agriculture
Summer's here, so travel green for Green Europe on the ground
Going on holiday in this economic climate is impossible for many. But as good old Bertie Einstein said, ‘In a crisis, imagination is more important than knowledge’. cafebabel.com wraps up its second citizen media project of the year, ‘Green Europe on the ground’. The pick of articles from the year encourage you to get on your imaginary bikes through an Italian capital during the day. For the night, you’ll don your telescopes to contemplate the real deal beyond the lights of a Slovenian capital before dancing it all off in a ‘green disco’ in a German capital. We’ll take a serious stop in a Hungarian country to see how the effects of a natural disaster can mobilise people, before taking an organic break in a southern Spanish regional capital. We’ll also have that chat with young Parisians on how they feel about the new political green climate, because environment is essentially inseparable from European politics. Read the ‘best of’ our journalists’ ‘alternative energy’ in a collection of green articles this summer (Image: (cc) annais/ Flickr)
- Read the special edition Summer's here, so travel green for Green Europe on the ground
- Europe's unique light pollution law: dark skies over Slovenia
- Green dancefloors Berlin: spread the eco-dance germ to Europe
- Sludge-hit Hungary: Europe’s biggest ecological catastrophe since Chernobyl
- Organic Seville: too many exports, not enough young workers or local mouths
- Rome was not built in a day...nor for bikes
- Parisian 'eco-geeks': the youngest players in the French presidential elections
Seville: growing organic produce on Spanish asphalt
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
agriculture, green europe on the ground, bio, society, sevilla
Student guide: community-supported agriculture in France
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
agriculture, nantes, lifestyle, society, slow food, climate change, local democracy
On St. Patrick's day, drink Poitín, the world’s strongest alcohol
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
agriculture, dublin, alcohol, england, yum nyam, poteen, ireland
Italian, French and Bulgarian press vs genetically modified potato
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
agriculture, politics, eurotopics, potato, society, ogm, european commission
Rural Spain: can love really arrive in a wagon?
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?
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
agriculture, monde, society, nature, eurogeneration, wwoofing, travel
Drug trade: Chefchaouen, Morocco is Spain's Amsterdam
'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
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
agriculture, cap, germany, common agricultural policy, economy, united kingdom, globalisation
Sale via internet: end of middle man for agricultural products
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
agriculture, politics, common agricultural policy, internet, fair trade, economy, society
Austria’s ban on cultivating genetically modified sweetcorn
But is Europe's 'sweetcorn of discord' a great triumph with barely any consequences for Austria?
agriculture, health, international trade, hungary, world trade organisation, genetically modified organisms, gm sweetcorn
HandiCAP: freedom-hunting French farmers, as European as Parisians
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
agriculture, cap, common agricultural policy, auvergne, europe on the ground, clermont-ferrand, eudebate on the ground
Biofuels: how green is the green gold rush in Senegal?
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
agriculture, renewable energies, feature, environmental protection, europe, environment, best of cafebabel.com
Pan-EU couples to divorce easier
Harmonising the first divorce regulation, bad airlines and fishermen aid – your weekly news from Brussels
agriculture, justiz, enlargement, euweek, scheidung, autoindustrie, fluggesellschaften
Fabienne Bruguière: ‘the agricultural world can be hostile to women’
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
agriculture, languedoc, weinanbau, wine, brunch, mas theleme, fabienne bruguiere
Hungry Senegalese fishermen
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
agriculture, photogallery, labour, food, immigration, foreign policy, western africa
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