civil society groups, architects and academics who are enlightened to the crucial role of planning in the food system are not celebrating. Such a light-weight framework is too way light-touch, they believe. It is business-, not community-oriented, and it will become much harder to protect prime growing and organic land from development.
Speaking (ahead of the framework’s official publication) at a one-day conference on Food and Spatial Planning organised by Sustain and the Royal Institute of Town Planning (RITP) on 15th July, Friends of the Earth food campaigner Helen Rimmer, called it “an assault on the planning process”.
Suzanne Natelson of Sustain’s Local Action on Food also expressed concern at the pro-development turn and said Sustain “will be working to influence it”. Sustain already published a report on Good Planning for Good Food, and its cooperation with the RITP has led to the latter developing guidelines on food for planners.
A major taking point of draft framework is how it defines ‘sustainable development’. According to Damian Carrington, writing in The Guardian, the definition provided is “heavily weighted on saying yes to all building work and rather light on avoiding harmful developments”.
Carrington picks out the phrase “a presumption in favour of sustainable development”, and reads it as “development plans – houses, supermarkets, roads, business premises and so on – will be given the green light, unless there’s good case made for not doing so”.
Yet even when civil society and community groups keep an obsessive eye on applications to ensure no such good cases pass unchallenged, developers in the guise of big business have huge clout to mount appeals that local authorities, with coffers accountable to the electorate, cannot counter.
Business first?
Call food problematic and many people will reply: “Where’s the problem? We just go to the supermarket”. Sure, the globalised, retail-led food chain has made cheap food available to the masses in a way that it has never been before. Far fewer people fret about going hungry today than a hundred years ago.
Yet it’s more complicated than just hushing the hunger pangs. Supermarkets are the crucial, final link in the globalised, industrial food supply chain that has lifted cities out of their food context, and placed them in a global one that feeds off oil reserves and exploitation of land and cheap labour.
Food may be cheap at the till, but the bleep of the barcode scanner does not show the externalised costs beyond the price tag. The costs of infrastructure to haul food long distances, for example; the cost of countering emissions from transport and processing; of caring for people suffering the health effects of eating cheap food laden with fat, sugar and salt; of disposing of uneaten food and packaging; and so on. These costs are not paid by supermarkets, but by shoppers – not in store, but in their annual tax bill.
That is why feeding the city should never be left to supermarkets as a single, simple solution. Even when they promise to build new brand new apartments or fund a new classroom, the social sweeteners designed to wear down opposition will never be enough to cover the whole, global bundle of externalities.
And however socially-aware they may wish to be seen, supermarkets must make money – and that means having a high profile in places where there’s a demographic fit with their core target shoppers. If no supermarket is able to see commercial value in poorer, run-down areas, a business-oriented planning strategy could end up widening inequalities in our urban areas.
As Carolyn Steel, architect and author of The Hungry City, explained at the Sustain conference, the city’s problems are not viewed through the lens of food, big cities become food desserts, where “the only people that get fed are the rich people”.
In her view, “supermarkets were invented to eradicate the human – to take the human out of the food chain”.
And if you’ve got no humans, how can you have a community?

Source: Sustainable Food Blog

Experiences from the US

2011-08-01T16:40:00.000+02:00

Farmers Market: an essential cog in local food network
After various negotiations, the market opened using a small, unmarked paved area adjacent to tennis courts at the city's East State Street park, near where the Athens Community Center now sits. The first market, held on a summer day in 1972, drew participation from three producers; on the following week, there were five. That summer, market participation peaked at a dozen vendors, mostly vegetable producers.
At the Athens Farmers Market this past Saturday, it proved difficult to count the number of producers and vendors participating in the parking lot of The Market on State mall, where the market relocated to in 1998. It still runs on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. year round, and the same times on Wednesdays except during the cold winter months. In recent years, during the winter, the Saturday market has run on Saturdays with some vendors moving inside the mall.

More info

The Local Farmers Market – A Lot More Than Just Great Food
In many places across the U.S.A. there is a growing fascination within the local communities that comes with urban gardening and the local food market. This may seem strange at first because the local market is a lot more expensive that going to your local “Super Mart” for your groceries but given a little bit closer of a look, you can see why this is becoming more and more popular.
First of all the quality of the food at the local market is flat out about ten folds better. Not only that, but there is a certain amount of pride invested in the food as it is personally grown or created, and taken care of.

