• Login
RIPESS Europe
  • fr Français
  • es Español
  • en English
  • Home
  • About us
    • History
    • Vision
    • Goals
    • RIPESS Charter
    • Manifesto
  • Governance
    • Network of Members
    • How to become a member
      • Membership fee payment
    • Coordination Committee
    • Scientific Committee
    • RIPESS Intercontinental Board
    • Rules and Regulations
    • Articles of the Association
    • Privacy Policy
  • Activities
    • General Assemblies
      • 1st GA – Barcelona 2011
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 2nd GA – Lille 2013
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 3rd GA – Villarceaux 2014
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 4th GA – Berlin 2015
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 5th GA – Villarceaux 2016
        • Online registration
        • How to get to La Bergerie
        • GA 2016: Programme
        • GA2016: Documentation and results
        • GA 2016 Workshops
          • W1: Inter-cooperation and co-construction
          • W2: Rethinking the economy
          • W3: Impact & social audit
          • W4: Panorama on SSE in Europe
          • W5: Solidarity Economy, Agroecology and Food Sovereignty
          • W6: European public policies and SSE
      • 6th GA – Athens 2017
        • Online Registration
        • Agenda of 6th General Assembly
        • Forum to prepare GA Athens 2017
      • 7th GA – Zagreb 2018
        • Agenda of the 7th General Assembly
      • 8th GA – Lyon 2019
        • Online registration
        • Agenda GA 2019 – Lyon
          • Cities and SSE: policies and practices to transform the economy
        • GA 2019 Documents
      • 9th GA – Online 2020
        • GA 2020 Online registration
        • Agenda GA 2020
        • GA2020 – Documents
    • Working Areas and Projects
      • BUSSE – Building Up SSE
      • SSE VET 2
      • IVET AND SSE
    • Webinars: Public policies and SSE
    • Meetings
      • EFSSE 2016 (European Forum on Social and Solidarity Economy)
    • Activity Reports
  • Networking
    • 2020 thematic groups, our members collaborate !
    • Alternative Media and SSE
      • 2nd Independent media & SSE Meeting (Feb 2018)
        • 2nd Independant media and SSE Meeting Agenda
      • Alternative media network participants
      • Alternative media mapping
    • Panorama of SSE in Europe
      • Survey: Panorama on Social Solidarity Economy in Europe
      • History of the Panorama of SSE in Europe
    • Mapping
    • Forums
    • Working Groups
  • News
    • Solidarity and pandemic crisis
      • France
      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Switzerland
      • Italy
      • Greece
      • Poland
      • International
    • SSE European Agenda
    • Latest news
    • Newsletters
      • Subscribe
  • WSFTE
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Socioeco.org, the resource website on SSE
    • Resource documents
    • Sitography
    • Videos
    • Photos
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About us
    • History
    • Vision
    • Goals
    • RIPESS Charter
    • Manifesto
  • Governance
    • Network of Members
    • How to become a member
      • Membership fee payment
    • Coordination Committee
    • Scientific Committee
    • RIPESS Intercontinental Board
    • Rules and Regulations
    • Articles of the Association
    • Privacy Policy
  • Activities
    • General Assemblies
      • 1st GA – Barcelona 2011
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 2nd GA – Lille 2013
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 3rd GA – Villarceaux 2014
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 4th GA – Berlin 2015
        • Presentation
        • Media and Documents
      • 5th GA – Villarceaux 2016
        • Online registration
        • How to get to La Bergerie
        • GA 2016: Programme
        • GA2016: Documentation and results
        • GA 2016 Workshops
          • W1: Inter-cooperation and co-construction
          • W2: Rethinking the economy
          • W3: Impact & social audit
          • W4: Panorama on SSE in Europe
          • W5: Solidarity Economy, Agroecology and Food Sovereignty
          • W6: European public policies and SSE
      • 6th GA – Athens 2017
        • Online Registration
        • Agenda of 6th General Assembly
        • Forum to prepare GA Athens 2017
      • 7th GA – Zagreb 2018
        • Agenda of the 7th General Assembly
      • 8th GA – Lyon 2019
        • Online registration
        • Agenda GA 2019 – Lyon
          • Cities and SSE: policies and practices to transform the economy
        • GA 2019 Documents
      • 9th GA – Online 2020
        • GA 2020 Online registration
        • Agenda GA 2020
        • GA2020 – Documents
    • Working Areas and Projects
      • BUSSE – Building Up SSE
      • SSE VET 2
      • IVET AND SSE
    • Webinars: Public policies and SSE
    • Meetings
      • EFSSE 2016 (European Forum on Social and Solidarity Economy)
    • Activity Reports
  • Networking
    • 2020 thematic groups, our members collaborate !
    • Alternative Media and SSE
      • 2nd Independent media & SSE Meeting (Feb 2018)
        • 2nd Independant media and SSE Meeting Agenda
      • Alternative media network participants
      • Alternative media mapping
    • Panorama of SSE in Europe
      • Survey: Panorama on Social Solidarity Economy in Europe
      • History of the Panorama of SSE in Europe
    • Mapping
    • Forums
    • Working Groups
  • News
    • Solidarity and pandemic crisis
      • France
      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Switzerland
      • Italy
      • Greece
      • Poland
      • International
    • SSE European Agenda
    • Latest news
    • Newsletters
      • Subscribe
  • WSFTE
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Socioeco.org, the resource website on SSE
    • Resource documents
    • Sitography
    • Videos
    • Photos
No Result
View All Result
RIPESS Europe
No Result
View All Result
Home Campaign

