Why is Zotter Chocolate sustainable?

Can chocolate be sustainable? Yes, mister Zotter proofs it! In Austria, more specific in the region of Graz, this visionary man produces more than 300 different kinds of chocolates, with original ingredients, which are all organic and fair-trade. For an assignment of one of my classes (#industrial ecology) my friend from Kazachstan and I made a video about the sustainability of Zotter Chocolate.

Enjoy the video! 

From Apple Computer to Apple Tree

(c) wendiertje89 on Instagram
Fall in East-Germany, 2014

 Dreaming as reply to the Fall in the World

Winter is Coming. It's one of the most popular and known quotes from the series Game of Thrones. It means that dark times are coming, but it also means that we are in fall, the time between summer and winter, when things start to change. Trees start to loose their leaves, the birds fly to other regions and the temperature starts to decrease. In this period we pluck the fruits of our hard work in the previous seasons and keep it in a dry place, so we can survive the cold, dead winter. People who look further, see the spring after this dead period, and start to plant fruit trees and spread seeds from spinach, salads, parsley and even carrots, because fall is also the period when you can change a lot of things. 

My brother and I are very aware of the crisis, the winter, the dark times, that are coming to us, or in fact, already started. There is a big fall in the world. In two meanings of the world.  The Patriarchal capitalism is spreading as a disease over whole the world, polluting the grounds, the water, the air and the human mind. The violence against women and foreigners increased, biotechnology changed the genetics of seeds and plants so engineers control who has access to food and who not, we are working for money that does not exist, because the banks are speculating with it... etc. I believe the only way to solve many problems is when people have access to small pieces of ground and can grow their own food, as I said in the previous blog about "the future of food". That is why my brother and I decided to do something with the ground that we hearted from our grandparents. We want to create a safe haven, that gives us food, that frees us and our beloved ones from the capitalist patriarchy that makes from us slaves of our own wage, that let us be in contact with nature and let us be in control of our own life. We started to dream... as a reply to the fall in the world. 

Planning with Permaculture Design
Last Summer I participated in the permaculture design course from Regreen ecocenter in Greece. These were two of the most interesting weeks in my life, because apart from the knowledge I also got some skills and tools to achieve my dreams: my mind and my hands became different in my eyes. 
Together with my brother we made a map of our ground and started to draw. We decided to have a greenhouse (without warming elements), but also a place with a self made contain and picknick tables. We also made different phases, to give us enough time. We hoped that in the summer and fall of 2016 we would be 30% self-sustainable. We think it's important to have a part-time job, to pay taxes, medical care etc... but we also think we can save a lot of money by providing ourselves with vegetables, fruits and eggs. 

I have to admit that I feel guilty that I spend too much time with my apple computer. Technology is promoted as progress, something that should make everything goes faster, but instead of creating more time for ourselves, I've the feeling I've not enough time. Nothing can go fast enough. By going back to the nature, and planting apple trees and other seeds, I hope to find again a balance with myself and the world, find more time for myself and can feel really happy and satisfied with what I am doing. Being self-sustainable is not only about being in control of your food, but also in control of your mind. I know that my mind is still a slave of all the ruling dogma's of the patriarchy. 

Maybe that's also why I am so interested for ecofeminism. It is a political answer on racism, sexism, class exploitation and environmental destruction, that not only maps the problems (all the roots of the bad things happening in the world are in patriarchy according to ecofeminists), but also provides the solutions: subsistence. 

(c) The Ecologist

Acting, because actions tell more than words

Since the end of June our garden started to change. We bought 3 chickens. We built a picknick table and a terrace where we hope to celebrate nice evening gatherings with friends. We made a greenhouse where we planted seeds for vegetables for next spring - and I love writing about it and sharing it with Facebook, because it makes me proud that I am doing these things for myself, for the world and for nature.

Today my brother, his friend and I planted also 18 fruit trees: mulberries, apricots, pears, apples, cherries and nuts will be hopefully the main ingredients of our diet. Soon I will plant some flowers (like narcissus) and herbs that belong to guilds of plants protecting trees against diseases and insects and/or making the soil more fertile, but according to a garden architect our soil is perfect for fruit trees, so we will focus on plants that will fight against the pests and diseases. In the next months I will give a list of the guilt of plants we used, what kind of problems we (hopefully not) faced and the solutions we (hopefully) found. 