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Green Paper on promoting the tastes of Europe

2011-07-25T15:16:00.000+02:00

The European Commission has today launched a debate on the future of promotion and information schemes for EU agricultural products. With the publication of a Green Paper on these issues, the Commission is looking at how to shape a more targeted and more ambitious strategy for the future, which will make clearer to consumers – both in the EU and beyond - the quality, traditions and added-value of European agricultural and food products.
Presenting the Green Paper in Brussels today, EU Commissioner for Agriculture & Rural Development Dacian Cioloș stated: "To protect the health of our consumers farmers in Europe face stricter rules on food safety, environmental conditions, and animal welfare than their competitors elsewhere in the world. The European agriculture industry needs an ambitious and effective promotion policy which highlights the added-value of the sector. It is also important for European jobs and growth that the EU agri-food sector can improve its position on traditional and emerging markets. We therefore need to consider how best to adapt our schemes to support this goal."
The paper raises a series of multi-faceted questions and invites all stakeholders - consumers, producers, distributors and official authorities - to give their comments and suggestions by September 30, 2011. On the basis of these responses, the Commission will draft a Communication for publication next year, which should then lead to legislative proposals.
The Green Paper is divided into four sections - the European added-value of this policy; objectives and measures to use on the internal EU market, including on local and regional markets; objectives and measures to use on world markets; and broader questions on the content and management of the policy. The various questions raised, 16 in all, contain different aspects and suggestions, aimed at stimulating responses. For example, they ask about the specific needs for information and promotion, both on the EU market and the external market, and what priorities should be set. There is also a question about multi-country programmes, and what can be done to encourage programmes with a greater European dimension.

Source: European Union

For more information, and to participate in the consultation, see the following site:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/index_en.htm

What is a breakfast club?

2011-07-21T13:37:00.000+02:00

School breakfast clubs serve food to children who arrive early at school, before formal lessons begin. The way in which the clubs operate depends on the individual circumstances of the school. However, many schools work closely with their school caterer or others to arrange an informal breakfast in a classroom serving fruit, toast, breakfast cereal and drinks.
Breakfast clubs have been operating in the UK for several years and the emphasis of different clubs varies considerably. For example, some breakfast clubs have objectives of integrating study or welfare support, some include play activities, while others focus on providing breakfast and a time for informal interaction between children and school staff, sometimes also involving parents.
A recent study of breakfast clubs summarises four main benefits :

•Improving health and nutrition
•Improving children’s education
•Meeting children’s social needs
•Improving and supporting parent and family life.
A breakfast club involves pupils, school staff, parents and the wider community. It aims to improve the health and well-being of children, as well as the staff and volunteers involved. A breakfast club also underpins the goals of a health promoting school.

For more info and a toolkit, please visit Food Vision

Manchester Food Futures

2011-07-19T14:00:00.000+02:00

Manchester Food Futures is a partnership that embraces a wide range of individuals and organisations with an interest in improving food in the city.
Its ambitious goal is to create a culture of good food in the city, based on the belief that good food is enjoyable, safe, nutritious, environmentally sustainable, and produced ethically and fairly; and that everyone in Manchester has a right to good food – no-one should have this right denied because of where they live, their income or their background.
The link between diet and health is undisputed. It has been estimated that dietary factors account for up to a third of deaths from coronary heart disease and a quarter of cancer deaths. This equates to approximately 900 deaths in Manchester every year that could be attributable to diet related cancer and coronary heart disease. Dietary changes could prevent up to a third of all cancers from occurring in the first place. Within the city, only 23% of adults are eating the recommended minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Obesity is an increasing problem and recent statistics show approximately 15% of school children in Manchester are obese.
The Food Futures strategy embraces the whole food agenda for the city – from improving health, tackling health inequalities and reducing the environmental impact of food, to building sustainable communities and strengthening the local economy.

To know more, please visit FOOD VISION

Food: from farm to fork statistics. 2011 Edition

2011-07-12T15:38:00.000+02:00

This pocketbook provides the reader with information on how the food chain evolves in Europe; it presents a range of statistical indicators for each step of this chain from the farm to the fork, passing from production on the farm, through food processing, to logistical activities such as importing, transporting and distributing, before reaching the end consumer either through purchases made in retail outlets or through the consumption of food and drink in cafés, bars and restaurants. Its aim is to give a summary of the data currently available within Eurostat s Food: from farm to fork database. The publication structure follows closely the approach adopted by the European Commission on food safety policy, and the indicators presented have been developed with this in mind. This publication may be viewed as a compendium of the data available within Eurostat on the food chain

DOWNLOAD FROMEUROSTAT

La recherche en action : Outils et ressources pour accompagner les circuits courts alimentaires

2011-07-08T11:49:00.000+02:00

Cette journée s’inscrit dans la phase de finalisation du projet LiProCo (Liens Producteurs-Consommateurs). Au-delà du transfert des savoirs, il s’agit d’une part d’inciter et de conforter l’appropriation des résultats de recherche par les acteurs ; et d’autre part de mettre en perspective cette dynamique de recherche-action engagée dans le cadre du projet LiProCo. La journée donnera lieu à des temps de restitution et surtout des moments de partage d’idées pour mettre en oeuvre des analyses sur les circuits courts et conduire des actions en faveur du développement de ces démarches. Cette journée à destination des acteurs de l’accompagnement, des collectivités, des élus, des consommateurs et producteurs, des étudiants et des formateurs sera ponctuée par trois temps forts :
O Trois ateliers de transfert d’outils (méthode et analyse)
O Un centre de ressources où seront mis à disposition rapports, guides et autre publications
O Deux forums d’expression pour un partage d’expériences entre acteurs sur la formation et la gouvernance alimentaire territoriale
LiProCo propose donc d’étudier les démarches de valorisation des produits alimentaires et activités connexes fondées sur les proximités producteurs-consommateurs. Il porte sur les quatre régions du Grand Ouest de la France ainsi que sur la région Rhône-Alpes. Il se structure autour de deux axes complémentaires que sont d’une part les démarches de valorisation centrées sur le produit et la proximité avec les consommateurs, d’autre part les démarches de valorisation centrées sur l’identité territoriale dans les interrelations avec le tourisme. Chacun de ces deux axes déroule une méthodologie commune, fondée sur la mise en oeuvre de questions de recherche transdisciplinaires intégrant systématiquement sociologie, économie, sciences de gestion, droit et géographie
INSCRIPTIONS: ICI