Corona-crisis affects small Greek farmers. A campaign to unite producers & consumers on local level!

by
18/05/2020
in Campaign, Members, Newsletter
0
Corona-crisis affects small Greek farmers. A campaign to unite producers & consumers on local level!

Report by Jenny Gkiougki, President of Agroecopolis – The Hellenic Network for Agroecology, Food Sovereignty & Access To Land

Greece is experiencing low corona-related mortality rates, but the measures imposed came early and were as harsh as in other, more stricken countries, posing severe strain to a society and an economy in shambles due to the ongoing economic crisis. In an understandable move to protect an already depleted National Health System, on Feb. 27, a day after the country’s first Covid-19 case was diagnosed in Thessaloniki, all Carnival celebrations got cancelled everywhere. On March 11, schools closed down, and two days later, Greece limited non essential travel and closed down cafes, restaurants, libraries, museums, etc. From 23/3 till 4/5 (a proper 40 days of ‘quarantine’) the country has been on strict lock-down where citizens are only allowed out for limited time and for a set of specific reasons, and need to notify via SMS of their moves.

Small agroecological farmers were hit very hard by COVID-19. Strict restrictions in movement and the provisional closing of many businesses meant that places like small restaurants, hotels and farmers’ markets suddenly became inaccessible for most of them -who do not receive subsidies or compensations and rely on short supply chain for their survival. This is critical, not just for their livelihoods, but for the continued existence of family farming in Greece. CSA farmers, who usually operate in more local scale, also faced difficulties as in many cases they were not allowed to travel and had to use the services of already overwhelmed delivery companies instead, adding cost and subtracting quality from their produce. Furthermore, most CSA schemes in the country, until now, are informal, there is no ‘contract’ signed between the two parties, and there is no formal national association to promote, or advocate for their interests.

The movement restrictions served to highlight many underlying pathogenicities pertaining to the agricultural sector and food production in Greece, but also to bring forth how the globalised food systems we rely on can collapse, and how the most effective solutions for food security, let alone food sovereignty, have got to be based on the foundations of agroecology and localisation. The consumers were suddenly faced with a new reality: that the place were the majority of them procure their food (the supermarkets) is not safe any more, and that foods purchased there will have to be washed with soap in order to eliminate the possibility of getting infected. The problematic of a food system fraught with intermediaries is showing its face again, not in terms of profit accumulation, but in terms of endangering public health.

Agroecopolis –The Hellenic Network for Agroecology, Food Sovereignty and Access To Land (AEP) instigated an e-meet with small producers from all over the country in mid-March; with representatives of organic growers’ associations, members of EcoFest networks and individual farmers, in order to assess the situation and decide on collective action, as assembly. As an urgent and immediate response, it was decided to run a nationwide digital and social media campaign promoting local direct links between producers & consumers all over the country.

Within a few days, a collection of food activists with no direct personal gain, under the coordination of Agroecopolis, started developing the campaign and were even able to create a short promotional video while being unable to shoot new footage! We all came together because we realise the importance of standing by our farmers; now more than ever! Out of the blue, without any access to resources or prior organisation, at a time of extreme uncertainty, we were able to organise four different groups, working on aspects of the campaign, including content creation, dissemination, liaising with producers and organising the final ‘match-making’.

