politikorange Big Plate Theory

Big Plate Theory April 2012

Special Edition for the »MOVE!«-Congress Published by Jugendpresse DEUTSCHLAND with friendly support of Welthungerhilfe Deutschland.

Photos Cover and page 2: Paula Klattenhoff

The limits to growth

Edit o rial Dear participants of the Move! Conference,

Is sustainable development the answer to global problems? By Christian Michel Photo: Anton Knoblach

Two days filled with discussions, lectures and eye witness reports have come to an end. What remains is a clothesline with thoughts, ideas and visions for the future. The paper you are holding in your hands is for you to take home and remind you of the foundation stone laid for further cooperation. But what is much more important is to carry back with you the input and inspiration you have gained within the past few days. Now, it is time to spread the visions of the plenum and open it up for dialogue back where you come from.

The editorial team of politikorange says goodbye. Have a safe trip home and enjoy reading!

Co n t ent

United for sustainable development: Participants of Welthungerhilfe conference "MOVE!".

C

osts of 1.5 billion Dollars, 160 stories and a height of 829.84 meters are only three of the innumerable superlatives created by the tallest man-made object in the world, the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai. Looking up to the peak of the gigantic building, one question comes to mind of every marveling observer: “Is the limit of height finally reached, or will there be a taller tower one day?” The answer is given just at the same place. The Dubai City Tower, a visionary building of 2 400 meters height, is currently in planning in the Arab states.

In the modern world, growth seems to be the most important device for a better future. Only through growth, following the public opinion of leading politicians, the world can be nourished and saved from poverty. To secure these aims the European Union and other supranational organizations have summarized the issue under the term of “sustainable development”. The EU defines sustainable development as “meeting the needs of present generations without jeopardizing the ability of futures generations to meet their own needs” Main aspects of sustainable development are the essential needs of the world's poor which have a high priority and the idea of limitations of growth by the current state of technology. In other words, sustainable development means a good growth that complements human needs. Hence, no prosperity without growth? Is sustainable development the appropriate answer to the question how to feed the world?

In the fields of economics and International Relations, two different perspectives on the availability of resources on our planet do exist.

The realistic view assumes that the resources on the world are limited and, following this maxim, can only be possessed by one subject at a determined moment. In contrast to this the idealistic view implies that the amount of resources can be increased by the states through working to-

gether towards a shared aim. But can working together reallysave the planet and preserve our Western prosperity at the same time?

The nutrition crisis, land conflicts, battles for water and the exploited oceans – to name only a few of the many problems of our modern world – are the very antithesis of the economist’s beliefs. It seems that the planet has reached its limits. The vast expanse of population growth, the consequential increasing demand of energy and the climatic change stand for the failure of the path humanity has turned into during the last decades. Already in 1972, the Club of Rome, a non-commercial organization critical towards economics published the book “Thelimits to growth”. The authors predicted a reaching of growth limits within the next hundred years. More than 30 million copies have been sold since the release. In 1973 the Club of Rome was granted with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

Against the backdrop of the Move! Conference, the question arises whether turning our growth into a “green” one is enough effort to save the planet?

Even a responsible growth can be too much for the earth, when more than seven billions of people make a draft on their part of the planet. An old Indian proverb says: “Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught we will realize we cannot eat money”. In order to prevent this horror scenario from coming true, we have to take concrete action – now.

Christian Michel 19 years ... can´t stop thinking of his childhood hero „Flipper“ while eating tuna, even if the tin is marked with a dolphin save label.

»Spit«

Still tasty food is thrown in the garbage.

What can we do against it?

Page 04

»Swallow« Kek Pung explains the problem of land grabbing in Cambodia.

Page 05

S upp o rt ed by:

In co o perat io n w ith:

Best before wasted

In Western Europe, we are living in a society that offers us food – anytime and anywhere.

And most important: As much as we want. We eat food, enjoy food, dislike food and sometimes, we just throw it away. By Natalie Dayekh

practice but unfortunately most people are not able to apply it. ”Buy what you need, and eat what you bought”, she says. In her book "Stop spild af mad" (Stop wasting food), there are methods of cooking against food waste. Recipes for the daily need or special occasions.

Use by date and best before date There is also a misapprehension regarding the freshness date. Selina Juul points out that the consumer needs to distinguish between food that can be eaten after the freshness date and food that shouldn’t. She explains that there is a difference between products with the label “use by date“and those tagged “best before”.