Plus d'informations:

B. Berger (FR Civam Bretagne) blaise.berger@civam-bretagne.org
o M. Poisson (LiProCo) m.poisson@groupe-esa.com
Projet Li Pro Co

Is the CAP a ground for European disunion? An assessment of the solidarity mechanisms created by the CAP and their relevance after 2013 by Nadège Chambon

2011-07-05T10:48:00.000+02:00

Published by Notre Europe June 24 2011

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been based on three types of solidarity since 1962: financial solidarity between Member States, Community preference and the solidarity of the Community towards farmers. These types of solidarity have been led astray or weakened over time while new measures favourable to European cohesion have been incorporated into the CAP in the 1970s and the 1980s: compensation of natural handicaps, food programme for the most deprived persons, rural development.
Whilst it was a pioneer in European solidarity, the CAP causes a division which peaks regularly during budgetary negotiations. The distribution of direct aid (a third of the EU's expenditure) crystallises criticisms: it is more advantageous to big farming countries to the detriment of rich countries with little agriculture; it benefits regions in different ways according to their territorial specialisation; it foresees a different system between the EU15 and EU12 until 2013. This situation gives the impression that European public money is badly spent.
This policy paper proposes the state of European solidarity mechanisms within the CAP, evaluates the relevance of it in the modern context and comes up with proposals to reform them after 2013.

Please visit Notre Europe to know more

Why sustainable food procurement?

2011-06-30T13:35:00.000+02:00

Why should local government get involved?
“Sustainability focuses on providing the best outcomes for both the human and natural environments now, and into the indefinite future.”
The UK Government buys £13 billion worth of goods and services each year, for the wider public sector this figure is £125 billion (1). This year, the UK's 468 local authorities will spend over £80 billion on day to day services - over a quarter of all public expenditure (2).

It is clear that with such significant buying power the public sector can make a great deal of difference if it changes its buying habits, creating a large market for more sustainable products and ways of procuring those products.

But why sustainable food?
As for all public sector activities, it is important that a policy can be shown to benefit the local community. How food is served, prepared, purchased and produced can have a significant impact on the health of individuals, communities and their environment.

For local councils sustainable food is about (2):

• Promoting good health
• Having access to healthy food.
• Supporting the local economy by buying food from as close by as possible
• Eating food in season
• Sustainable farming, involving high environmental standards and reduced energy consumption
• Promoting animal welfare, and valuing nature and biodiversity
• Fair prices, fair trade and ethical employment in the UK and overseas.

Food procurement not only effects the wider global environment but also directly affects the health of the individuals who eat it.

Sustainable food procurement allows both the healthy eating, economic and environmental agenda to be combined and acted upon . It gives local government an opportunity to take the lead in a field where we can truly make a difference to our local communities.

For more info and a toolkit, please visit FOOD VISION

Do Mobile Food Markets Increase Urban Food Access?

2011-06-28T12:37:00.000+02:00

Can expanding the value of SNAP assistance and implementing a mobile farmers market have an appreciable effect on urban inner city communities? Two metro areas are trying to find out. Camden, NJ and Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri have implemented programs to match the value of SNAP assistance as well as using mobile fresh food markets to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to inner city neighborhoods that otherwise are isolated in food deserts. Both locations have teamed up with foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies as well as a solid Food Access organization to create this opportunity. Is this a sustainabile model? Both cities depend on philanthropy and/or government funds for these pilot programs. A sustainable business model for community development may need to enter the equation to keep these programs going.

Camden, NJ

Camden is a highly impoverished and crime-ridden city located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, PA. Camden is a tough city, though it is filled with resilient people and a fast-changing demographic that is seeing neighborhoods shift from African-American to Hispanic. There is only one chain retail grocery store in Camden, located on the outer southern edge of the city. Inside the city there are corner stores, convenience marts, dollar stores, and CVS that provide food to the 75,000 people in the city, many of whom rely on public transit to get around. Across the river (5 minutes by subway) is downtown Philadelphia, home to the Reading Marketplace (a 7 day a week indoor vendor market with fresh foods), Whole Foods Store on South Street (a community partnership store), and the Italian Marketplace – with a 100+ years of fresh produce sales to the trade and to the public. Yet, Philadelphia may as well be on the moon as Camden residents do not travel there for food.