The main message of the campaign is: #Support local small food production# #We are staying in our fields and cater for your household needs# We aim to reach a much larger audience than the ‘usual receptors’ of similar actions organised by eco-activists and bio-farmers in the past. We are addressing the average coronavirus ‘quarantinees’: consumers living in urban setting (from big cities to small towns), who are now, concerned about the safety in big crowded stores; are interested in eating healthy; and wish to protect and cater for their families in times of uncertainty. The campaign will run till July, each week focusing on a different aspect -why it is important to eat locally; why agroecology is the solution; showcasing producer profiles from different areas, etc.

As this is an urgent mater, and not a planned campaign, it is quite tricky to organise resources and create a model that works, immediately! Our first goal is to make sure ‘not one more leaf rots unpicked in a field’. Drawing from the principles of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Reko (The Finnish alternative), the interested consumers in one locality and the chosen producers (experienced volunteers have created a ‘vetting system’ to make sure they comply to the same principles as us) are brought together using Facebook groups, where our volunteers set up each group, instigate interaction and monitor first steps until members take over and self-organise. The idea is to promote self-management of needs and citizens’ mobilisation on local level -thus creating conditions for higher levels of autonomy and food sovereignty in local terms. We have teams of volunteers working on the creation of content and the dissemination of the campaign so it generates responses from consumers all over Greece, and we aim to have groups in each major city, in each prefecture, by the end of June, to make sure all these small farmers are supported by networks of consumers.

In the first four days of going ‘live’ we’ve had more than 400 responses from consumers and the goal now is to make sure we can match demand with supply.

This project started as an immediate and urgent response to the fact that small bio producers everywhere in Greece are facing difficulties accessing markets due to corona restrictions. It aims at connecting, on a local and direct level, producers and consumers in all prefectures of the country, so their sustainability is assured. But, it will also serve as fertile ground for the creation of PGS (Participatory Guarantee Systems) and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) networks that will further solidify the Food Sovereignty movement on a national level -a necessity in the uncertain times that are coming, in a country that has already been exhausted by the ongoing, ten year economic crisis.

For more info, or to join the campaign visit https://www.agroecopolis.org/covid-19/ (only in Greek)

This post is also available in / aussi en: French Spanish

Tags: agroecology
Previous Post

APRES Manifesto

Next Post

Cresaçor celebrates its 20 years!

Next Post
Cresacor 20 anos

Cresaçor celebrates its 20 years!

Join the agenda of Transformative Economies !

World Social Forum of Transformative Economies

RIPESS EU on FB

European Agenda

Solidarity Economy events in Europe

iCalRSSSubscribe

Receive new events notifications in your email.

Thanks for subscribing.
All fields are required.
28/01/2021
...
  • iCal
28/01/2021 to 11/03/2021All working days 12:00 am UTC+1

3rd Sustainable Food Conference (France)

Webinar

Welcome to the 3rd Sustainable Food Conference! Created to encourage the sharing of experiences and inspiring initiatives, the Meetings will this year have the particular objective of strengthening the actions and collaborations of the actors who cultivate the next world. In the difficult context of the crises we are going through, it is urgent that we organize ourselves collectively to accelerate transitions towards sustainable, just and resilient food systems.

More info: https://rencontres-alimentation-durable.fr/le-programme/

Read More
03/03/2021
...
  • iCal
All Day

European investment bank – Social innovation tournament

Course

Deadline for submission of proposals : 3 March, 23:59 CET

The Social Innovation Tournament recognises and supports the best European social entrepreneurs. It promotes innovative ideas and rewards initiatives that contribute to creating social, ethical or environmental impact. Typically, it covers projects in the areas of education, healthcare, the environment, circular economy, inclusion, job creation, ageing and many more.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the SIT, winning projects in the General Category and Special Category will be awarded a first or second prize of €75 000 and €30 000 respectively, and an Audience Choice Award of €10 000.

