Thank you for the registration to our event @Justin. It is great that Koalicja Żywa Ziemia will participate in the webinar! Hope it will be useful for you for the networking and sharing your understanding of the practical problems for sustainable agriculture in Poland.
What is your name?
Patrick Andrews
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
I have been interested in sustainable agriculture for many years. I am not involved in a project but might be one day.
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Work and employment
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
Accessing good quality local food
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
Not helping - the UK government is blinded by big business and cannot see how harmful current approaches to agriculture are.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
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What is your name?
Irene
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
I’m a PhD researcher in organizational studies focusing on error narratives and resilience in organizations. ATM trying to find my ways between a pretty conventional faculty, (mostly and preferably offline) environmental and social justice activism and mastering herbology and the production of herbal plants for various uses.
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Sustainability in agriculture or food
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
I’m interested in settling within a community that aims at food sovereignty beyond my occasional volunteering in urban agroecology projects and woofing. I’m rather thinking about co-living, co-housing ad I’m interested in investigating what it means to be a farmer & service (knowledge) worker at the same time & how work should be re-organized / downsized for our (& the planet) well being and resilience. I’m also interested in understanding the urban / rural divide: which kind of territories can be self-reliant and different experiences in experimenting with size of communities and type of engagement from different members.
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
I’m not fully informed but on top of some districts and agroecological projects around my city (Brussels), I cannot think of a real ‘ambitious’ funding / support scheme for food sovereignty in my region.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
Not quite so far but I may after this session? 
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Long time no seeing Patrick, good to have you back! And for diversity, it’s nice to have concerned citizens bringing in your own viewpoints !
Is there perhaps some public supported initiatives that you trust, albeit in your local community? And also: do you see people demanding more quality food?
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Very interesting point @irene_1! Some of us have been talking a lot about the need to ‘educate’ farmers to stick to traditional farming, write funding proposals, build their own community of support and local circuits (very interesting conversation here). But in my opinion, it rests on the image of the farmer we now have, an ageing population and less younger people in rural areas. What is this mixed role that you are talking about, how did you come to this idea ?
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Hello @noemi, very nice to e-meet you as well!
In order to stay afloat, i invested almost all the income from the farm back into it. We are operating at about a 20% gross profit margin and we are using that to finance the farm’s expenses from season to season. Investments were made mainly with our own money. We are fortunate to have a couple local partners for organic materials that we use in our system (mulches etc).
I hope that i answered your question but please let me know if there are things that i missed! 
Vlad
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Our mission is to change the way in which vegetables are grown in Romania. We wanted to build a sustainable farm in every way: from a soil health perspective and from an economic perspective. So this is why we are commited to an organic bio intensive market gardening system.
An organic system not only provides ensures that the soil is getting more and more productive each year but also is a system that gets simpler as time passes. There is less pest pressure and less disease pressure with the passing of time. In terms of support, my suggestion is to find books and other reading materials as good organic farming consultants are difficult to find in Romania. Regarding the business development aspect, this is a bit more complicated but starting with the basics would be the best avenue to take: record keeping, knowing your numbers on expenses, income, profit margin and selecting the right crops to grow based on these.
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What does that mean, in practice? Sometimes we hear things like regenerative agriculture, permaculture etc, is this similar ? And what are the limits to scale?
Hi Noemi, thanks for the welcome. Indeed long time no see - would be nice to see you again sometime. In terms of your question, one interesting initiative in the UK is re-wilding, which has some limited government support (and is attracting growing attention). It is not just about food, but it definitely about important things like soil health and biodiversity will play a vital role in healthy food system.
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What is your name?
Tamara
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
EU project manager: Roadmap, Soildiveragro y Novaterra (H2020) and VINIoT (Interreg Sudoe)
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Sustainability in agriculture or food
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
Looking for more sustainable agricultural management practices.
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
Governments are involved in a way.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
It could to be an option to think about.
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Nice to e-meet you Tamara! Where are you based?