The latest response to bring fresh food to Camden is a mobile farmer market via the Greensgrow Farms. Greensgrow is a very successful social enterprise that has a nonprofit Philadelphia Project and a for-profit nursery and farm. Greensgrow serves the urban neighborhoods of Philadelphia with fresh food, SNAP benefits (matching funds to make food stamp dollars go farther), and sustainable growing practices for food and ornamentals that produce jobs. The Greensgrow Mobile Market started in summer 2011 with 4 stops in Camden, including the Rutgers University campus which sits in the center of Camden's downtown waterfront neighborhood. Greensgrow is offering up a selection of traditional summer fruits and vegetables as well as produce familiar to Hispanic families such as Jicama and peppers.

The Greensgrow effort complements the existing summer farmer market program that has 3 locations in Camden, each open one day a week that have been supported by a Greensgrow partner – AHEC The Area Health Education Center. The state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs provided a $100,000 grant to get the mobile market going.

Greensgrow is using this summer program as a pilot to determine if their brand of farming, growing, and business would be a good fit for Camden. Their farming strategy includes raised beds (perfect for the brownfield vacant lots in Camden) and encouraging local residents to embrace the farmed land and gardens as part of the community. Camden already has a wealth of experience with small neighborhood gardens and backyard gardens with hundreds created over the years thanks to a cultivation program organized by The Children's Garden. The Greensgrow approach to urban farming may well be a good fit for Camden.

Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri

There are two places named Kansas City – one in Kansas is the smaller city, and the other in Missouri is the larger metro anchor. Each has its share of poverty and low income people in their inner-city neighborhoods. Cultivate KC – a strong, nonprofit, food access organization has teamed up with the Menorah Foundation and other philanthropic partners to create a SNAP benefit program for farmers markets as well as a mobile program to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to these neighborhoods. Beans & Greens is a pilot program that provides a 2:1 match for SNAP funds spent at one of their 6 participating partner farmer markets or in the 3 neighborhoods served by the mobile market. The mobile program gets to each neighborhood once per week. It includes fruits and vegetables that are of particular interest to Hispanic families. Upwards of 15-20% of the population in the main urban counties in the Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line is receiving SNAP assistance from the Federal government.

Beans & Greens also seeks to expand its impact by supporting community gardens in more urban neighborhoods and assist those neighborhoods in growing their way to fresh food access. The urban neighborhoods in Kansas City are considered urban food deserts. While there are supermarkets and chain grocery stores available in the urban core, they are often clustered at the edges of the core and few if any are found in the center which would be more accessible to residents, especially those dependent on public transit. Corner stores, convenience marts, CVS and Walgreens, and ethnic markets are available, but often have limited selection (if any) of fresh produce and costs are sometimes high.

The Beans & Greens SNAP match is an innovative way of creating a financial incentive for families to eat healthy foods.

Source: Sustainable Cities Collective

¿ Cómo protege la UE a los consumidores europeos de los productos peligrosos ?

2011-06-23T17:29:00.000+02:00

La legislación europea garantiza una protección elevada y uniforme de la salud y la seguridad de los consumidores, para ello, los productos comercializados en el mercado interior se someten a exigencias generales de seguridad y, en caso de que se detecte una amenaza grave para los consumidores, se pone en marcha un sistema de alerta rápida: RAPEX (regulado por la Directiva 2001/95/CE).

Gracias a este sistema, los Estados miembros pueden informar inmediatamente a la Comisión, a la que deben remitir:

La información que permita identificar el producto.
Una descripción del riesgo que comporta el producto, así como cualquier documento que permita evaluarlo.
Las medidas adoptadas (preventivas o restrictivas).
La información sobre la distribución del producto.
Si el riesgo grave tiene un efecto transfronterizo.

Los datos de RAPEX contribuyen a:

Impedir y limitar el suministro de productos peligrosos a los consumidores.
Supervisar la eficacia y la coherencia de las actividades de vigilancia del mercado y las medidas destinadas a garantizar el cumplimiento de la normativa por parte de las autoridades de los Estados miembros.
Identificar las necesidades y proporcionar una base para actuar a nivel de la UE.
Garantizar la aplicación coherente de las exigencias comunitarias en materia de seguridad de los productos y, de este modo, el buen funcionamiento del mercado interior.

Los Estados miembros están obligados a utilizar este sistema cuando:

No puede descartarse que un producto peligroso se haya vendido a los consumidores en más de un Estado miembro de la UE.
No puede descartarse que un producto peligroso se ha vendido a los consumidores a través de internet.
El producto procede de un tercer país y es probable que se haya importado en la UE a través de varios canales de distribución.

Más información aqui
O en el portal de la Unión Europea.

European Parliament set to pass new consumer rights bill into law

2011-06-20T19:40:00.000+02:00

Consumers and businesses alike should reap the benefits of new consumer rights legislation in Europe, with years of negotiations set to conclude with the approval by the European Parliament on Thursday (23 June) of the EU's Consumer Rights Directive.