More info : https://institute.eib.org/social-innovation-tournament-2/

Read More
09/03/2021
...
  • iCal
9:30 am / 12:00 pm UTC+1

When the circular economy becomes handi-solidarity: launch of the European Solifoodwaste network

Webinar

Within the framework of the European Solifoodwaste project (conducted since autumn 2019), Pour La Solidarité (PLS) invites you to the launch of the first European network of organizations committed to fighting food waste and to the (socio-)professional integration of the disabled on Tuesday 9 March. In Europe, nearly 88 million tons of food ends up in the garbage*. This figure is absurd at a time when we are talking about responsible consumption and the resilience of the European food system. It is imperative that a shift in the way we consume and produce must take place. At the same time, 16% of the working population in Europe is affected by a disability, and this proportion of the population is still experiencing too many difficulties integrating into the job market; the average activity rate for the disabled is only 48.7%, compared with 72.5% for so-called able-bodied people.   These two issues have a priori nothing to do with each other and yet . Solifoodwaste is a European project that aims to simultaneously meet these challenges by developing economic activities to recycle unsold food by disabled people. Convinced that the effect of the project will be all the more important if it is carried out collectively, the SFW partnership invites you on Tuesday, March 9 (9:30 am to 12:00 pm) to the videoconference launching the very first European network of organizations committed to fighting food waste and to the (socio-)professional integration of the disabled.   Discover the program. More info: https://life-solifoodwaste.eu/fr/
Read More
23/03/2021
...
  • iCal
  • Visit Website
All Day

REDPES-RIPESS Workshop Series in Solidarity Economy


March 23rd - “Solidarity Economy and the Commons” - Ana Margarida Esteves (CEI-IUL, ISCTE) Language : English Link to RedPES webinars: https://bbb.redpes.pt/b/adm-rvx-l8k-c3d More information will be published here before the scheduled date!
Read More

RSS RIPESS Intercontinental

  • SSE as an alternative model of development according to the UN 26/02/2021
  • Pathways to Asia’s Transformative & Solidarity Economy through ASEAN People’s Forum 2020 05/02/2021

RSS Socioeco news

  • Audio ! L’économie sociale et solidaire au niveau Européen 26/02/2021
  • Résistances africaines à la domination néocoloniale 26/02/2021

Ressources

Facebook Twitter

Copyleft 2020 Solidarity Economy Europe

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About us
    • History
    • Vision
    • Goals
    • RIPESS Charter
    • Manifesto
  • Governance
    • Network of Members
    • How to become a member
      • Membership fee payment
    • Coordination Committee
    • Scientific Committee
    • RIPESS Intercontinental Board
    • Rules and Regulations
    • Articles of the Association
    • Privacy Policy
  • Activities
    • General Assemblies
      • 1st GA – Barcelona 2011
      • 2nd GA – Lille 2013
      • 3rd GA – Villarceaux 2014
      • 4th GA – Berlin 2015
      • 5th GA – Villarceaux 2016
      • 6th GA – Athens 2017
      • 7th GA – Zagreb 2018
      • 8th GA – Lyon 2019
      • 9th GA – Online 2020
    • Working Areas and Projects
      • BUSSE – Building Up SSE
      • SSE VET 2
      • IVET AND SSE
    • Webinars: Public policies and SSE
    • Meetings
      • EFSSE 2016 (European Forum on Social and Solidarity Economy)
    • Activity Reports
  • Networking
    • 2020 thematic groups, our members collaborate !
    • Alternative Media and SSE
      • 2nd Independent media & SSE Meeting (Feb 2018)
      • Alternative media network participants
      • Alternative media mapping
    • Panorama of SSE in Europe
      • Survey: Panorama on Social Solidarity Economy in Europe
      • History of the Panorama of SSE in Europe
    • Mapping
    • Forums
    • Working Groups
  • News
    • Solidarity and pandemic crisis
      • France
      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Switzerland
      • Italy
      • Greece
      • Poland
      • International
    • SSE European Agenda
    • Latest news
    • Newsletters
      • Subscribe
  • WSFTE
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Socioeco.org, the resource website on SSE
    • Resource documents
    • Sitography
    • Videos
    • Photos

Copyleft 2020 Solidarity Economy Europe

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
7ads6x98y
  • English
  • Français (French)
  • Español (Spanish)

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.

      Multilingual WordPress with WPML

      Skip to toolbar
      • About WordPress
        • About WordPress
        • WordPress.org
        • Documentation
        • Support
        • Feedback
      • Log In