 Celebrating, as the 4th and most important phase of Dragon Dreaming. 
That's for later, but the feeling that I am doing something good feels already as a nice celebration for the soul. 

Geography Awareness week: Food of the Future

During Geography Awareness Week (organised by National Geographic), they raise awareness about a geographical topic. This year the theme is  "FOOD of the FUTURE".

Honestly, I do not like to talk with people about what they eat every day, but that does not mean I do not care about food.
In fact, I think every day -in shops, on farms, at my home- about the impact of food.
I think it's important to be in dialogue with yourself and others if what we eat is good for our health, social justice and the environment... and not just "so what did you eat today? Is it delicious?".

I am more aware how important it is to be in control of what you eat. Companies and their engineers are not going to solve the hunger in the world, the social injustice and the environmental crisis; they will only give solutions for problems, but they will not let disappear the roots of these problems.
In fact, I am really scared for many companies, certainly the ones who control seeds, the source of our food, which is the source of our life. Many farmers in whole the world are in huge debts because they do not have access to plants which can procreate, but always have to buy again these genetically modified seeds. Thousands of farmers committed suicide because of their debts, read: their dependence from these companies.

They are not the only persons who are controlled by these companies.
Many companies control the prices of food, and all people who buy their food from the market, are affected by this price. When we talk about food of the future, we should also talk about access, because maybe in some very near future, most of us will not have access to food, because they will not have the money anymore (more jobs will disappear, because of the rationalisation of the economical activities) and they do not know how to grow food.

I get to more and more admiration for skilful, self-sufficient and autonomous people who can make their own food and other important basic products. I think these people do more good to the world than most companies, and I think we can learn more from them than from business leaders and politicians; because these people can teach us how to be free of all this control of food, free of this control of our life.

Some people perceive people who garden as a sign of poverty. I see it is as a sign that you are not a slave, a passive consumer of this society, but are more free than people who are dependent from super market prices. Poverty does not mean you do have money. It means that you do not have a choice, that you are not free.

Apart from the negative perception about self-sufficiency, there are -unfortunately-  also companies and governments who try to have control over anybody, so there are a lot of limiting regulations. So... that's why it is important to lobby for seeds that are not genetically modified for example. That is why I like activists like Vandana Shiva, a leading ecofeminist and one of my big examples. I believe her, because apart from an activist and philosopher, she is also a scientist.

And I believe that many geographers also should talk more about the future of food, because we know the earth the best -the social and environmental aspects, and think how food should be accessible for everyone. Geographers study the problems and the relationship between humans and nature, so in fact, food, which is the most important link between human and nature, is geography.

Mac Bug - or the globalisation of Insects and Worms as Food

Last summer, when I was in Valencia, a friend showed me an article called "Will We All Be Eating Insects in 50 Years", which explains the benefits for our health and nature if we would eat more and more insects instead of meat. Even the United Nations is doing research to promote this food in the West. In countries in Africa, Asia and Latin-America, insects belong to the diet of many people. So... why not in the West? The idea to change the world by promoting insects as food in Europe started to grow, because it fits my values of health, economics and care. Some weeks later I talked with a friend from Switzerland who studies agriculture about this. He told me you cannot sell insects in Switzerland, but his friends are designing "boxes which allow you to cultivate your own insects" to bypass the law. My brother and I talked also some days ago about having an insect farm, and two days ago my brother came home and asked me I am ready for a culinar experiment. I thought that he was going to make pancakes with bacon or something, but then he showed me a package of “Nuggets made with Buffallo Worms.” .

Insect Nuggets

Immediately I said yes. I was surprised that you could buy this in a supermarket in Vorselaar, which is Almost in the Middle of Nowhere in Flanders, so I asked my friend Google since when you can buy insect food in Belgium.

I read that it's legal in Belgium. Sometimes I really love my country for it's open mind :)

Entomophagy, or the eating of bugs, is widely regarded as one of the most promising solutions to increasing environmental pressure, worldwide food insecurity and the rising cost of animal protein. Edible insects, which require minimal space to breed and produce no greenhouse gases, are 40 to 70% protein. (Corn, in comparison, is only 10%.)While the EU is yet to come out with a clear position on eating insects, Belgium has taken the lead and legalised its own list of 10, making it the first European country where the consumption of insects is officially allowed.