Could you share with us an example of collaboration from one of your projects? Do you personally feel it is making an impact in sustainability? We have heard quite some critical points, especially from those directly involved in working with farmers, so it’s useful to see how things look from your perspective.
What is your name?
Wilfried Rimensberger
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
Millbank Creative Works uses creative and sustainability projects to build a stronger local communities and facilitate neighbourhood stakeholder engagement. We established Westminster’s most successful local community garden And run regular creative up cycling workshops at Tate Britain and regular local community linked projects with ChelseaUAL students and teachers. #MillbankAtlas
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Sustainability in agriculture or food
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
Growing fluctuation in residents moving in an out of the neighbourhood.
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
Gentrification with new expensive developments brings in new owners. But most are renting out. It also drives up living costs for the remaining original residents.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
I’m thinking about it.
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Some of us have been talking a lot about the need to ‘educate’ farmers to stick to traditional farming, write funding proposals, build their own community of support and local circuits
Indeed, although with the new CAP it sounds like we are going exactly in the opposite direction again. It is as well a matter of structural funding and bargaining power… and accessibility to quality food not solely for the most affluent (see the nutrients collapse since the 1950s in almost all foods). I think the neo-rurals in general often start with a different model in mind, if I recall well 10% of new peasants in France for instance start from scratch (not from inherited land) and do not want to reproduce the mistakes of past generations submerged by debt, monoculture crops and efficiency ratios. Terre de liens, a French association functioning as a community trust for farms, facilitates access to the land & tightens use of the land to agroecological practices. Since 2016 they managed to preserve in this way 6400 ha that would have otherwise ended up in urban concreting or big agribusiness hands.
But in my opinion, it rests on the image of the farmer we now have, an ageing population and less younger people in rural areas. What is this mix role that you are talking about, how did you come to this idea ?
On the idea of being closer to the land I’m rather thinking about my own experience as I would love to be more connected to nature as a youngish 
and never-been-farmer urban, meaning rather spending systemically more time in rural areas while not giving up urban life.
This doesn’t mean that I should just move to a smaller city or to a peripheral suburban area looking at my kitchen garden and cows ruminating from my window 
I’m rather pointing at the possibility of suburban citizens to actively participate and more profoundly be aware of the food chains that support our (urban) livelihoods.
I’m thinking for instance about seasonal work that could be taken over by workers in the city (see btw what happened with desbrasdansnosassiette during the spring lockdown) and how the city could be useful for rurals on the other hand, on top of our natural role of ‘compost makers’ which is still far from being accomplished in most cities (see the latest report from ‘operation phosphore’ for Brussels).
This would mean that in the long run we should all make time for this kind of activities to happen in a more systematic way rather than solely relying on volunteering or on governments and private companies failing to take good care of our means of nourishment and ecosystems. It would mean as well rearranging our work time as ‘fully-scheduled’ service workers (although, of course, not all urban residents are service workers) and spending more time directly or indirectly taking care of commons, i.e. the soil at the basis of our own livelihoods.
Basically we need more time for farming and it needs to concern more people as well in cities.
Paris, for instance, used to be almost entirely self-sustained within the Ile-de-France region. Le maraîcher, which means vegetable grower / gardener in French, was actually named after the Parisian neighborhood ‘Les Marais’. Paris was well known for its variety of crops and inventiveness in urban farming since the Middle Ages, see the fruit walls in Montreuil, etc.
Source: Mur à pêches — Wikipédia
Or cultivation under bell jars
Source: Quand l’alimentation dessine le territoire, l’histoire des relations entre Paris et sa périphérie agricole
These days the area around Paris produces solely 10% of veggies & fruits necessary for its population livelihood. In the 1900s it used to be 80%. Farmers in the region used to be 500k in 1900s, 88k in 1954 and 11k in 2010. Despite the disappearance of ‘urban farming’ isn’t solely negative as it theoretically allows for more wild green areas (meadows, ponds, forests) which are necessary around and within a city.
