The summer has been filled with waves of direct action, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Under the umbrella campaign of Fossil Free Agriculture (FFA) we have targeted pressing, local and international struggles.
Starting on the 1st of September we joined We Squash and Behoud Lutkemeer to fight back against the Lutkemeerpolder eviction by Schiphol Area Development Company. This struggle continues and we recently conducted an action at the Lutkemeer alongside We Squash, Behoud Lutkemeer, Extinction Rebellion and many others.
Between September 19th-25th, the Free the Soil Climate and Agricultural Justice Camp and Mass Action finally took place! ASEED, along with many other collectives, spent the last year working hard on everything. From finding a camp ground and arranging tents and food, to collecting a wide variety of speakers to educate ourselves and others about agricultural justice. Before the camp the research working group of Free the Soil also created two short and informative texts to help better understand what this campaign is about: the YARA company files and the Free the Soil Lexicon. As always these actions are beautiful learning experiences, and offer us the opportunity to critically reflect on what went well, what not, and how we can improve, and grow this form of resistance.
Following this, there was a plethora of actions organised by various groups within the climate justice movement, including the Climate Strikes, Rebellion week and Riseup4Rojava to name a few. Some ASEED folks joined these and observed and reflected upon the messaging of the different groups. There will be more insights at our Voku discussion this week at De Fabriek, so please come along and share.
Finally, autumn has been a time for continuing action and welcoming new people, such as our five new comrades in the office. As always, there are many new connections and part time volunteers for various events which we are grateful for.
“We call to continue and increase the resistance in all the different struggles, because at the the end all the struggles are one.” – Make Rojava Green Again
— Upcoming events —
October 17: Voku & discussion – Benefit for WeSquash
Volkskammer, De Fabriek, Amsterdam / 18:00
Doors open at 18:00 and delicious veggie dinner cooked by ASEED served at 19:00.
After the dinner at 20:00, everyone is invited for an open discussion about “Climate justice rhetorics and a diversity of tactics”. This is inspired by seeing the diversification of rhetorics & tactics used in recent actions. So please come, share and listen. Want to help cook? Email us at info@aseed.net
October 21: From Seed to Seed documentary screening
Plantage Doklaan Cafe, Amsterdam / 18:30-21:30
During the Wasteless Culture Mondays of Taste Before You Waste, the documentary “From Seed to Seed“, an award winning documentary about the timely topics of Climate Change and sustainable agriculture with some hopeful solutions for a more viable future. ASEED will be facilitating the discussion afterwards.
October 30: Reading group – diversity of tactics
Plantage Doklaan, Amsterdam / 19:00
The Fossil Free Agriculture reading group is starting up again. For the next two months the theme will be Direct Action. We would like to foster discussions about theories and practices related to direct action. Reading groups will take place every last Wednesday of the month. For readings and topics check the website or facebook. Got input? Email us at info@aseed.net
November 2: Anarchist bookfair
Plantage Doklaan, Amsterdam / 10:00-23:00
Again this year ASEED will be participating at the Anarchist Book Fair. So, come by to collect some of our material, have a chat or maybe eat a delicious waffle with us. We would also be delighted to have some more volunteers, if that sounds like something for you please reach out to us at sarah@aseed.net.
— News and reports —
Learning and reflections from non-violent communication training
On the 2nd of October some people of ASEED joined the Cityplot collective for an NVC training at Stadsborderij Osdorp. Read the full article here.
A chance encounter with a dairy farmer’s husband on a train – are we not all fighting the same fight?
With the climate strikes and agractie coming two days after each other. It is important to reflect on both movements. Read the full article here.
Free the soil – what happened?
Free the soil was an action camp in Brunsbüttel, Germany. 
The camp was aimed at learning how the fertiliser industry, primarily the company Yara, contribute to food injustice and the climate crisis. During the camp we wrote daily reports. Each report has a common theme and details the experiences and thoughts which arose through each day. So, grab a cup of tea, put on your wellies and imagine sitting in a field in Brunsbüttel from the comfort of your own home. Read here.
— The Fossil Free Agriculture campaign —
With this campaign we aim to expose the corporations profiting from the industrial agriculture system. These corporations contribute a substantial amount to the climate crisis and take a disproportionate amount of the wealth. Read more here.
In the last open campaign meeting we decided to focus this campaign more and have it flow more logically. This has lead us to decide on a structure of bi-monthly themes. These themes will form the basis for our bi-monthly actions, discussion nights, reading groups and articles on the website.
October & November will be months of Direct Action. This was decided in the last open campaign meeting. If you have more suggestions please come by our monthly open campaign meeting at Plantage Doklaan.
— Donations —
It is almost the end of the year and some people are already thinking about Sinterklaas or Chritsmas celebrations. We have an idea to help everyone escape the race for useless and polluting presents: tell your friends and family they can donate to ASEED instead of buying material goods. How brillant is that? Here is the link to share for donations, thank you!
