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SEEDmail #47: An Active Autumn!

Between our monthly Fossil Free Agriculture open campaign meetings held in Amsterdam, the coordination of buses from the Netherlands to the mass civil disobedience action Ende Gelände in Rhineland, various events and meetings, we have been reasonably busy these last weeks at ASEED. Fortunately, we like to make it easy for you, so we have compiled all the useful information related to our recent work in this 47th SEEDmail!

Now that the days are finally getting colder and it feels more like autumn, grab a cup of tea, find a comfy seat and enjoy reading this newsletter. After that, you can always decide if you want to join the Fossil Free Agriculture campaign or support us financially.

— Announcements —Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam 2018

November 10: Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam

This year for the 2nd time, there will be an Anarchist Book Fair in Amsterdam. From 10am to 10pm at the Dokhuis (Plantage Doklaan 8 in Amsterdam), you will find books, zines, clothes, buttons, publishers, distros, workshops, films, talks, vegan food and live music. Come and chat with us at the ASEED info-stall and get one of our delicious vegan waffles! Check out the programme and find more information here.

November 13: Open meeting Fossil Free Agriculture Campaign

Next week on Tuesday 13 November, the fifth open meeting to build a Fossil Free Agriculture (FFA) campaign will take place at Dokhuis, from 7.30-9.00 pm. People who come for the first time or want a short reminder or update on the campaign are invited to join a brief introduction from 7. There will also be an option for all to share a vegan dinner from 6.30 pm (on donation). Please send an email to info@aseed.net if you plan to come. This will help us to plan and prepare the meeting and food. Read more.

February and March 2019: Reclaim the Seeds

Since the first edition in 2012, the Reclaim the Seeds! weekend has been returning every year in a different city. In the last two years though, RtS started to spread and several events were organised by various local groups. Here we want to highlight two Reclaim the Seeds events planned for this winter: February 2 in Oudenaarde (Be) and March 23-24 in Amsterdam. To check out all the 2019 dates and locations of RtS and other seed fairs in the Netherlands and Belgium, click here.

A third Food Autonomy Festival!

A working group from the Fossil Free Agriculture campaign has decided to see how to organise a third edition of the Food Autonomy Festival (FAF) next year, after two successful events in 2017 and 2018. Previously, the FAF took place in Bajesdorp (Amsterdam) for a whole day of discussions, workshops, food and music. How will it look like in 2019? Will it be a one-day event or a small camp this time? Again in Amsterdam or in Wageningen? If you are interested in joining the FAF#3 working group, please come to meet them at the next FFA campaign meeting mentioned above, or get in touch.

— Follow-up —

De Boterbloem farm

The Boterbloem Boerderij and Behoud Lutkemeer have written a newspaper! It will be filled with plenty of informative articles about the past, present, and possible future of the polder. To celebrate the newspaper, and to prepare for the next meeting with the Spacial Planning commission of Amsterdam on Wednesday the 21st of November at 13:30, a week of action has been planned. Come join for as many as tickle your fancy, and follow what’s happening at behoudlutkemeer.nl or on the facebook page Behoud Lutkemeer.

We hope to see as many people as possible at the Stopera on the 21st! There will be pumpkin soup! Yum.

  • Saturday 10/11– DWARS and Pink have planned workshops and panel discussion at the Boterbloem Boerderij from 13:00-17:00.
  • Sunday 11/11– The annual Boterbloem Pumpkin festival occurs! Come enjoy the polder. Festivities begin at 14:00!
  • Monday 12/11– The release of the Lutkemeer paper! We’ll be at the Stopera to give the first copy personally to the mayor. From 16:00-19:00 we’ll have soup and gezelligheid, and time for all our supporters to come by and pick up papers to spread around the city. See ya there!
  • Tuesday 13/11– There were be a private experts meeting to discuss the case of the polder. Follow the website for more information!
  • Wednesday 14/11– Keep your eyes out for the Boterbloem, we’ll be around the city having fun and spreading papers to shops and markets to keep our supporters up to date!
  • Thursday 15/11– We’ll have a tour at the Van Eesteren Museum to discover a bit more about the original city plans for the Lutkemeer polder. Pssst, it has something to do with food production.
  • Friday 16/11– Another adventure day! Stay tuned to find out what kind!
  • Saturday 17/11– Lutkemeerleger will once again be afoot spreading papers and gathering support for the very important meeting on Wednesday!
  • Wednesday 21/11– Come join us at 12:30 at the Dokwerker on Jonas Daniel Meijerplein for soup and a small demonstration. We will march in solidarity to the Stopera to speak again to the Spacial Planning commission at 13:30 about the future of the polder, and the Boterbloem Boerderij. We would love to see as many people there as possible!