Last week (16 June), the Parliament's internal market and consumer protection (IMCO) committee backed at first reading a compromise agreement on the draft law reached on 6 June between representatives of all three EU institutions, paving the way for this week's first-reading vote in plenary.
'Win-win' situation for businesses, consumers
"Consumers and businesses will equally win. We are a big step closer to a truly common internal market in Europe," said German centre-right MEP Andreas Schwab (European People's Party), who is steering the directive through the Parliament, ahead of the vote.
Describing the directive as "a good compromise between necessary consumer rights and justified business interests," Schwab said it would serve as an example of where "more Europe" benefits shoppers and traders alike.
Brussels has been wrestling with the legislation since it was first tabled by the European Commission back in 2008 (see ‘Background').
"More safety for consumers shopping online and common rules for businesses – these are the headlines of the political agreement between the Parliament and the Council on the Consumer Rights Directive," said Schwab.
An EU-wide right for consumers to change their minds about purchase decisions within two weeks and clearer pricing rules for Internet sales were among changes made to the draft legislation by representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and member states in trialogue talks earlier this month.
That deal was backed unanimously by the IMCO committee with 28 votes in favour, none against and three abstentions.

Source: EurActiv

Plymouth’s pioneering local food project

2011-06-16T17:56:00.000+02:00

A city-wide food project in Plymouth is set to be a shining example for the rest of the UK on sustainable food sourcing in urban areas. The Plymouth Food Project aims to help make Plymouth Britain’s first ‘Sustainable Food City’.
As part of this initiative The Plymouth Food Procurement Project is supporting local producers to supply fresh fruit and vegetables into Plymouth’s schools and hospitals. The project is led by the Soil Association and The Barefoot Partnership Ltd and involves a city-wide partnership of public sector organisations including Plymouth City Council, University of Plymouth and NHS Plymouth.
Plymouth’s Food Charter, launched in February this year, aims to promote a thriving economy, health and well being, resilient and close knit communities, life long learning and skills, and a reduced eco footprint. Over 30 Plymouth-based organisations are now signed up to help deliver these aims, these include; Transition Plymouth, Riverford Organic Vegetables, National Marine Aquarium, Gribble’s Butchers, Tamar View Fruiterers and Stiltskin Theatre Company.
The food and drink sector employs nearly 250,000 people in the South West and makes up 8% of total economic output. Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector, largest retailing sector and is a key tourist attraction, accounting for one third of visitor spending.
Traci Lewis of the Soil Association, coordinator of Plymouth Food Project, said:
“This is a truly pioneering project which could provide the blue print for sustainable cities across the UK. It’s a winner for everyone involved. Not only do the residents of Plymouth get more fresh, tasty, good quality local food on the menu, the increase in the amount of locally produced food and drink sold into Plymouth’s public sector is great news for a thriving local economy and the local farmers, growers and food businesses who supply the produce.”

Visit www.foodplymouth.org to sign up to the Food Charter and find out more.
For full Plymouth Food Procurement project report and case studies visit www.southwestfoodanddrink.com

Liverpool eatright

2011-06-14T13:55:00.000+02:00

Food Champion Application: Improving community diet and nutritionLiverpool City Council and PCT have created the ‘Eatright Liverpool’ project to help takeaway businesses and restaurants offer healthier dishes by suggesting ways to reformulate popular meals and by identifying inherently more healthy options.
Currently working closely with Liverpool John Moores University (in the research phase) on recipe development and evaluation, this ongoing project will also provide training for catering staff on food hygiene and nutrition. The provision of nutritional software for businesses to assess the nutrition content of their dishes is also being explored. If the research proves successful, participating establishments promoting the nutritionally improved meals will be entitled to display the ‘Eatright Liverpool’ Award Certificate.
Liverpool City Council Trading Standards Department (TSD) analysed 300 takeaway meals for various nutritional parameters. Many meals had excessive amounts of salt, fat and calories. One meal was found to contain nearly 5 times the RDA of salt for an adult (6g).
A study –“Survey of Food Habits and Attitudes in Liverpool” commissioned by Liverpool Primary Care Trust (Jon Dawson Associates, 2007) found that, of the residents interviewed, 39% eat takeaway meals or fast food once or twice a week. Importantly, 45% of the younger age groups (20-24 year olds) eat from these outlets once or twice a week. At these levels, takeaway food has become established as a regular part of the diet for Liverpool residents and as such plays a major role in public health. A comprehensive Literature Review (as yet unpublished) of 164 research and academic papers undertaken by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) for TSD resulted in a number of recommendations for further research to include

•A better understanding of the consumer –nutrient environment

•An understanding of the geographical provision of takeaway food in the city

•A consideration of points of purchase intervention - nutritional labelling or signposting

•Nutritional education for businesses and consumers

•Recipe development and reformulation to produce healthier options of popular meals

•Incentives or awards to engage businesses

For more information, please visit FOOD VISION

Developing Sustainable Food Chains Project

2011-06-09T11:56:00.000+02:00

Around 1,000 food and drink supply chain businesses are getting involved with SWFD to make local produce more available in South West England’s major towns and cities.
The Project will create 20 new supply chains and develop seven toolkits to support future activity by SMEs by providing learning and information for local sustainable food and drink projects.
The Project is run for SW RDA, which is investing a total of £695,000 (£400,000 directly on delivery work and £295,000 on strategic added value, monitoring, evaluation & management and developing associated case studies, toolkits and replicable business models). The individual projects will collectively generate a further £1.7 million in direct, match and aligned funding.
The Project runs from August 2010 to December 2011 and is the culmination of the SW RDA’s framework programme of targeted intervention for the food and drink sector in South West England. Since 2008 the SW RDA has invested approximately £1.7 million in the food and drink sector.
To find out more and to get involved, click here

CAP budget status quo

2011-06-07T12:14:00.000+02:00

Voting on a draft own-initiative report by German MEP Albert Dess (European People's Party), the committee said that the EU's farm budget should be kept at least at its current level when the policy is reformed from 2014, "in order to meet the challenges of food security, environmental protection and climate change". The CAP budget is currently worth €55 billion a year and amounts to 40% of the bloc's total annual spending.

