Småskalig Ekologisk Matproduktion/ Small-scale Organic Food Production Seminar, Stockholm
It seems a good place to start.
To focus on the one’s that move and shake before you.
This is what we did last Monday at the seminar “Småskalig Ekologisk Matproduktion som får pengarna att växa” held at Stockholms universitet. The phrase effectively translates to ‘earning money from small-scale food production’. To operate a farm that is not only self sufficient in terms of dietary requirements but also monetary matter is but a seemingly distant goal for the future at present. But a goal nevertheless. And so, this seminar provided important information on turning distant goals for self-sufficiency into concrete strategies for the present.
The people to listen to were Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in .., United States and Darren Doherty, a leading member of the Permaculture community in Australia.
Joel in blue jeans, yellow shirt and perfectly pressed collar danced out a presentation dressed by generations of on-the-farm experience. He expressed the endless forms of trial, error and experimentation that have ultimately borne Polyface farm a current day holistic operational success. All methods draw inspiration from far outside the cluttered box of large-scale, industrial agricultural practices that still dominate global farm operations today. The presence of Polyface farm challenges a status quo that sees the majority of food production on US farms confined to …. , while wealth derived from these sources remains concentrated to a minimal few and distributed at a point on the food production chain that is far removed from the hand of the farmer.
Joel and Darren currently collaborate in their efforts to educate on new and evolving forms of holistic farmland and animal management. Darren is currently filming a feature length documentary on Polyface farm as well.
Darren, blue shirt with the word ‘Regarian’ neatly sewn in lime on the left chest panel. The term ‘Regrarian’ is source by none other than Darren Doherty himself. He pledges to his audiences the shared aim that his wife and himself hold to shift the dynamic between human and nature from its current degenerative norm to a new regenerative state. The idea that human integration into the landscape can be a healing process features predominantly in Darren’s teachings as he expresses how the aspects of climate, …. must operate on a highly integrated, forever circular and ultimately regenerative basis.
The main point taken away from Darren’s presentation actually developed in question time. The three words ‘strategic, incremental and pragmatic,’ were written on the white board in answer to an audience member’s request for guidance. These three terms were presented as the first stop on the road to developing concrete goals for self-sufficient living. Darren expressed that too often an agricultural aim is met with the premature purchase of expensive machinery, before any form of strategic planning and pragmatic thinking has been conducted. Importantly, expressed Darren, these three words were to be applied to each person’s individual context; conditions of living that frame current and future potentials.
The day after the seminar, it had become time to start thinking strategically and pragmatically and planning incrementally. What is the aim? What is the context? What will be done? Stay tuned to find out what we have been planning! In the meantime, check out our photo boards in the 'Seasons at Eriksberg' section.
