Month: May 2012

How farmers’ organisations can protect our seed system The US patent system is blowing over to Europe. Will patent claims from multinationals soon sue farmers in Europe? Niels Louwaars (director of Plantum) has been involved for several years in the debates on patents and breeder’s rights. See for example a publication on the “future of … Read more

socially driven alternatives that tackle global problems “Socially driven” initiatives, by for example farmers, consumers, civil society organisations, sometimes in collaboration with scientists, constantly emerge in the face of ­poverty, social injustice, hunger, natural resource degradation, environmental decline and other global problems. Some of these initiatives contain practices that promise more sustainable livelihoods for the … Read more

Rethinking science and society relations Barbara van Dyck (Slow Science, fired at Catholic University of Leuven due to involvement in public protest against a Genetically Modified Potato field) Martijn Duineveld (assistant professor Cultural Geography) “Research on bees paid by the pesticide industry showing that it was not the pesticide that kills them…” (Zembla reportage, 12 … Read more

Farmer driven transformation in the Netherlands: sustainable practices and struggles with the state Dutch agriculture is one of the most productive in the world. This however seems to have come at a price. Disease outbreaks have led to the killing of more than 40 million animals in the last 14 years, it is the only … Read more