Long story short, I’m trying to imagine a sort of transition from being an urban ‘knowledge worker’ to a sort of a farmer/researcher that is able to contribute to small-scale farming nourishing the most diverse fellow citizens of my city. May not be the most urgent item of discussion in today’s session but this is more or less what I was thinking of when I filled in my participation form 
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Wow, I’m blown away by the elegance of your argument… I think it deserves a separate post and a larger audience, we will move it in the Blog section after today’s session (with your permission of course). Maybe I resonate because we are the same generation and have similar jobs, and see urban life in all its glory and pains, I don’t know…
we need more time for farming and it needs to concern more people as well in cities.
Fully agree! This is a niche, but also such a fresh perspective Irene ! Thanks, you made my day!
It meas that we are growing on a small plot of land (under 1/2 ha), using permanent beds with the vegetables being closely planted/sown, using organic inputs (seeds, fertilisers etc).
There are limits to scale but it has been proven that the yield and the profits could support a family throghout the year.However these results have been obtained in Sweden, France, Canada and USA. This is important in the context of bringing such a model in a country like Romania.
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What is your name?
Mara Cazacu
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
Working as a sustainable development officer with WWF-Romania, in the field of food & farming - we are aiming to preserve biodiversity-rich landscapes and empower local communities to contribute to this while improving their wellbeing.
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Sustainability in agriculture or food
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
My answer regards the field in itself, not my practical issues, namely a legislative framework that is not supportive for small, local producers and local food environments, plus a subsidy system (rooted in the Common agricultural policy of the EU) that over-favours agri-business and disregards smallholders and nature-friendly agri-food systems, which is completely at odds with the type of response we need to the developing climate and nature crises.
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
Not helping and lacking vision and open-mindedness towards alternatives to business-as-usual.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
No
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What is your name?
Witold
Are you part of a project or an organisation? What does the project/organisation do, and why?
Mental health care Blogger and Vlogger.
Blog.psypo.pl
YouTube: Psychiczne Pojednanie
Let’s get to know each other. Which of the following topics is the most relevant to you?
Health and social care
Think about the topic… and tell us: What is a practical problem that you have in your work/projects or personal life?
Technical maintenance of my blog.
I try to do everything alone and its rather too much for me.
How is your government helping this, or not helping?
I do not receive any help from Polish government.
Are you interested to co-host an event with EdgeRyders in the next months? If so, do you have ideas to engage others near you to participate?
Maybe, if mental health issues are in the scope of the foundation activity.
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Save the date!
Hei everyone, since rural rebuilding has become such a common point of resonance in our Food event from a few weeks ago, we will be hosting a follow up session to talk about it in 2 weeks - 23 November at 18:00 CET. Let me know if you’d like to attend by leaving a comment here?
Event: How to bring back human potential to rural areas - ‘you need to offer them more than just a plot of land’ International
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!! I think that a “farmer/researcher”, perhaps also working a consultant for other farms, is totally a viable idea. Because farming has, or should have, quite a large knowledge work component to it. It’s not like large-scale commercial farmers nowadays would knowingly and intentionally degrade and destroy their land – they just don’t know any better how to farm profitably without degrading the land and are somehow forced to think in short timescales, such as the 30-50 years until the topsoil might have gone from their land.
That’s how I came to like stories of industrial farmers who changed their ways and are now evangelizing among other farmers about the restoration techniques they discovered. I have found several of these stories, but this one is the best: Peter and Stuart Andrews’ Natural Sequence Farming, dealing with water cycle restoration on cattle farms in Australia.
Like their farm consultancy for industrial farms, small farms and urban gardens also need knowledge input. I would not know how to make a properly paid job out of consulting small farms and gardeners, though … except maybe if you’d combine it with a webshop or dropshipping store that also sells innovative gardening and urban farming products. There is so much hardly known tech for small-scale farming out there (and one might also add own developments over time). Just one example to illustrate:
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