The report represents the lawmakers' first response to a European Commission paper on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2020, published in November 2010.

Fairer distribution
The committee further noted that CAP money should be distributed more fairly between member states and farmers. They demanded that in future "each EU country should receive a minimum percentage of EU average payments," with direct payments reserved for "active farmers", the definition of which is yet to be agreed upon.
The 'old' member states of the EU-15 currently receive more financial support per farmer than the newer member states, and some of the payments go to wealthy landowners who do not necessarily use their land for production.
MEPs also backed Commission proposals to introduce a ceiling on direct payments per farmer and suggested that the size, the employment record and the degree of environmental protection of each farm should be taken into account when deciding on payments.

SOURCE AND MORE INFO: EUROACTIV

Workshop “Evidence on European Land Use”

2011-06-01T09:59:00.000+02:00

Land Use and Land Use Change in Europe used to be mainly addressed from a thematic perspective. However, land-use characteristics are becoming increasingly multi-functional, crossing not only sectors but also administrative boundaries. This leads to an increasing demand for background information and institutional and administrative structures.
Following this demand the ESPON 2013 Programme started a project on European Land Use Patterns: EU-LUPA. In cooperation with this project a workshop was organized in order to shed some light on the various aspects related to Land Use and Land Cover in Europe and to bring together some important players in this field.
AimThe aim of the workshop was to share experiences, to transfer knowledge and to contribute to the debate on Land Use in Europe and ways in which its assessment can be approached. This facilitated a pan-European discussion and enabled the EU-LUPA project to present their perspective and progress, and discuss the validity of their results achieved so far.

Source: ESPON - Click here for more info

Fresh Ideas (East Brighton New Deal for Communities)

2011-05-26T13:51:00.000+02:00

The initiative has set up several clubs, activities, workshops, and a fruit and vegetable voucher scheme, in order to increase access to a healthy diet and contribute to reducing levels of obesity. eb4U is a Government funded regeneration organisation for East Brighton. In 2000 the area was awarded £47.2 million of New Deal for Communities funding, which is to be spent over the next 10 years to help regenerate the area. Decisions about how the money should be spent are made by various boards and panels, which are made up in the majority by East Brighton residents. The work is being lead by the health4all team, which is made up of a range of people from voluntary and statutory organisations in Brighton and Hove, and their role with local people and local organisations is to look at new ways of improving health in the area.
The Fresh Ideas worker has the responsibility of promoting healthy eating and developing access to fresh food products. The main aim is to increase access to a healthy diet and contribute to reducing levels of obesity (with access referring to affordability, awareness, acceptability and availability). The work carried out is based on the issues and concerns of local residents and these are conveyed via a Food Interest Group (FIG), which has been set up. The Group consists of local residents, health visitors, and statutory representatives and during their meetings various requests and ideas are suggested upon which work is based.
For example one request was for a local affordable slimming club, and another was more accessible, affordable fruit and vegetables. These projects and others are listed in more detail below. At the end of each year the success of the projects is evaluated, also taking into account the results of MORI polls, which measures the consumption of fruit and vegetables in the area.

For more info on this project, just visit FOOD VISION

Food Vision toolkits

2011-05-24T12:46:00.000+02:00

Food Vision toolkits provide more detailed information and guidance about specific types of initiative, such as farmers’ markets or local food strategies, or settings for food work such as schools or workplaces. They draw together good practice from a number of local and regional initiatives in delivering a particular project. In general the toolkits aim to provide an overview of what is involved in setting up a food project, covering areas such as benefits, policy, legislation, as well as links to other useful websites.

Just visit them here!

A Web App to Empower Urban Food Communities

2011-05-19T11:42:00.000+02:00

CITIES is a European urban research institute who, in late 2010, began work on a pilot project which aimed to ‘empower and support the creation of a local food system’. With the pilot deemed a success, CITIES have unveiled farmingthecity.net – an online tool which showcases urban agriculture projects in Amsterdam.Projects are displayed on an interactive map alongside case study information. This includes type of project (commercial, community, innovation), status (start-up, on-going, completed) and position within the local food system (sourcing, preparation, distribution, consumption). Farming the City aims to encourage the development of local food systems:
Local food systems build place-based, self-reliant food economies in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption come together to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place. They provide employment, generate income and support social equity.The broader issue of urban land use is also integral to the project, with detailed information on trends and local issues available on the site. By addressing common challenges and providing a venue for urban agriculture information, Farming the City aims to encourage knowledge sharing among urban farmers.
Food prices in Europe hit a record high in 2011, yet urban agriculture opportunities are still not being maximised. By reimagining green space and neglected areas, we can create more sustainable cities. Farming the City is currently Amsterdam-specific, but the concept clearly has potential for global application. If you’re based in Amsterdam and have an urban agriculture project to contribute, click the image below to join in. The wealth of information and inspiring case studies are enough of a reason for non-Amsterdam residents to visit too, so check it out – it might just encourage your own urban agriculture revolution.

