Farming for the Planet | Highlight 2024
Agriculture is under pressure to feed a burgeoning global population. And it has undergone dramatic developments in this regard over the last 100 years. But increasing industrialization of the sector has negative consequences: it burdens the environment and replaces manpower with technology, providing fewer people with a livelihood. If these developments continue unchecked, then before long the food we eat will be controlled by large corporations, and food markets will be geared towards short-term profit – at the expense of biodiversity and non-renewable resources such as land and water and at the expense of rural populations.
But this is not the only way forward. Sustainable agriculture and an efficient smallholding economy can in the long term create equilibrium between food security and the utilization of natural resources. There are examples of this all over the world, pursued by people who are Farming for the Planet.
Order number 064858 (032-035),
Documentary, 04 x 30 min., Arabic, English, Spanish
(28 additional eps. available)
Farming for the Planet
Episode synopses:
032
From the City to the Field – Young Japanese Discover Farming
In Japan, the combination of rural exodus and an ageing population are leading to the depopulation of numerous rural communities. In “Genkai Shūraku” – villages where more than half of the inhabitants are over 65 years old – traditional farming knowledge is gradually being lost. However, some young Japanese are moving from the city to the countryside. Along with nature, they are also discovering agriculture and its traditions. These young people have begun to collect the knowledge of long-established farmers. Thus, they are preserving a range of traditions, from the cultivation of Japan‘s staple food, rice, to knowledge about rarer species like mountain asparagus and pigeon ferns, as well as the use of mushroom stalks.
033
Olive Oil – The Green Gold of the Mediterranean
Olive cultivation has played an important role in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. Olive oil was used for cooking, as well as for perfumes, ointments and in medicine. Nowadays, olive oil is a globally traded, mass-market product. Unfortunately, it’s also often heavily adulterated. However, in the main olive oil producing countries of southern Europe, like Spain, Greece, Italy and France, there are still people who produce top-quality, ecologically sustainable oils with love and respect for nature and local cultivation traditions.
034
Diversity Not Monoculture – Sustainable Agriculture in Greece
Surrounded by conventionally and monoculturally farmed agricultural land, Sheila Darmos has created a thriving oasis of biodiversity on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula. Together with her cousin Panos, she is continuing the legacy of her father, who was a pioneer of organic farming in this southern European country. In accordance with the principles of permaculture, and taking into account natural cycles, they produce a variety of organically grown food. They sell what they grow themselves. They also support other farmers in the transition to sustainable, regenerative agriculture with advice and active development assistance.
035
Slow Farming – Animals Instead of Tractors
In contrast to the profit-driven “faster, further, more” ethos of conventional agriculture, the global Slow Food movement uses a snail as its mascot. As they focus on the goal of healthy, fair and sustainable food for all, some are taking deceleration a step further. In the fields, they voluntarily practice what is already a reality for many small farmers around the world: Slow farming – working with animals instead of fossil-fueled agricultural machinery. What might look like an unworldly gimmick turns out, on closer inspection, to be a practicable business model – one that leads to an increase in quality of life.