Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
Hey there… Long time no see! I just emerged from an intense phase of seminars – trainings – packing – moving – and vacationing (it’s a hard life) and am writing to you, not from Brussels or Germany, but from San Jose, Costa Rica! I will be staying here for at least 4 months to … Continue reading Hello From A New Continent!
Whenever food policy analysts talk about meat consumption in the future and the environmental impact associated with it, the most fearful projections circle around China. While meat consumption is plateauing in many of the developed countries (though at unsustainably high levels), per capita consumption in emerging economies is rising, as it is associated with higher … Continue reading "In China, Every Year is the Year of the Pig"…
I hope you had a jolly Christmas season surrounded by your loved ones! As we segue into normal life again, I am lucky enough to have a continued break until the beginning of January, which makes for a lot of time to read, reflect, and practice Spanish 😉 I have a trifecta of interesting news tidbits … Continue reading From Soils to Plates
Hey hey hey! Long time no news, eh? Sorry for that. The last week was pretty intense, but now it’s Friday and I was at a lunch conference again, which means I have interesting thoughts to report 🙂 The talk was titled “Best practices in engaging with the agricultural private sector in ACP [African, Caribbean, and … Continue reading Guess What – The Private Sector Can Help Itself!
Another day, another lunch seminar. This time, though, with scientists! They presented a project called “RurbanAfrica“. The research questions included the following: Will agricultural modernization stimulate rural income generation? Is rural-urban migration a major development challenge? What is the relationship between rural-city connections and poverty dynamics? They have only just started their project, and thus presented … Continue reading Rurban Africa: Challenges in Modernization
Philanthropy is an interesting concept. Here is one person, or a board of people, with more money to distribute than small nations have budgets. If they choose to concentrate on a topic, their impact can be immense and drive research, NGO actions and government policies in the direction of their liking because of the financial … Continue reading Who Gets The Money? On Helping Africa To Feed Itself – in the US.
As I was standing up from my desk yesterday at noon, took a stretch and packed my sandwich in my bag, I was so excited to get outside and see something different. I’d seen that Via Campesina Europe was organizing a “Farm in the City” event on Place Luxembourg, one of the main squares at … Continue reading A Farm In The City: Via Campesina Event Review
It happens that once you specialize in a topic, you get a little jaded about ‘broad overview’ talks. Whenever I go to one of those now, I notice myself mentally playing the ‘food security bingo’ game – what doesn’t the presenter mention? What is emphasized? The point scale in my head looks somewhat like this: Mentions … Continue reading The @WorldResources Institute On How To "Create A Sustainable Food Future"
We often hear about the fact that ‘just producing food is not enough’ if we want to confront the problems of global malnutrition – it also depends on what kind of food we grow and eat. That is the mission of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. They’re a panel of experts … Continue reading How Does Nutrition Fit Into Food Policy? @Glo_PAN
… as you may have guessed if you clicked through here, I´m celebrating Food Day on Friday, Oct 24, with you despite sitting in Brussels at the moment. Why? Well, first of all, because I love any reason to celebrate with Belgian chocolate (check out this post to learn more about how it’s made and … Continue reading Happy US Food Day (Week) from the Land of Chocolate and Fries!