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SEEDmail #44 – Tasty, autonomous and fossil free

A few more days until the second edition of the Food Autonomy Festival in Bajesdorp in Amsterdam! Autonomy or sovereignty, what do we need for our food? For sure a lot has to change in our agriculture to ban social abuses and to prevent climate change and ecological crises from escalating. All those issues will keep ASEED busy in the coming months. Read more about it in this SEEDmail.

reports

Reclaim the Seeds
In February and March 2018 no less than three seedfairs with the name Reclaim the Seeds took place and on top of this there was a similar event organised by the Noordelijk Zadennetwerk. It was a lot of work to organise all this but we are happy with the results. The number of people in the Netherlands and Flanders that is growing veggies and is saving and exchanging seeds seems to be growing.
More reports on https://reclaimtheseeds.nl

Yara’s synthetic fertilizer storage facility in Denmark blocked
On March 26, Danish activists blocked a Yara plant in Denmark. The production of synthetic fertilisers requires a lot of natural gas. And the use of the product in agriculture is bad for the soil and responsible to the emission of a lot of greenhouse gasses. To get more attention for this problem our Danish friends decided that it was time for a small action as kick-off for their new campaign.
Also ASEED will start a campaign on Fossil Free Agriculture and for this we will work together with groups abroad.
Continue reading on https://aseed.net/en/blockade-of-danish-storage-facility-of-synthetic-fertilisers-yara/

Mahatma Gandhi Plantsoen
At the end of our street a small neighbourhood garden has been started and of course some people from ASEED are involved in this as well. Next to the parking lots of Artis (the Zoo) a piece of green land got the name Mahatma Gandhi Plantsoen. In some beds the first vegetables have been planted and sowed and a large ‘worm hotel’ has been installed in which people from the neighbourhood can turn their green waste into fertile compost. If you are nearby, please take a look.
The garden has a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MahatmaGandhiPlantsoen/

announcements

Food Autonomy Festival = Saturday May 26th!
This Saturday the second Food Autonomy Festival (FAF) is going to take place in Bajesdorp in Amsterdam. The festival is about presenting and celebrating alternatives and resistance to the state and corporate-controlled industrial food system.

We are happy to announce the theme of this year: “Grassroots alternatives for a fossil free food system”. You can expect everything from practical workshops about mushroom growing an more, talks and debates on agroecology, urban farming and land struggles, and or course delicious food and different live music performances, all on donation.
To keep a link with ASEEDs Reclaim the Seeds there will be a seed and seedling swap as well at the festival. So please bring some small plants and seeds. But if you don’t bring anything you can also have a look and take something home.

More information about the programme of the Food Autonomy Festival you can find on ASEEDS website: https://aseed.net/faf

(Save the data:) June 17 Open campaign meeting for our new Fossil Free Agriculture Campaign
We have had some internal discussions, did some research on the topic and discussed possible collaborations with people from Germany and Denmark. But now it is time to present our action plans here and to look for people who want to join our team and activities.

Read more about our plans and this meeting you can find here: https://aseed.net/en/building-a-fossil-free-agriculture-campaign/

Climate camps in the summer
ASEED is part of the the Climate Justice Action network and within this network people made a nice overview with action camps and other interesting events to go to this summer. Have a look and get inspired: https://climatejusticeaction.net/en/climate-camps/

De Voedselkaravaan
Voedselanders, a broad netwerk for a ‘different’ agriculture is organising a Voedselkaravaan (Food Caravan) . In each regio they will collect new stories and recommendations for the transition towards a sustainable and just food system. De locations of the stops are known by now. At each location a different topic will be in the spotlight.

You can find a short announcement of each event online: https://www.voedselanders.nl/data-en-locaties/

Palestine solidarity photo in front of Vrankrijk
Last week, as part of ASEED benefit night, we took a picture in front of the Vrankrijk, to give expression to our sadness and anger in the face of the continued violent oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state. The occupation must end, the blockade of Gaza has to be lifted, refugees have the right to return. PALESTINE WILL BE FREE – Solidarity from Amsterdam!
You can find this picture on Indymedia: https://www.indymedia.nl/node/43544

other relevant news

New Brochure: Pestices Out!
Our friends of La Via Campesina published a new brochure, this time about pesticides. The title makes clear what the opinion of this farmers organisation is: ‘Pesticdes Out!’. The brochure lists a number of arguments against the use of those poisonous products. It also shows that you can have good harvests without them with methods that take care of a clean environment and the production of healthy food.
Read the English version of this brochure online: http://www.eurovia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ECVC_Out-Pesticides-Brochure_EN_2018.pdf