Sharing tools for autonomous food futures
On the weekend of the 13th-14th of June, ASEED will return to with our annual Food Autonomy Festival. This year will mark our 10th edition of the FAF, which we unearth each year to promote food autonomy and connect struggles. To mark 10 years, this Food Autonomy Festival will be all about building agency and joy, celebrating the initiatives supporting food autonomy around us, their people and free spaces.
After an opening weekend on a new location, De Natuurkamer in Amsterdam, the following 2 weeks will see more events celebrating and sharing skills on food autonomy popping up across the cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Wageningen.
Do you want to be involved? If you know an initiative supporting access to local, free, or culturally nourishing food, salvaging waste or growing for others, send us a message via instagram dm or email fafprogramming@aseed.net ASAP and join our program!
Do you want to join our team of enthusiastic volunteers and help out at the festival? Then click on the button “volunteer” and fill in the application form!
We invite you for two weeks of joy, skill-sharing, and connection. See you there!
Tools uitwisselen voor een autonome toekomst van voedsel
Het weekend van 13-14 juni organiseert ASEED weer ons jaarlijkse Food Autonomy Festival. Dit jaar markeert de 10e editie van de FAF, waar we elk jaar ruimte maken om voedsel autonomie te promoten en bewegingen samen te brengen. Deze tiende editie van staat in het teken van zeggenschap en vreugde, en het vieren van initiatieven, mensen, en vrije ruimtes die voedsel autonomie teweegbrengen.
Na een openingsweekend in Amsterdam zullen er twee weken lang meerdere individuele, maar verbonden evenementen plaatsvinden rond Amsterdam, Utrecht, en Wageningen.
Wil je deel uitmaken van het programma? Of ken je initiatieven of groepen die bijdragen aan het voorkomen van voedselverspilling, alternatieve voedselvoorzieningen, of lokaal, betaalbaar, of cultureel voedsel, stuur ons dan een berichtje via instagram of email naar fafprogramming@aseed.net en sluit je aan bij het programma!
Wil je ons team van enthousiaste vrijwilligers versterken? Klik dan op de onderstaande button “volunteer” en vul het aanmeldformulier in.
We zijn een internationaal team en daardoor is de voertaal vaak Engels, ook op de website. We doen ons best om het festival zo toegankelijk mogelijk te maken, ook voor Nederlands sprekende mensen. Er zullen activiteiten in beide talen worden gegeven en vertalers aanwezig zijn!
Tot snel!
Centralised weekend 13th and 14th of June
De Natuurkamer Amsterdam
This year the FAF will be at a new location! De Natuurkamer is a green community center in Sloterpark in Amsterdam. With an open living room and large outdoor area, food forest, herb garden, and natural playground, they aim to be a meeting spot where everyone feels at home. For more information about De Natuurkamer, visit their website. You can find the Natuurkamer on a large grass field next to the ‘kinderboerderij’ in the park.
We encourage everyone to come by bike or public transport. Tram 7 and 13, bus 247 and 369, stop nearby. There are plenty of parking spots for bikes.
If you can only get there by car, there is a parking spot at the Sloterparkbad.
Adress:
Pres. Allendelaan 4
1064 GW Amsterdam
Map
The Waste To Succes
The Waste to Success is a community-driven initiative that transforms food waste into opportunities for connection, creativity, and food autonomy. Through workshops, shared meals, and educational activities, the project explores how surplus food can become a tool for empowerment, sustainability, and collective care. Their work is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves access to healthy, culturally relevant food and the knowledge to shape their own food systems.
During the Food Autonomy Festival of ASEED, The Waste To Success wants to highlight the importance of food sovereignty in Amsterdam, with a special focus on our projects in Nieuw-West. In this part of the city, the initiative works together with local residents, community organisations, and volunteers to create spaces where food becomes a way to strengthen neighbourhood ties and build resilience.
One of our key initiatives of The Waste To Success is the Social Kitchen: a welcoming community space where people cook, eat, and learn together using rescued and locally sourced ingredients. The Social Kitchen is not only about reducing waste, but also about sharing cultures, skills, and stories. It creates opportunities for people from different backgrounds to connect while collectively imagining more just and sustainable food systems.
The Waste To Success aims to inspire practical alternatives to the current food system by showing how communities can reclaim control over food production, distribution, and consumption. By combining sustainability with social justice, it hopes to contribute to a future where food autonomy is accessible to everyone.
El Sufra
ElSufra is an Arab/Queer-led collective that was founded in an attempt to bring familiarity and create meaningful food experiences that foster mental well-being and cultural nostalgia.
In Arabic (and more languages), ElSufra means the dining table; a space that holds more than food. It is a labor of love, where sharing takes place: sharing food, memories, laughter, or even silence.
