ORFC GLOBAL 2021

Agroecological food systems will not reach critical mass if there are just small “islands” of agroecological farms. Mechanisms for scaling up are essential. This session will explore how and why the state government of Andhra Pradesh, an Indian state with a population of 54 million, works with women's self help organizations to support millions of farmers to transition to agroecology. CMNF is one of the most promising initiatives in the world in massively scaling up…

Rogelio and his daughter Michel Simbaña of the Kitu-Kara Nation share with us their experiences of 20 years, starting with a mini organic garden and growing up to two interconnected farms in different ecosystems, their work with their local community preserving the Sacred Mountain Ilaló, and the organic shop they opened in February, just in time for the Covid-related food crisis.

Rogelio was born and raised as a poor indigenous farmer. When he was…

The transformation of the food system relies on the effective organising of locally rooted movements and struggles around the world. This work is impossible without challenging approaches rooted in the dominance of colonial languages (in particular English, French and Spanish) and without structures and platforms that ensure and facilitate for everyone’s voices and languages to be heard.

Agroecology at its heart respects the traditions and linguistic heritage of diverse land based cultures. Therefore, it…

La transformación del sistema alimentario reposa en la organización eficaz de movimientos y luchas de origen local en todo el mundo. Este trabajo sería imposible sin cuestionar enfoques basados en la dominación de los idiomas coloniales (sobre todo el inglés, francés y español), y sin estructuras y plataformas que aseguren y faciliten que se oigan las voces y los idiomas de todas las personas.

La agroecología en sus más profundos valores respeta las tradiciones…

Beekeeping is accessible to everyone: it doesn’t require ownership of land, capital investment or great time commitment, but it brings benefits of pollination and harvests of nutritious food and medicine. Local bees, local materials and the knowledge of local beekeepers provide all that is needed; skills in understanding bees and forage in the landscape can be learned. Recognising the dependence of bees on abundant and unpolluted landscapes becomes an incentive for beekeepers to protect and…

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has played a critical role in feeding local communities during the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses and gaps in our global food production and distribution systems. In contrast, smaller more local farms and direct sales models are being celebrated as more resilient and veg box customer numbers soared in 2020.

Join this session to hear from CSA farmers in Europe and the global CSA movement Urgenci, about the…

The importance of local, fresh, seasonal, healthy, sustainable food has gathered momentum, stimulated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the need for food of high nutritional quality has yet to be widely recognised.

We are increasingly aware of the links between the heath of our soil and nutrient content of the food we produce. In this session, we will explore such questions as: Has the decline in soil fertility led to poor nutritional quality food? And…

ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED. LIMITED SPACES: 100 (Full)

Subtle but powerful, this workshop addresses the inevitable next big step in the evolution of sustainable agriculture. Grounded in the indigenous worldviews and experiences of farmers and food gathers over millennia, it explores how we can reclaim our co-creative relationship with nature through working with subtle energies in non-physical realms.

Julia Wright will chair this workshop and provide an introductory overview based on the forthcoming publication on this…

**Many apologies, this session has now been cancelled due to ill health.**

Richard Perkins is an innovative farmer, educator and the author of the widely acclaimed manual Regenerative Agriculture. He is also the co-owner of Ridgedale Farm in Sweden where he teaches farm-scale permaculture. His blogs have been viewed more than 9 million times and he has over 100,000 Youtube subscribers for his live trainings and online courses.

Richard spent 2020, talking with past students…