“Use by date” refers to meat, fish and eggs.

This group of food should be consumed until a certain date that is indicated on the product.

Rice and pasta are examples for “best before” products which can still be eaten after the date on the packaging. The sufferers from food waste are workers in the Global South. They are incapable to compete with the economic strength of the EU countries. Moreover, Western companies buy land in these countries to grow food and export it. The retailers of poor countries are not able to operate as salesmen anymore. Local food prices increase because of high demand from abroad.

Impact on the Global South Food waste is only one side of the coin. It’s mainly a problem in the rich part of our world.

Energy is lavished on goods that end up in our dumpsters. These resources are missing at the other side of the world. In the Global South people have to cope with the consequences of our excesses. The inefficient use of human potential is the major reason for almost one billion people starving.

Too much! We are living in a world that offers an oversupply of food.

M

ore than 20% of all food in Europe ends up as garbage. We are not talking about rotten food but leftovers. Year by year, about 80–150 kg of food is thrown away by each of us.

It sums up to a total of almost 40 million tons per year. There are various reasons for this irresponsible behavior. Food waste begins with the crop. Fruits that do not fulfill certain criteria are separated from the harvest. During the transport, it also can happen that products get damaged and end up in the trash. To prevent such damages, Europe needs better logistics including packaging and a sturdy infrastructure.

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Photo: Anton Knoblach

Employees in stores are instructed to select the best looking vegetables and fruits, so that customers can buy the reddest tomatoes and juiciest apple. It's all about the looks. This seems unbelievable, considering that almost one billion human beings are suffering from malnutrition. The oversupply we are confronted with is bigger than ever before. Shops advertize the cheapest, biggest and most exotic food.

The result is that we buy more products than necessary but don’t finish them. Selina Juul, Founder of the Stop Wasting Food Movement, gives one advice which is simple to put into

Natalie Dayekh 19 years … was eating a lot of apples during the production of this magazine -not even leaving the core since knowing so much about food waste now.

„Sustainable nutrition needs morals and respect” In Cambodia land grabbing destroys living space and farm land. Dr. Kek Pung Defends farmers’ rights in an NGO. By Florian Barth

Photo: Anton Knoblach

What is the problem of land grabbing in Cambodia?

Thousands of Cambodian families have lost their land to the rich and powerful in recent years. In Phnom Penh and the surrounding regions, more than 400.000 people have been affected by land grabbing and evictions since 2003. Only in 2011 over 11.000 families were newly affected by land conflicts. In February 2012, LICADHO has recorded that the government has given at least 2.033.664 hectares of land to private companies in long-term leases.

Why is land grabbing a threat to the population?

As a result of land grabbing the potential for unrest and violence has been steadily increasing. At least six incidents, involving armed military and police forces opening fire during land protests, have occurred in the past three months.

Why is it possible to take away land from the farmers? Are there no laws or are they just not being observed?

It’s complicated because it links with the history of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge (followers of the Communist Party of Cambodia) reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975.

The regime immediately evacuated the cities and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects. They attempted to rebuild the country's agriculture on the model of the 11th century. They burned down all official documents including the land-titles. After the eviction of the Khmer Rouge, the people went back to the countryside and started farming again.

And today?

The new government made a law stating that people can keep their land, after having lived at the same place for at least five years without the government or the investors claiming back the land. The land law obliges to get a new land-title after five years. And this is the problem; the land-title has to be free of charge.

In reality, due to a corrupt government the farmers have to pay. The problem is the farmers don’t have money. If the farmers don’t pay for their land-titles, the companies are allowed

Dr. Kek Pung during the interview

to buy them. Further, the land law allows the government to use land for economic development. But why don’t the government and the companies meet before to negotiate a fair compensation for the farmers? A solution would be: Before giving the land to the investors, the government should make a consultation and talk about the effects for the people. But they never do this.

What does your organization do to help the farmers which suffer from this?

First of all we try to monitor the whole case of land grabbing in Cambodia. We work on a report where land grabbing takes place in Cambodia. Further, we provide comprehensive service for the victims. We don’t push them to do anything. We just want to show them what is possible in the fight for their rights. This is only one aspect of our work.