De Sering
De Sering was founded on the belief that strong communities are essential for activism—and for the political left as a whole. We live in a time of unprecedented isolation and loneliness, and we don’t see this as a coincidence.
As social connections weaken, so does the strength of activist and leftist movements. Rebuilding community isn’t just important—it’s critical for change. Since 2019, De Sering has been a community-driven space where food, culture, and activism intersect, offering 300 donation-based meals daily to ensure food remains accessible to all.
At the heart of De Sering is the Community Kitchen, fostering connection through affordable, plant-based meals. In the evenings, we host events, workshops, and cultural programming, creating a lively, inclusive atmosphere.
Safer Space Agreement
Our events are meant to be an open space for various community interactions. This safer space agreement is intended to help ASEED events remain a supportive, safe environment. We want our spaces to be welcoming and engaging and we encourage everyone that participates in them to be proactive in creating an atmosphere where all diversity is valued.
We strive for a diverse environment and celebrate a multiplicity of identities, histories, origins, social classes, races, ethnicities, genders, languages, body sizes and shapes, asylum status, religious and spiritual practices, sexual preferences, queerness, (dis)abilities, ages… Moreover, we are an animalist and anti-speciesist space. As such, we welcome other species to our events and expect attendees to be careful with them.
Thus, any form of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Some important points:
- Respect each other’s physical and emotional boundaries, always get explicit consent before touching someone or crossing other boundaries.
- Be mindful of how much space you are taking and make sure people around you get the chance to express themselves freely. Proactively reflect on your positionality and privileges as mentioned above.
- Give each person the time and space to speak. In large groups, or for groups using facilitation: raise your hand to speak.
- Ask instead of assuming opinions and identities among other things. For example, if you are unaware of people’s pronouns, make sure to ask.
- This space is collectively created: care, respect and curiosity are at the center of it. We strive for cooperation and solidarity. Please try not to judge, compete, or put other people down.
- Be aware of the language you use in discussions and how you relate to others. Try to speak slowly and clearly and use accessible language.
- Foster a spirit of mutual respect: listen and learn from the wisdom everyone brings to the group.
At larger events like the Food Autonomy Festival, there is awareness contact people who will be easily identifiable and introduced in case anyone wants or needs support. If the boundaries proposed in this safer space agreement are crossed, a discussion or mediation process can happen depending at the wishes of those affected. Additionally, if a situation arises where someone feels unsafe by a person, the aggravating party may/will be asked to leave the space. In case of an unsafe circumstance, mediation and repairing processes will take place, depending on the needs of the affected party.
While ground agreements are a collective responsibility, everyone is also personally responsible for how they show up to the space.
Become a volunteer at FAF#10!
ASEED is seeking volunteers for the Food Autonomy Festival #10!
Would you like to participate in this year’s edition of the FAF? Then join us as a volunteer on Saturday 13th and/or Sunday 14th of June between 10:00 and 19:00 at the Natuurkamer in Sloterpark, Amsterdam and help us bring this grassroots festival to life!
We are currently seeking volunteers for six teams: Food, Logistics (build-up), Info point, Children’s area & Awareness. More info about the roles below!
Please sign-up through the sign up button below, or copy this link: https://form.jotform.com/261172520299356 & feel free to spread this message to other people you think might be interested!
Please note: We are unfortunately unable to financially compensate our volunteers. As a thank you, we will offer free food and drink tokens to use at the festival. It is also a great way to engage with ASEED and its surrounding community, and learn valuable skills that can be used for organizing other movements in the future.
Details about the volunteer roles:
Food/Bar (3h shift): help with preparing food from El Sufra, serve it to the people, and/or help clean up afterwards. Or help out at the bar selling drinks.
Logistics (3hr shift): help us set up the festival space at the Natuurkamer on Saturday morning, help host the ASEED info stall and maybe transport things.
Awareness (3hr shift): work with an awareness buddy to be visible and approachable at the festival for people who might need support & handle conflicts that might arise, such as instances of discrimination. Disclaimer: we are not asking you to take on professional level mediation, care work or therapy, we are just volunteers, and we will have a trained awareness person to guide you on the day. Having some experience in awareness or previous trainings is however appreciated.
First Aid (6hr shift): [Lunch and dinner covered]. If you have some training or an EHBO certificate, and would like to come to the festival, It would really help us out to know that someone can work with minor first aid incidents. We can give you a labelled vest so you can still join workshops/activities. First-aid kit will be provided.
Children’s area (3h shift): be present in the kid’s area and facilitate games and activities. No specific skills/materials needed, but some experience with kids and knowledge of Dutch is appreciated.
Decentralised events in the last two weeks of June!
Keep an eye on our events page for the last updates on the decentralised FAF program! Click on the button or see the events below.