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Series
4: Programme 9 (of 11) - 'A Growing Trend' |
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A Growing Trend highlights
exactly that: how different methods of producing
food - small-scale, organic, natural farming and
urban agriculture are on the increase. While alternatives
to large-scale agriculture are often born out
of necessity, these methods are proving to be
highly effective at meeting nutritional and economic
needs and at the same time helping to build communities
and protect the environment. |
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Audio
(mp3 format) |
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Rooftop
Revolution
- Russia |
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St Petersburg in Russia, like all
modern cities, has to cope with mountains of domestic
waste. Its six million inhabitants have also experienced
food shortages and many hardships over the past
decade. But now a scheme to turn rooftops into
gardens and waste into compost means that residents
can grow their own fresh food. |
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Report
(HTML format) |
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Report
(PDF format) |
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Audio
(mp3 format) |
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Organic
by Necessity - Cuba |
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With the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1989, Cuba was plunged into an economic
crisis resulting in an overnight fall in the imports
of food, pesticides and chemical fertilisers.
With a long-standing US embargo still in place,
urgent measures were needed to resolve the food
shortages. The Cuban government started an ambitious
programme establishing small-scale organic farming
which spread across Cuba and has become a model
for sustainable farming. |
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Report
(HTML format) |
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Report
(PDF format) |
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Audio
(mp3 format) |
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Crash and
Grow - Argentina |
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The number of poor
in Argentina escalated dramatically with the onslaught
of hyperinflation in 2001. Twenty million people
- more than half the population - currently live
in poverty, unemployment is high, the economy
is in ruins and many people struggle to find enough
food to eat. Out of this hardship a city of market
gardens has emerged, providing a living for over
10,000 people: not only the poor but the 'new
poor' - the middle classes who lost everything
in the crisis. |
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Report
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Report
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Audio
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Slow
Food - Italy |
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The sale and consumption
of 'fast' convenience food has escalated dramatically
over the last 20 years, undermining national and
local traditions. Lovers of good food have created
a worldwide network of producers and consumers
who extol the virtues of traditional food and
are dedicated to preserving the food diversity
of all countries. |
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Report
(HTML format) |
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Report
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Audio
(mp3 format) |
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Beans
Means Biodiversity - Nicaragua |
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Peasants have taken control of
their livelihoods and the environment by forming
a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Nicaragua
in order to halt expansion of agriculture land
into the rainforest. Using bean fertiliser and
cover crops to enrich the soil and increase productivity
of the land, the peasants set up an effective
promotion scheme to share their knowledge to thousands
more in the area and in this way made permanent
farming possible, creating food security and stopping
the destruction of the forest. |
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Report
(HTML format) |
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Report
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Audio
(mp3 format) |
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Video
(Flash format) |
| Making
Hay with Clay - Greece |
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Ecologists in Greece are using
natural farming methods in an attempt to turn
barren hills into fertile land. Soil erosion and
desertification has meant that 8 per cent of the
land in Greece has been abandoned over the last
three decades. A simple technique using clay seed
balls is defying conventional wisdom and spreading
much needed seeds. |
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Report
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Video
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A
Growing Trend - further information
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