The other aspect is the humanitarian. When they are expelled from one place to another, what is it that they need the most? They need shelter! So we help them and provide them an accommodation. The Welthungerhilfe gives us money to buy food, some clothes and medication.

Ab o ut Dr. Kek Pun g Dr. Kek Pung was born in 1942 In Cambodia. During the civil war from 1975 – 1978 she left the country and received her medical degree in France. She returned to initiate negotiations between the government and the opposition in the 1980s. In 1992 she founded the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

Florian Barth 22 years ... tries to live healthy but can`t pass a fast food store without buying a “Currywurst”.

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It’s all about food – fighting for sustainable nutrition We need solutions and found three people, who are working for sustainable nutrition in different ways.

Their engagements have a big impact to make out food future public. By Florian Barth and Natalie Dayekh

Photos: Anton Knoblach

Christiana Figueres

Selina Juul

For an expedition to the Antarctica in February Selina Juul, born 1980 in Moscow, founded 2012 Christiana Figueres left the comfort of her the “Stop Wasting Food Movement”. At the age office at the UN Climate Change Secretariat in of 13 she moved to Denmark with her mother.

Bonn. Figueres, the daughter of former presi- Although she came from an academic family in dent of Costa Rica Jose Ferrer, was appointed Russia and never had to suffer hunger, the variExecutive Secretary of the United Nations Fra- ety of food was overwhelming. But after a whimework Convention on Climate Change in May le, she got angry when she noticed, that people 2010. Because of her experience in this field she threw food away, especially in her own school. used to be member of the Costa Rican climate She started arguing and asking why they did it. change negotiating team. Instead of meeting “The buy and throw away culture is an insult rooms and people in suits the former office wo- for those people who don’t have these things.” man decided to go on a journey to the highest, After some years she started working for Greencoldest, driest and windiest continent on the peace and therewith as well to be aware of the planet. During her journey she was reminded limitation of our food resources. In 2008 Selina that rising greenhouse gas concentrations in Juul decided from one day to the other, that the world’s atmosphere have already led to a she now really “needs to do something”. That temperature rise of almost three degrees Celsius is why she started a group on Facebook. This over the past 50 years in the Antarctica.Figueres idea set the stone rolling. The NGO started makes clear that we are the generation that has on Facebook. Three Months later someone to take action and move. It is our task to stop from a retail chain called “REMA the 1000th” deforestation, CO2 emission and to improve the contacted Juul: Her idea was striking. After the water storing. She calls for joint efforts from all first contact it was clear, that the discounter governments in the fight against climate change. would support her idea and for example stop to Whilst the world community does not have a advertize 3 for 2 offers. Today she has many folclear vision and a concrete action plan yet, the lowers and was even invited to the Danish and sheer magnitude of what we are dealing with European Congress to inform politicians about means that the civil society and every single food waste. She has published a book called government must do their utmost to stave off “Stop spild af mad”(Stop wasting food). The the worst effects of climate change. Businesses book contains information about how leftovers can play a central role, and the public sector can can be turned into a new meal. For Selina Juul, team up with companies to get action going on it is more important to act than to talk. the ground. “Before you make a decision that She asks every single person to get engaaffects the world’s climate, imagine the eyes of ged: ”It is not too late for a change,” because seven generations of children in the future loo- “small things can make a difference on a huge king at you, and asking … Why?” scale”

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Pablo Chumacero Chumacero is head of the Research Unit at the NGO Fundacion Tierra in Bolivia which was found in 1991. The organisation focuses on the problem of land grabbing in Bolivia. Chumaceros job is collecting information about the problem of destroyed and dispend agricultural land in the forest areas of Bolivia. The problem in the forest areas is that land grabbing is increasing because of the soya production. In order to increase the soya cultivation the producers destroy environment by cutting the woods.

Chumacero is collecting information about the development to make analysis and studies to use this information to alert the civil society and the government to do something against deforestation.

His main target is to prevent a free market for land sales. He demands an external control to solve the problem of land grabbing. For him it is very important to do research in order to help society to move on. His engagement is part of a promotion of sustainable food: activists against land grabbing around the globe help to make farmers’ rights public and prevent exploitation of fields that are needed to feed the population.