Source: Sustainablecitiescollective.com

The Plymouth Food Charter

2011-05-17T12:40:00.000+02:00

Good food is vital to the quality of peoples’ lives in Plymouth. By promoting healthy and sustainable food as part of a thriving food economy, the Plymouth Food Charter aims to improve health and wellbeing for all and to create a more connected, resilient and sustainable City. Signatories to the Charter – which include public, private and community partners – are committed to promoting the pleasure and importance of good food to help create a vibrant and diverse food culture. We will work together to increase both the demand and supply of delicious and affordable, fresh, seasonal, local and organic food throughout Plymouth in order to achieve:

A thriving local economy

Encouraging a greater number and diversity of food enterprises and jobs, making the most of Plymouth’s rich land and sea resources.
Sourcing healthy and sustainable food from local producers and suppliers, keeping value within the local economy.

Health and wellbeing for all

Raising awareness of the importance of a nutritious, balanced diet and improving the availability of affordable healthy food.
Providing a wide range of community growing and other food-related activities to improve physical and mental health for people of all ages

Resilient, close-knit communities

Promoting and celebrating the food and culinary traditions of all cultures through a variety of public events, such as Plymouth’s Flavourfest.
Supporting local and city-wide food initiatives that bring communities together and help them to improve their neighbourhoods.

Life long learning & skills

Giving everyone the opportunity to learn about good food – how to grow it, how to cook it, how to eat it and how to enjoy it.
Inspiring and enabling organisations such as schools, hospitals, businesses and other caterers to transform their food culture.

A reduced eco-footprint

Supporting food production that protects wildlife and nature; reducing food miles, packaging and waste; and increasing composting and recycling.
Maximising the use of greenspace and brownfield sites in and around Plymouth to produce food for local people.

More info HERE

South West Food & Drink (SWFD)

2011-05-12T11:52:00.000+02:00

The South West of England is at the forefront of the UK’s food and drink industry. Rooted in a rich and varied landscape, and drawing on its tradition and heritage, the sector is now one of the most advanced in the country, if not Europe.
South West Food & Drink (SWFD) works with the sector to help it do better business and in turn generate more jobs and build a stronger local economy.
We do this through:
•...developing new approaches to solving supply chain issues;
•...improving workforce skills, from leadership and management to the shop and factory floor; and
•...through helping businesses to promote their products to new markets.
We are here to add value to the sector, foster innovation and investment, help to create new jobs (and safeguard existing jobs), and help the sector achieve sustainability – all key policy threads of the coalition Government.
We are ideally placed to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and provide specialist expertise to the food and drink sector; together we can support local economic development, generate new investment and improve employment.
As a direct result an extra 750 jobs have been created; and that figure could be as high as 1,900, according to research and evaluation undertaken by Ecotec.

A definition

2011-05-10T17:43:00.000+02:00

In contrast, Local Food Systems (LFS) are networks of small local businesses, charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups driven by ‘bottom-up’ innovation at a local level. They include a diverse range of initiatives (such as box schemes, farmers’ markets, community growing and Community Supported Agriculture) intended to develop closer links between consumers and producers. Local Food Systems have their roots in society and their strength lies in the people who create and manage them; the goodwill of consumers and producers; and in the strong motivation that lies behind them. They can help reduce the use of fossil fuels and other resources (through less food miles and lower use of agricultural inputs) and improve biodiversity (through a variety of organic, agro-ecological, low-input or permaculture farming methods); increase food security; give low income groups access to good food and healthy diets; strengthen local communities and economies; and sustain small enterprises and improve the viability of small farms. Although it is difficult to quantify benefits, greater community engagement and better diets can also have positive impacts on mental health; reduce loneliness in the elderly; speed up recovery times in hospitals; and help to reduce offending and anti-social behaviour.

Written evidence submited by GeneWatch UKsubmitted to the UK Parliament

Balanced Nutrition at Work: The European Food Project

2011-05-05T16:30:00.000+02:00

Why is it essential to encourage healthy eating habits towards employees during their lunch break? How helping employees in their everyday choices? Which messages and which tools are they expecting? What are the restaurants doing to answer this growing demand about healthy eating?

Experts in the field of nutrition and public health will gather on May 31st, 2011 at the FOOD Conference in order to bring answers to these questions. They will present their initiatives and views on this innovative project which enabled to develop and test concrete solutions for the promotion of balanced nutrition in six European Member states. More than a best practices exchange, a broad dissemination will be launched in other countries with a programme adaptable to local specificities.

The 25 public and private partners as well as high-level European political participants will enrich the discussions with testimonies about their own experience and will to act.

