Food is geopolitics. Every item, even seemingly local, is part of an intricate global network of supply &distribution, affected by wars, transportation &energy risks. Food prices continue to increase, while central banks consider including them in core inflation assessments NRC

With few exceptions none of the (staple) foods you are eating is produced locally (e.g. most rice or bread in Europe). Even local products require energy, fertilizer & labor from elsewhere. So there is no black/white difference between local & non-local: local is global too NRC

I never knew Indira Gandhi was such a book lover! This is the interior of her living room, now a memorial museum in Delhi (and note the exquisite modern furniture) youtube.com/watch?v=nM9z7Y…

Thank you too, Agnes, for being such a passionate champion of food systems & supporting the book & other projects over the many, many years that we have walked together on this road with you, Joachim von Braun, Mohammed Kaosar Afsana & many others in the United Nations & CGIAR 💐

The paradox of our time: many lives are empty although filled with ever changing desires & consumption through social media. Even true emotions & protests are but temporary peaks in a flat landscape of emptiness. It leaves passive, bored citizens, vulnerable to polarization NRC

Nu de octrooien van R. Plasterk weer voorpaginanieuws zijn, een verwijzing naar hoe de kwestie van kennis ontwikkeld met publiek geld moet liggen. Simpel gezegd: in gelijke mate stimuleren van individu, onderzoeksgroep én instelling. Zie mijn column NRC nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/06…

Textile art is one of the oldest forms of art of humanity & also one of the most modern, especially with its new emphasis on recycling & reuse of fibers. NL artist Meta Struycken combined age old techniques at a miniature scale & inspires modern fashion at galerie eenwerk AMS

Any peace process may be a mirror for current wars. The achievement of the Good Friday Agreement for Northern Ireland points to many factors, incl the role of visionary leaders, politicians as well as academics, demilitarization, governance based on mutual respect &referenda NRC

The concept of a Green Wall has been around nearly 30 y, orig proposed by Khadaffi. At FAO we did a serious assessment. Huge bottlenecks: labor for planting&maintaining trees, fertilizer, irrigation, civil strife & funding. C fixation mustn’t be overestimated; it may work locally

A splendid study of the genetic diversity &origin of the bread wheat D genome (derived from A. tauschii) which shows the role of genetic diversity &the need to maintain genetic resources accessible internationally ⁦CIMMYT⁩ ⁦John Innes Centre⁩ nature.com/articles/s4158…

1/ There are many reasons NOT to be complacent about future food production. Energy costs, labor shortages, war &geopolitical threats to world trade, purchasing power, supermarket concentration & weather variability all threaten productivity in different ways in different regions

2/ additionally, notwithstanding good intentions, environmental regulations such as fertilizer limits may affect agricultural yields &quality as in the case of low protein content in bread wheats in Lower Saxony now degraded to animal feed. Agriculture is the art of the location!

Er zijn ook factoren waarvoor niet wordt gecorrigeerd. Het gaat om geïsoleerde gebieden (bijv niet heel Sardinië maar slechte enkele valleien) waar de afwezigheid van verkeersongevallen en onbekende infecties van externe bronnen ook een rol kunnen spelen in hoge levensverwachting

Fantastische & drukbezochte open dag van De Nationale Opera Het Nationale Ballet: je kon overal kijken, op podium, bij techniek, rekwisieten, kostuums. Echt teamwork voor &achter de schermen! Open Day at Dutch National Opera&Ballet with great displays & explanations from our super team!

As university staff&students demonstrate against budget cuts, there are real questions to be answered: what is learning in an age of AI? Should you only go to university when you are young? Should universities specialize more? How to develop innovation&knowledge ecosystems? NRC

Europe should not look away or be selfish: the best investment to deal with #mpox is prevention, i.e investing in the already highly stressed & impoverished parts of East&Central Africa, i.e sharing vaccines & resources. Refusing to share is shortsighted & shows a lack of empathy

I will discuss future challenges & big changes (innovation, political, scientific, economic & social) at LCA FOOD 2024 in Barcelona this afternoon. Including how to respond to Ursula von der Leyen agriculture dialogue & Draghi report on innovation. This concerns every EU citizen!

La segona sessió plenària de LCA FOOD 2024 d'avui, moderada per Llorenç Milà i Canals, ha estat protagonitzada per Louise O. Fresco i Marta G. Rivera. El debat s'ha centrat en l'evolució dels sistemes alimentaris per afavorir la sostenibilitat del planeta i la #salut humana.

Rethink Food Challenge: ⁦Wageningen U&R⁩ invites students from all over the word to submit bright ideas for innovating food chains. We need not “more of the same”, we need real breakthrough jumps: technological, genetic, economical, social & environmental! rethinkfoodchallenge.nl/register

The #Draghi report recommends huge investment in innovation. For this to work we need social support, ways to mobilize unexpected ideas instead of just funding what seems promising now, synergy between EUmembers & open exchanges outside the EU. European autarky is a mistake NRC