Clothesline of cooperation

Imprint

The worldwide food production could feed the world's population three times. But why are still almost one billion people in the world starving? During the “Move! United for Sustainable Development” conference, activists from the southern and the northern hemisphere were jointly looking for answers. By Alisa Fluhrer und Jil Blume

This issue of politikorange was created during the Conference „MOVE! United for sustainable development“ organized by the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. on the 24th and 25th March 2012 in Bonn.

Publisher: politikorange Jugendpresse Deutschland e.V., Wöhlertstraße 18, 10115 Berlin, www.politikorange.de Editors in chief (V.i.S.d.P.): Jil Madelaine Blume (j.blume@jp-rheinland.de) Alisa Fluhrer (alisa.fluhrer@gmx.net) Editors: Natalie Dayekh, Florian Barth External writer: Christian Michel Photo editor: Anton Knoblach (mail@photony.de) Layout: Maximilian Gens (max@maximiliangens.de) Project management: Florian Hirsch (f.hirsch@jugendpresse.de)

Photo: Alisa Fluhrer

A

long string with hundreds of orange, white and green notes stretches through the entrance hall of the Deutsche Welle building in Bonn. The small pieces of paper stand for the three theme blocks discussed during the two-day conference on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Welthungerhilfe. The event on the 24th and 25th of April aimed to enable dialogue among an international civil society. The almost 200 participants shared expertise about their work and experience in speeches, discussions, eye witness reports and networking sessions. Climate change, food waste and loss, and land grabbing: On a global level, sustainable nutrition is only possible when all three dilemmas are approached. Mutual cooperation is inevitable.

The dramatic impact of climate change on the right of food dominated the conference on its first day. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from Costa Rica, closed the plenum with a stirring synthesis. The next day, food waste in Europe and North America was on the agenda. A fragment of Valentin Thurn’s 2011 movie "Taste the Waste" introduced the topic and triggered discussion. Only

few hours later, NGO activists reported of land grabbing and the resulting food insecurity due to the absence or violation of certain laws in their countries. “We don’t want to export our own land,” says the note of a participant from Sierra Leone. During networking-sessions and breaks, participants were invited to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas on the string.

Only the first step, what’s next?

“We aim to create a global forum of experts who forward concrete results to politicians,” Dr. Wolfgang Jamann, general secretary of Welthungerhilfe expressed his expectations.

Welthungerhilfe, WWF, Verbraucherzentrale NRW (consumer advice center) and Die Tafeln (food banks) have already proven on a local level that such cooperation is possible. From now on, the four organizations will encourage German politicians to bring sustainable development and nutrition on the agenda.

"They are asking for it!” Jamann explained. “Only recently Valentin Thurn held a lecture during a public consultation of the German parliament". It seems that on a lower level we already get closer to

the goal to make sustainable nutrition an important issue of our politicians.

The German example gives hope for the success of a larger project. Prosperity equals growth equals development, is a simplification of the paradigm modern democracies with liberal economic systems find themselves in throughout the globe.

In June, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro will question this world view. And indeed, not only once the wish for a joint declaration for Rio+20 appeared on the string. In order to exchange ideas, learn from each other and formulate claims together, platforms are necessary. Conferences such as "Move!

United for sustainable nutrition" are the first step towards concrete action. It’s time for the second!

Print: Deutsche Welle Circulation: 200 exemplars This didactic-editorial was realized with friendly support of Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V..

The team of this issue from the politikorange "Big Plate Theory".

Photo: Frank Norden

Alisa Fluhrer 21 years Jil Madeleine Blume 22 years ... thank politikorange teamer Paula for sustainable hostel catering in late night editorial sessions.

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Beyond the bubble

What do you associate with sustainable nutrition?

"Organic Farming"

Wiebke, 26 It's all about methods how to grow food and take care of the fields.

"Fastfood"

Ivan, 18 Sustainable food? Espacially the fat of junkfood is sustainable!

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"Regional"

Claudia, 45 Sustainable Farming and eating sustainable. That means: seasonal, local and organic – don't eat strawberries in winter!

"I don't Believe"

Thorsten, 18 I don't belive that I can live on nothing but sustainable food. I don't even know where the things I eat exactly come from and what ingredients they have.

"Renewable energies"

Daniel, 25 Food should be Grown sustainably. With renewable energies and stuff.

"Seasonal "

Mohammed, 34 I am a cook. I only prepare food out of seasonal vegetables. You shouldn’t eat things that came by plane.