If you’d like to help out with any of the Action Week events please email info@behoudlutkemeer.nl.

 

— Report on events —

Ende GeländeEnde Gelände 2018

At the end of October, about 6,000 people took part in the biggest civil disobedience action in Europe, in the brown coal mine next to Heerlen (German Rhineland). Among them were 140 activist from the Netherlands. ASEED, Code Rood, Fossil Free AUC, GroenFront!/Wij Stoppen Steenkool and Fossil Free Wageningen organised together two buses that left from Amsterdam via Utrecht and Nijmegen.Click here to read our detailed report (in Dutch) and find links to picture albums and videos.

Amsterdam Local Conference of Youth

On October 20, ASEED was present at the Local Conference of Youth in Amsterdam, an inspiring three-day conference full of workshops, speakers and interactive sessions about climate change. This conference was organised on a volunteer basis by a group of young people themselves. The ASEED workshop “Dismantle industrial agriculture for climate justice” was well attended and we had very interesting discussions about strategies for system change, as consumers, but also as critical and engaged citizens. Read more.

Taking action to change food systems

On the same weekend that the LCOY, ASEED participated in a training weekend “Taking action to change food systems” organised by FIAN Belgium and Peasant Action Brigades (in French, Brigades d’Action Paysanne) in the Belgian Province of Luxembourg. The goal was to gather people who want to support the movement for agroecology, while enjoying a nice alternative weekend in a farm. Get to know more about the weekend, the Peasant Action Brigades and food sovereignty initiatives in Wallonia here.

Free the Soil

In mid November, Klimakollektivet invited people to an open meeting in Hamburg to discuss the “Free the Soil” campaign and plan the mass action in civil disobedience next summer. ASEED participated in this two-day meeting where the main focus was on synthetic fertilizers and their connection to climate change. It was a very intense and productive meeting where people from all over Europe discussed the importance of connecting climate justice movement and agriculture, and how this can the done in the frame of Free the Soil and a mass action. To get more involved in Free the Soil and the fight against synthetic fertilizers and the companies producing them, come to the next FFA open campaign meeting mentioned above or visit freethesoil.org

— New publications —

IPES-Food: Breaking away from industrial food and farming systems

“Breaking away from industrial food and farming systems – Seven case studies of agroecological transition” is the title of the latest report from the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems. The case studies in this report provide concrete examples of how to fundamentally rethink and redesign food systems around agroecological principles. Ultimately, changes are required in four key dimensions: production practices, knowledge generation and dissemination, social and economic relations, and institutional frameworks.

Read the full report or the executive summary.

“Blocking the chain” from Pat Mooney, ETC Group

Blocking the chain- ETC group

The study “Blocking the chain – Industrial food chain concentration, Big Data platforms and food sovereignty solutions” is a joint publicattion by ETC Group, GLOCON, INKOTA and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.’ Smart farming, drones, driverless tractors, the use of climate and weather information with Big Data technologies, or the application of synthetic biology: is digitalisation the new panacea for ending hunger crises, stopping biodiversity loss or limiting climate change?

In this study, Pat Mooney, laureate of the Alternative Nobel Prize, critically assesses digital developments in the food and agricultural sector. He analyses who are the main actors in the digitalisation business and discusses the importance of digitalisation for small-scale farmers and workers along the industrial food chain worldwide. “Blocking the chain” is available in German and English here.

— 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!