Sustainable food
“We are what we eat”…Today it we can surely say that we are eating fuel.
The detrimental effect of the free market ideology on our food can no longer be ignored.
The conventional agricultural model, which dominates the West since the 1960s generated an excess in food abundance
Conventional agriculture destroys our environment through the intensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and by pursuing a form of industrial production that ignores the balance of natural ecosystems. The agricultural landscape is reduced to uniform monocultures (the extensive cultivation of one single sort of plant/crop per farm or even region).
The widespread uses of non- renewable energies (fossil fuels, gas, and coal) in agriculture lead to the mechanization of agriculture, primarily in the West.
Today, we already begin to feel the effects of “peak oil” that will deeply disrupt our present consumption patterns. A very interesting film on this subject:
In order to secure a sustainable food economy, it is essential to opt for a rational model. “Eating local” is a decision of good sense and constitutes a real sustainable alternative and solution.
This is why our organisation is active in the promotion of community supported agriculture and direct sales schemes. We think that it is essential to re-localise the economy, encourage the local food production and to recognise the value of the farmer’s line of work, the peasant (in the noble sense). This can be achieved through systems of solidarity between the “consumers” and “producers”, through the establishment of new partnerships that respect the value of humans and nature, outside of the dominant market logic. On our website you can find many links to numerous initiatives that have been developed throughout the world. The mission of le début des haricots NGO is to promote this movement locally (in Brussels and Wallonia) and throughout the world.
Nature & Progrès Belgium calls for balanced good management of the (agricultural-) ecosystems and promotes the respect for natural cycles (link agriculture and breeding), reuse of organic matter, maintaining soil humus) and supports a rich and diversified fauna and flora. http://www.natpro.be
The detrimental effect of the free market ideology on our food can no longer be ignored.
The conventional agricultural model, which dominates the West since the 1960s generated an excess in food abundance
Conventional agriculture destroys our environment through the intensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and by pursuing a form of industrial production that ignores the balance of natural ecosystems. The agricultural landscape is reduced to uniform monocultures (the extensive cultivation of one single sort of plant/crop per farm or even region).
The widespread uses of non- renewable energies (fossil fuels, gas, and coal) in agriculture lead to the mechanization of agriculture, primarily in the West.
Today, we already begin to feel the effects of “peak oil” that will deeply disrupt our present consumption patterns. A very interesting film on this subject:
"Oil Smoke & Mirrors" offers a sobering critique of our perceived recent history, of our present global circumstances, and of our shared future in light of imminent, under-reported and mis-represented energy production constraints.
Through a series of impressively candid, informed and articulate interviews, this film argues that the bizarre events surrounding the 9/11 attacks, and the equally bizarre prosecution of the so-called "war on terror", can be more credibly understood in the wider context of an imminent and critical divergence between available global oil apply and global oil demand.”
http://www.oilsmokeandmirrors.com/
Moreover, the food economy, subjected to the rule of the free market economy, is based on long- distance road, maritime and air transport. Food transports are organised on a global scale and are therefore based on fossil fuels. For further, more detailed information on this subject, please see the study by the Observatoire Bruxellois de la Consommation Durable [http://www.observ.be/v2/fr/denkers.php?ID=196&LEVEL=2;dedo=DEIn order to secure a sustainable food economy, it is essential to opt for a rational model. “Eating local” is a decision of good sense and constitutes a real sustainable alternative and solution.
This is why our organisation is active in the promotion of community supported agriculture and direct sales schemes. We think that it is essential to re-localise the economy, encourage the local food production and to recognise the value of the farmer’s line of work, the peasant (in the noble sense). This can be achieved through systems of solidarity between the “consumers” and “producers”, through the establishment of new partnerships that respect the value of humans and nature, outside of the dominant market logic. On our website you can find many links to numerous initiatives that have been developed throughout the world. The mission of le début des haricots NGO is to promote this movement locally (in Brussels and Wallonia) and throughout the world.
In the same line of thought, Nature et Progrès Belgium is promoting a form of agriculture that is truly healthy, respectful for the environment and socially just. Today they count more than 5.500 members, consumers, farmers and salespeople of the organic and small scale sustainable agricultural movement.
Nature & Progrès Belgium calls for balanced good management of the (agricultural-) ecosystems and promotes the respect for natural cycles (link agriculture and breeding), reuse of organic matter, maintaining soil humus) and supports a rich and diversified fauna and flora. http://www.natpro.be
