cafebabel.com

Seville: growing organic produce on Spanish asphalt

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:02:20 -0000

There are two key conditions to urban gardening in the Spanish south: cultivating 100% organic produce without making a profit. In one of the five parks of the Andalusian capital we meet some key actors

Student guide: community-supported agriculture in France

('Craig James Willy',) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:00 -0000

The system of associations for community-supported agriculture (French initials AMAP) has been growing in Europe over the last 20 years. In recent years, student 'AMAPs' have multiplied on campuses. From Nantes to Palermo, a look between pickers and carrots

On St. Patrick's day, drink Poitín, the world’s strongest alcohol

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:30:00 -0000

You’ll often find it in a clear, unmarked glass bottle, innocently snuggled at the back of a neighbour’s fridge, but the real Poteen (pronounced 'putch-een') isn’t sold in any shop in Dublin. St. Patrick apparently brewed it, and few people in Ireland haven’t tasted this ultra-alcoholic brew, but the lethal concoction has been illegal here since 1661

Italian, French and Bulgarian press vs genetically modified potato

('euro topics',) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:45:00 -0000

On 3 March the European commission gave the green light for the 'Amflora', used for the production of industrial starch. This was the first time since 1998 that it has approved a GMO for cultivation. Some commentators say Brussels has bowed to the pressure of agriculture companies; others claim this paves the way for a better future

Rural Spain: can love really arrive in a wagon?

('Gemma Turner',) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:25:04 -0000

Since the fifties, villages all over Spain have been losing their inhabitants to the lure of the bright lights of the cities. Over the decades a new curious initiative has arisen to remedy this loss and to console those who have been left alone. If Mohammed won’t come to the mountain, the mountain - or in this case the women - will have to come to Mohammed – in a wagon

Volunteering: what’s a Wwoofer?

('Astrid vW',) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0000

They can repair a tractor in Poland, make goats cheese in Chile, pick brussel sprouts in Belgium or olives in Spain, build a wooden shelter and dry-pit toilets in Finland or herd cows on horseback in Bolivia. And plenty more besides for the 'worldwide opportunities on organic farms' moniker

Drug trade: Chefchaouen, Morocco is Spain's Amsterdam

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:45:00 -0000

'Le Rif – paradis du Kif” (The Rif – paradise for Kif). The rhyme has become the tourist slogan for Chefchaouen, a mountainous village in North Morocco well renowned for its blue medina quarter and it’s cannabis plantations. These plantations are the point of origin for tonnes of the drug that are headed for Europe

CAP? The queen farms on EU money

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:44 -0000

Normally the EU doesn't shrink from using showing citizens with golden plaques and stardust whereabouts European money goes. With regards to cereal, meat and milk this is somewhat different. The agricultural subsidies, which were originally meant to support the agricultural community, now flow in quite different directions. Latest news titbit from Brussels

Sale via internet: end of middle man for agricultural products

('rhiannon_nicolson',) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:54:07 -0000

The new ‘liberating’ direction of European agriculture is looking more closely at the consumer market when it comes to establishing prices and demand for agricultural products on the continent. The internet is taking over from Marx in the agricultural revolution

Austria’s ban on cultivating genetically modified sweetcorn

('Gemma Turner',) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0000

But is Europe's 'sweetcorn of discord' a great triumph with barely any consequences for Austria?

HandiCAP: freedom-hunting French farmers, as European as Parisians

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:57:25 -0000

Young farmers in the region of Auvergne worry about their future, which is being over-organised by a too liberal Europe. They want to give vent to their anger at the upcoming European elections in June 2009

Biofuels: how green is the green gold rush in Senegal?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Europe’s Sustainable Energy Week takes place in Brussels from 9 to 13 February, with biofuel at the centre of the debates. Is it possible for Europe to go green without causing famine in western Africa? Feature

Pan-EU couples to divorce easier

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:00:00 -0000

Harmonising the first divorce regulation, bad airlines and fishermen aid – your weekly news from Brussels

Fabienne Bruguière: ‘the agricultural world can be hostile to women’

('John Smith',) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:21:46 -0000

The forty-something winemaker from the Pic St. Loup commune in France’s Langeudoc region on love, green fingers and the increasing role of women in wine-making

Hungry Senegalese fishermen

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Amidst a global food crisis and scarcer fish, the fishermen 'victims' of EU commercial agreements set off in their pirogues for the shores of Europe

Batman, goats and internet in Cavas do Monte, Portugal

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The living conditions in the north Portuguese mountaintops of S. Pedro do Sul have hardly changed in hundreds of years. Bit by bit, however, the uniting, modernising world is moving in, and the children are moving out

In Senegal, farmers versus Europe

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Small-time Senegalese producers are speaking out against the Economic Partership Agreements (EPAs) negotiated on 8 and 9 December at Lisbon. For them, the battle against famine means being opposed to market liberalisation

Nuclear energy: new wave in Europe

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Brussels goes far east, caps the CAP and ideologises nuclear energy in the first EU forum - take a bite of the latest news from Brussels

Food for Life

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 08:33:00 -0000

The organic lobby is suspicious of GM and biotechnology, but the European Commission wants the know-how.

Do you speak Eurofood?

('Emily Griffins',) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 08:32:00 -0000

Brussels has announced a truly European food policy. They call it ‘From Farm to Fork’. And of course they wish you ‘bon appétit!’

Piergiorgio Rosetti: Peace as a political instrument

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 02:37:00 -0000

The case for a European peace-corps is the strongest it’s ever been, Piergiorgio Rosetti tells Café Babel.