 (source: Flanderstoday.eu)

In fact, I did not miss out. The products of Damhert, a Belgian company that like the animal Damhert (English: Fallow Deer) selects his food consciously, put these products in the end of October in the market -which is now. In the last 30 years they produced gluten free, sugar free, vegetarian... products and now they want to take the lead in insect based foods.

Benefits of insect food

So why should I eat insects? I made a selection of interesting video's:

If you have more time, watch this video from BBC about the entomophagy in Thailand and Cambodja: You learn there that poverty forces young kids to catch and eat tarantula's (and it's even healthy), or see the BBC-crew attacked by red ants, before they eat the eggs.

Hashtag #Insectfood

I took an instagram picture from the package and shared it with explanation on my facebook, not to show off, but to see the reactions, while waiting for my brother preparing this for dinner. 

Besides the many likes, I've got interesting remarks from (Facebook) friends of whole Europe.

Let share some of them and add some intercultural theme.

* The student restaurant in Brussels is serving this on thursdays two weeks ago they also served worm-burgers, njamie !  (Belgian friend)

* They are great. We tried it already (Belgian friend 2).

* Well, that is a very open-minded thinking... I guess (Romanian friend)

* The worm burgers are great too btw (Belgian friend 2 again)

* o_o you live and learn... (Finnish friend)

* The "go green" label is doubtful, however, enjoy your meal! (German friend)

* Was it worms or insects?(German friend)

I googled worms and insects are not the same, but they are both invertebrates which are animals that does not have a vertebral column. I learnt something new today.

And then remarks that makes us think about food even more... 

A girl from Poland was more critical: 

 Don't want to ruin your appetite but what exactly can be tasty about the highly processed fast food that is just heated up in a microwave or deep-oil-fried?

I answered with: 

I really like your remark . To get reactions, especially critically, I posted this picture. Food is one of our biggest needs, and a lot of people do not think critically about it. We do not think if it's healthy for us, or what's their ecological footprint (I've to admit I still buy food coming from other sides of the world and it makes me ashamed, because I am conscious about all the damage this globalisation of goods does to the environment)... and I've to admit that this is not the best food I ever had, and I agree that it would be more healthy, better for the environment (and I can give more benefits) if we would eat fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs... from our own garden, local organic farm.... but I like these kind of "inventions" like "worm nuggets" which makes the step easier and more accessible for a lot of people to try this. Probably the way how it's processed can be improved, but it's good to show people "look we can eat different", "look we can live in a different world" 

Another guy from Germany remarked: 

I've been a vegetarian for several years now and I'm aware that it is certainly also not the best way in terms of sustainability and ecological footprint, in particular when it comes to meat replacement products, much like the one you've tried here, but based on soy (protein).While I salute your approach of thinking outside the box to raise awareness, I don't think I'm personally ready for this particular innovation just yet. Gladly though, I don't need to think too much about it as I've just classified worms and insects as "animals", therefore I simply can't eat them anyway. 
If I am made aware of it, I'd always prefer to buy locally grown organic products, but I also still shop too often just for convenience. One problem is that we as consumers expect every product to be available at any time, the only notable part-exceptions that come to my mind now would be strawberries and asparagus.

The Polish girl reacted:

actually Wendy, I disagree. Showing people such a food motivates them to experiment with things they don't know. If they like it, or at least don't hate it, they make a step further, namely rather buy food from the other part of the world than get seasonal food from the local producer. Insecta Nuggets seems rather a promotion of exotic food to me- I can't see a big label 'local product' and the first place of origin that comes to peoples' minds when they see insects/worms being a meal is most likely somewhere in Asia, well definitely not Belgium

I have to remark that Damhert tries to promote "healthy" food, and not really exotic food. They make products that also can be produced here. 

Anti-imperialism-movement of the Insects

As a Belgian friend remarked, to who my brother showed the package the next day, "in fact it would be easy if we eat insects. Just do not clean the spider webs and cultivate the insects from there."

You can cultivate insects everywhere. I do not encourage exporting insects from other countries, but exporting the idea, the mindset... 

My biggest fear for entomophagy is that this will become another globalised business, still having a big ecological impact, because "cheaper insects and worms" will be imported from "cheap labour countries". Still... I hope it would be so cheap to make insects everywhere, it's not necessary to import them. Insects can connect us again with local economies. Hopefully more economies will become more local, because I believe in globalisation or mobility of ideas and people, but not in international trade or mobility of goods. 

Why do we not east insects in the West? 

