From November 28th to December 2nd, 2016, the event took place in wannseeFORUM a seminar on the topic Nutrition and Globalization with students of the Carl von Ossietzky School Instead, the example of the tomato was used to illustrate growing conditions and trade routes of foodstuffs, and the connection with social and environmental consequences was discussed.
After all the organizational matters were clarified on Monday morning, the afternoon began with a presentation by Claudia Fix, a speaker from Engagement Global, The lesson covered topics such as the form and origin of our staple foods and how they have spread worldwide throughout history. This theme was revisited with a food timeline, where students had to put milestones in food production in the correct order. The nutrition quiz also allowed students to playfully apply their prior knowledge.
The following morning, after a tomato rally to trace the journey of a tomato from field to plate, an excursion to Neukölln ensued. The first stop was the garden project. Magnificent tomato, where vegetables and fruit are grown in old bathtubs, wheelbarrows, or crates right in the middle of the city. A member of the project team showed us around and explained the difference between her vegetables and those from the supermarket. We learned how community-supported agriculture works from a member of the CSA Hof basta over a hot drink in Magnificent work.
From here we continued into the Cafe Botanico. Here, seasonal dishes made with produce from their own permaculture garden are served. After enjoying a short tour of the garden, we had the opportunity to sample the ingredients. Over delicious soup, we chatted with the café staff and warmed up a bit. Afterwards, we returned to the wannseeFORUM.
On Wednesday, the participants began their workshop work. They had a choice of three different workshops: rap, collage, and infographics. Each group worked diligently on their project, culminating in a final presentation on Friday. Despite the tight timeframe, all groups managed to produce a successful presentation.
The infographic group created insightful Flowcharts about the cultivation and distribution of tomatoes, focusing primarily on the different ecological consequences that occur when conventional tomatoes and tomatoes from community-supported agriculture are grown.
In their installations, the collage group draws attention to the social impact of industrial tomato production.
The rap group's lyrics dealt with poverty, the throwaway society, and the EU's subsidy policy.
After the presentation, there was a short evaluation session with the participants, and then the seminar was over. We hope all participants were able to take away some inspiration for engaging with food from the seminar.
You can find some photos from the seminar here. here.