May 31st, 2011 at the European Parliament, the FOOD Conference proposes to exceed the theory and seize the keys to act.

The FOOD project

In the framework of the Second Programme of Community action in the field of Health, a public-private consortium, gathering representatives of Public Health Authorities, nutritionists and Universities, developed the FOOD project (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand), co-funded by DG SANCO, and headed by Edenred. It concentrates on health promotion in the workplace.

A unique and innovative communication canal between employees and restaurants staff has been built thanks to the Meal Voucher network, in order to promote balanced nutrition. It is known that employees set aside good nutrition precepts when they are working. A lack of time, information and knowledge result in bad habits and lead to negative effects on health the overall wellbeing.

2 objectives:

Sensitise employees in order to help them to improve their nutrition habits

Improve the nutritional quality of the food offer by working with restaurants

More info

A taste of Europe

2011-05-03T17:37:00.000+02:00

What was to become the Slow Food movement began as a very local and particular fight in 1986, in Rome, against the opening of a MacDonalds near the Spanish Steps, a very scenic and historical place in the "eternal city". Carlo Petrini, founder of the movement, organised a demonstration, crowds thronged the piazzas - and home-baked pizzas, it is said, were given out to the protesters. From this first fight, the organisation kept its very local-scale, nearly home-made mode of action, and a fierce antagonism to globalised and standardised fast food, that was to generate the name "Slow Food".
The movement was initially a mix of politically leftwing activists and gourmet amateurs. In the time that led to its real founding as a general movement, in 1989, in Paris, it set aside the "fighting against" spirit, and adopted a "building for" philosophy, and was joined by environmentalists concerned about the consequences of the modern food industry. But not only the food was slow, the movement also took its time to mature: only in 1998 was an office opened in Germany, and in 2003 in France. The last 5 to 10 years saw the Slow Food sign become slowly familiar to the backpacking youth exploring European cities. I personally discovered Slow Food a few years ago in Florence, on the sign of a gelateria... and guess what opened a few weeks later, 100 metres from my own room in Paris? A slow foodglacier, you got it!

READ MORE

Fair Food Network

2011-04-28T17:34:00.000+02:00

Fair Food Network is a US national nonprofit dedicated to building a more just and sustainable food system. We work at the intersection of food systems, sustainability, and social equity to provide access to healthy, fresh and sustainably grown food, especially in underserved communities. We implement model programs and bring the right people together to generate ideas, share resources, and promote policy changes to repair our food system. In the United States, we are faced with a broken food system that limits access to healthy, fresh, and sustainably grown food to many low-income families and under-served communities. We also see the brokenness of this system through the prevalence of diet-related illnesses and the steady increase of obesity in these communities, and the number of people who now rely on government food assistance.
Our land has also suffered from the broken system, as agricultural policies and practices have left areas of our planet literally lifeless. Unsustainable practices are the norm in our current food and agriculture system, in which the average plate of food eaten in our homes or restaurants travels 1,500 miles from where the food is grown.
But in the midst of the brokenness there is both opportunity and hope; hope in the fact that there is a movement underway to take back and re-design our food systems on a local level that can influence and advance food system approaches both nationally and globally.

Visit: Fair Food Network

Buying social: Guidelines for Public Procurement

2011-04-26T11:21:00.000+02:00

A guide on taking account of social considerations in public procurement.
The new guide is a very concrete tool to help public authorities to buy goods and services in a socially responsible way in line with EU rules. It also highlights the contribution public procurement can make to stimulate greater social inclusion.
Public procurement represents 17% of the GDP of EU Member States. While preserving competition and transparency, it may be used in a way to steer the market in a more socially responsible direction and thus contribute more generally to sustainable development.
The guide will allow public purchasers to integrate with greater confidence social considerations in public procurement, while ensuring equal access to all European interested bidders and guaranteeing an efficient use of public money. The exercise is in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy and the EU goals for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The document is illustrated by a number of practical examples covering a broad range of social issues, such as promoting equal chances and employment opportunities, improving labour conditions, social inclusion of vulnerable persons, such as disabled persons, compliance in substance with the provisions of the fundamental ILO conventions, etc.
The Commission also published today another guide to help helps public authorities, especially at local level, to provide high quality and efficient services in line with the EU rules.

Source and More Info: European Commission

The atlantic network for a new local economy

2011-04-22T12:10:00.000+02:00

Covering twenty territories, ANATOLE is creating chances for local economy, finding in the link between local policies and local abilities an answer to the new needs of local inhabitants.

Even if local representatives are keen to organise the local economy, they face a wide complexity (regulations, variations of products, seasonality, fashion…). Thus they need skills and prepared staff.

In their meetings and during this yer and a half, Anatole partnership has exchanged on their local experiences and good practices while implementing local actions involving stakeholders and decision-makers so as to promote local economy. Main topic: food needs, but others are at stake like energy, supplies or tourism.

A growing interest accompanies ANATOLE, as all stakeholders (councillors, producers, consummers, markets, shops, food factories) really want to get involved. Thus, Anatole, with the Conference of Atlantic Arc Cities support, is becoming a strategic contribution for the future of the Atlantic Area.