The Westerners took over almost whole the world and saw themselves better than whole the world for many centuries. They did not eat insects, because they associated it with indigenous people, with "savages", but maybe it's time that we go off our throne and embrace the idea of eating insects, instead of worrying about the increasing meat consumption in other countries. How often don't you read in the news that the meat consumption in China for example grew from 20kg/year/person increased in the last years to 50kg/year/person and that we should educate people from other countries to think more critically about their food habits, their consumption habits, their lifestyle? We are afraid for overpopulation (which is not going to happen if you study the graph of the demographic growth), global warmth, deforestry... but still look to the other side of the world for all problems. It's embedded in our system, our patriarchal system, to think in dualities and give the others the fault. 

If I have to think in dualities, I would not tell others what to do, but learn from others what we can do. 

And how does it taste?

Well, it is not the best thing I ever tasted, but it was not bad either. I did not think about the fact that I was eating worms, but just food... of the future. 

Valencia Bestaat Niet

“The continent is too large to describe. It is a veritable ocean, a separate planet, a varied, immensely rich cosmos. Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say 'Africa'. In reality, except as a geographical appellation, Africa does not exist.” 

― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Cobra's Heart

Een van mijn gastheren en ik in "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias",
de meest beroemde toeristische attractie in Valencia.
Dit gebouw werd een symbool van corruptie en geldschandalen. 

Ik vond deze anekdote op de eerste bladzijde in een boek in Gandia, een stadje nabij Valencia. Het was in het Spaans -niet mijn beste taal-, maar toch begreep ik elke letter. Eerder dan deze anekdote die ik op het internet terug vond, schreef Ryszard in zijn voorwoord dat dit boek niet over Afrika gaat, maar een compilatie is van reisverhalen, van zijn ervaringen en ontmoetingen met mensen die toevallig allemaal op dat stuk planeet wonen, tussen deze grenzen, in deze labels... van Afrika.

Twee dagen eerder was ik in Valencia aangekomen, ook met een koffer  vol stereotypen. Ik wist niet zoveel van Valencia, behalve dat er een strand was, een of ander beroemd monument dat een of ander museum voor kunst en wetenschappen was, en dat de paella daar ontstaan was. 

Het is heel gemakkelijk om deze stereotypen uit de doos te halen. Ja, ik heb paella gegeten. Mijn gastheer gaf me churros dat ik in mijn chocolade saus moest dopen. Bij de schattige grootouders kreeg ik een glas Horchata, een drank dat uit noten, water en suiker bestaat en op melk lijkt, een typische drank uit Valencia dat ontstaan is toen er veel moslims waren.  De grootouders bodem me ook fartons aan, de typische koekjes, op de binnenplaats van hun koddig huisje, waar grote bomma-onderbroeken aan de wasdraad drogen en waar je in de verte duiven hoort kirren. Daar, op de plastieken tuintafel, trof ik dit boek aan en las ik deze tekst.

Ik herken het onmiddellijk. 

Ik vind het alsmaar moeilijker om een reisverslag over een land of een stad te maken. Ik wil iets origineels schrijven, zonder in stereotypen te vervallen, maar bestaat deze plek dan wel? Onlangs merkte een kennis op dat in stereotypen een zekere waarheid zit. Zou Valencia bestaan als we alle paella, strand, feestjes, fartons en horchata zouden laten wegvallen. 

Misschien moet ik maar het voorbeeld van Ryszard volgen en gewoon een verhaal vertellen over wat mij in Valencia is gebeurd. Terwijl enkele vrienden van een van mijn twee gastheren paella aan het voorbereiden waren in een grote pan, praatten de andere gastheer en ik over reizen. Ik vertelde hem dat ik denk dat ik zo vaak reis, omdat ik op zoek ben naar iets, maar ik weet nog niet wat. Ik ben nog niet helemaal verzadigd met wat ik heb. Er ontbreekt iets. Hij zei dat zijn leven ook rond een zoektocht draait. Zelf speelt hij gitaar. 

"Ik zoek het perfecte lied."

Daarom heeft hij een lijst van boeken opgesteld, en pas als hij die allemaal gelezen heeft, weet hij dat hij het perfecte lied zal componeren. Hij weet dat het al over liefde zal gaan. 

Toen vatte de tafel vlam waarop ze paella aan het klaarmaken waren... 

