Transition towns start with food

A few weeks ago I watched the film A Farm for the Future where Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future. One of the answers she finds is based on permaculture, a permanent and high-yielding agricultural system that minimises land use which was [...]

Can farmers inform policy about multifunctional agriculture?

By Leonardo van den Berg (MSc. student International Development Studies, Wageningen University) & Klarien Klingen (graduate International Land and Water Management, Wageningen University). On the 8th of October we participated in the mini-conference about multifunctional agriculture organized by the Rural Sociology Group. We would like to share some thoughts about the conference and relate them [...]

Resistance and Autonomy in Western Mexico – local actors creating a place of their own

 By Peter R.W. Gerritsen, Department of Ecology and Natural Resources, South Coast University Centre, University of Guadalajara, Av. Independencia Nacional 151, 48900, Autlán, Jal., Mexico. Email: petergerritsen@cucsur.udg.mx  The local effects of global processes in the Mexican countryside are well documented; describing problems related to the quality of rural producers’ life, identity and traditional practices, as [...]

New ideas, but where are the new policies?

On behalf of Merel Heijke: second year student Master of International Development Studies at Wageningen University. Thursday the eight of October I took part in the mini-conference: ‘Dynamics and Robustness of Multifunctional Agriculture: Lessons from abroad’ organized by Wageningen University’s Rural Sociology Group. I participated in the conference because since I came to Wageningen to study [...]

Terugblik kenniskringbijeenkomst: buitenlandse ervaringen multifunctionele landbouw

Op donderdag 8 oktober jl. organiseerde de vakgroep Rurale Sociologie van Wageningen Universiteit een discussiebijeenkomst in het kader van het onderzoeksproject: “Dynamiek en Robuustheid van Multifunctionele Landbouw”. De bijeenkomst kende het uitwisselen van buitenlandse ontwikkelingen en ervaringen met multifunctionele landbouw als doel en was met 70 deelnemers goed bezocht. Een korte terugblik op de bijeenkomst en de presentaties van de [...]

Sustainable Food Planning Conference

In her recent blog, Petra already reflected on the Sustainable Food Planning Conference that was held in Almere (at De Kemphaan) on 9 and 10 October. My personal impression is that it was a very successful kick-off of the AESOP thematic group on sustainable food planning. In addition to lots of interesting presentations, there were interesting discussions and [...]

Delivering Animal Welfare and Quality: Transparency in the Food Production Chain

Last week (8 and 9 October) in Uppsala (Sweden) a conference about animal welfare was held. This event was the final stakeholder meeting of the EU-funded research project entitled ‘Welfare Quality’. Taking part in the project are researchers from many EU countries as well as Australia, Chile, Uruguay and other countries. Since 2004, they have been working on [...]

Planning sustainable food systems

Planners are discovering food. Until recently, planners left food to the market. But times are changing and so are attitudes towards planning for food. This was the general notion during the first European Sustainable Food Planning conference, held last friday and saturday in Almere (see blog for program). There is less timidity to interfere with [...]

Afbouwers, liefhebbers en ondernemers – deel II

Het afstudeeronderzoek van Bart Bremmer naar kleine grondgebruikers in de gemeente Borne is hier al eerder belicht.  Hier vat Bart kort de belangrijkste uitkomsten van zijn onderzoek samen (klik hier voor de complete thesis).   Door Bart Bremmer In Nederland zijn er ongeveer 20.000 agrarische bedrijven met een omvang tussen de 3 en 16 nge (Nederlandse grootte-eenheid): hele kleine bedrijven die vaak het predicaat ‘hobbyboeren’ krijgen en [...]

Pumpkin harvest and local food

Last Saturday 30 adults and children came to help with the harvest of pumpkins of farmer André in the village of Hemmen, just four kilometers from Wageningen. We harvested around 9 thousand kilo of the approximately 15 thousand kilo on the one hectare field. The invitation to help was the first event organized by a [...]