Biodynamische landbouw in Pakistan

Biodynamische landbouw (ook wel vaak Biologisch-dynamische landbouw genoemd) is gebaseerd op de twaalf lezingen die de Oostenrijkse filosoof en pedagoog Rudolf Steiner over landbouw gegeven heeft. In deze landbouw wordt de kosmos en de natuur geobserveerd, niet om tegen de natuur te werken, maar om samen met de natuur het allerbeste te behalen. De zon zorgt voor smaak en de maan zorgt voor groei. Zij gebruiken ook preparaten van mineralen zoals kwarts die ze in koehoorns in de grond bewaren. Deze preparaten mengen ze in een watervortex waarna ze het over de bodem sproeien. Biodynamisch heeft iets van hekserij. Toch winnen vele biodynamische wijnen heel wat prijzen en zijn er wetenschappelijke onderzoeken dat groenten groter en voedzamer zijn dan hun broertjes in hetzelfde land.

De biodynamische boerderij van Roshni in Lahore
bron: Wendy Wuyts (instagram)

Zelf kwam ik in aanraking met biodynamische landbouw dankzij een artikel in een van mijn favoriete magazines, en voelde me meteen gestimuleerd om hierover meer te weten, zeker omdat ik zelf dankzij mijn nicht (en huisgenote) meer en meer bewust over mijn eten begin te worden. Enkele maanden geleden zocht ik op waar ik meer van zulke boerderijen kon vinden in België, maar de zoekresultaten waren nogal pover. Toen viel mijn blik op de reisgids van Pakistan, mijn volgende reisbestemming, en kreeg ik het idee om te kijken of ik daar geen boerderij kon vinden om meer te leren. Ik vond toen zelfs een mogelijkheid om WWOOFing te gaan doen in de enige biologisch-dynamische boerderij, dat toevallig in Lahore, mijn hoofdbestemming lag. Ik nam contact met de Roshni Associatie. Na wat correspondentie was ik uiteindelijk uitgenodigd om tijdens mijn laatste drie dagen daar te verblijven. Ik zou enkele posters en banners maken voor als ze naar de farmer's market in Lahore zouden gaan om hun organische producten te verkopen. Intussen leerde ik over biodynamische landbouw, de Waldorf school (de enige tot nu toe in Pakistan) en de verbintenis met elkaar en de zon. Zij hebben ook een gemeenschap voor mensen met speciale noden, en werken met vrijwilligers uit Duitsland, Oostenrijk en Zwitserland vooral. Ook had ik gesprek met de Duitse man van de Pakistaanse vrouw die deze associatie tien jaar geleden heeft opgericht.

Een Zwitserse vrijwilliger en een Pakistaans meisje
- West & Oost komen samen in Roshni, het Licht
bron: Wendy Wuyts (instagram)

Hij legde me uit dat Roshni, dat "licht betekent", een plaats is waar het Oosterse en het Westerse samenkomen. Daarom draagt het ook de slogan "Gottes ist der Orient, Gottest ist der Okzident" ("God is het Oosten, God is het Westen"), een anekdote van Goethe, een beroemde schrijver wiens naam wel eens in context van Orientalisme en Biodynamische Landbouw wordt genoemd. Het Goetheanum nabij Basel in Zwitserland is het wereldcentrum van antroposofische beweging. Niet alleen het huwelijk tussen de twee oprichters is een samensmelting van Oost en West. Ook de leer van Steiner is zeer Westers. Zo legde de Duitse vrijwilliger die al vijf jaar voor hen werkt dat ze bijvoorbeeld een discussie hadden of de koehoorns halal waren. Ook bevat de leer van Steiner heel veel verwijzingen naar het christendom. Hoe verzoen je dat met Islam? Door naar de gemeenschappelijke doelen te kijken, en niet naar de verschillen. Compassie, empathie, zorg voor elkaar, zorg voor de natuur...  brengen Westerse vrijwilligers en Pakistaanse mensen met speciale zorgen, de Pakistaanse personeelsleden en boeren, Pakistaanse mensen... samen.

Organisch is nog niet echt ingeburgerd bij de Pakistaanse mens. Ik had nog een gesprek met een goede vriend wiens tante in het ziekenhuis ligt. "In het Westen moeten jullie veel gezonder zijn, want jullie hebben al die organische initiatieven," merkte hij opeens op. Ik wist niet of ik met die uitspraak akkoord ging. Mensen in het Westen zijn niet allemaal gezonder of meer bewust van wat ze eten, maar ik moet wel toegeven dat ik in een cirkel met een straal van honderd meter in Brussel meer organische winkels vind dan in heel Lahore. Toch begint de vraag te groeien. Roshni heeft veel vaste klanten die hun brood en groenten bij hen aankopen. Ook duiken initiatieven zoals de organische "Khalis Food Market" op die gezond en organisch eten promoten bij de lokale bevolking. 

Ik heb de gezondheidsstatistieken van Pakistan niet bekeken, maar als ik hun dieet bekijk, denk ik dat organisch geteelde groenten en fruit wel eens een verrijkende aanvulling kan zijn naast al het vlees dat ik die maand voorgeschoteld kreeg. 

https://www.facebook.com/KhalisFoodMarket

Grandmother's Consciousness about Food

Yesterday, in Ghent, my new 2nd home where I work as graphic assistant for the next weeks,  I attended the lecture "The Future of Our Food" by Vandana Shiva, followed by words from Jeroen Olieslaeghers and Thierry Kesteloot, to end with a note how we can change our own habits to leave this world a better place. It was all about seeds, monocultures in the food but also in the mind, biogenetics and privatisation of seeds (and knowledge). It was not the evening that changed my whole life, but there were interesting quotes I want to share. 

Vandana Shiva, source: wikipedia 

Who is Vandana Shiva?

This lady was the reason of my presence; I didn't give too much attention to the subject. Apart from the fact she is a scientist and an activist, I know she is an ecofeminist. I'll copy another thing from wikipedia to give a clear definition (although researchers say there is no clear definition): "Ecofeminists connects the exploitations and domination of women with that of the environment, and argues that there is a connection between women and nature that comes from their shared history of oppression by a patriarchal Western society." Several years ago I bumped into this concept, and I have tried to read more it, because gender studies and environment both interest me a lot, and inspire me for many stories. I had hoped Vandana would tell more about ecofeminism, but there were not so many words about the role of women in "the food from our future". I wanted to ask it, but there was no time for more than 3 questions... 

The biggest reference to the role of "women" in (re)connecting the human with nature, healthy (bio-)food... was made by one of the panel speakers, who told us that when his grandmother prepared a meal, it was for 3 hours of socializing. She was very consciousness about the food, and gave it a lot of love, because it would reproduce a lot of love. Now we don't have time anymore to invest in healthy life and food. He called us we don't need a "new consciousness", but have to go back to the "consciousness of the grandmother". I liked this quote. It reminded me to the philosophy around Ayahuascu, the Russian mythology of Baba Yaga... In the womb of Grandmothers, mothers Earth, Mother Ocean... we are all born, and there we probably all will end. I like this metaphor... to go back to the grandmother, to reconnect back with healthy life. 

"Monocultures in food creates monocultures in the mind"
The whole lecture started with the fact that when Vandana was picked up from the Belgian airport she remarked all our corn had the same height. In India, she said, they have different heights. It is true. In many countries you only can find "beautiful", "perfect" vegetables, fruits... Tomatoes are thrown away if they are not red and shiny. People invest a lot of money in genetics... to create "the perfect food"... but what is the perfect food? Vandana critisized the fact (ok, here we have some ecofeminism) that all scientists of multinationals -which she calls technicians, not scientists- try to control nature, try to control life... but that it does not really bring the world, us all... to a better place. "Everything has to be engineered, to look like a machine." 
We spread everywhere pesticides. 
And all because of money. 
We measure yield/ha, not health/ha. 
Money, power and control destroys the earth, because it let us all forget we're all connected. We should live next to each other, horizontal, not trying to have control over each other, living vertical. 

Seeds and deeds
Of course words are only seeds. Most people are already aware of what is going on with our health, food, environment... but the next step, maybe the most difficult, is to take action. It can be everything. Just planting sunflower seeds on every ugly piece of ground you find. Planting fruit trees and share the fruits with your neighbourhood. Buy bio-food in supermarkets, because they are the big players in our whole food circuit. The demand of the client decides what they will offer. If you only buy in nature shops, you'll not affect super markets. You've to know the tricks to win the game. Even in power and there are many weak points. It is up to find them and go for it. 

In the end of the lecture, they all gave us seeds to plant somewhere to grow bio-tomatoes, and a small booklet about the "law of seed", which is about privatization. I'll try to read it soon, and give some review about it. First I am going to plant some seeds ;)