Precisely.

I’d like to share with you this post (and video) found on my Twitter network.
At a certain point, a farmer says ‘we want back our right to keep our seed’. Because the big Ag don’t allow them to do it!
How SCARY!
In Italy, farmers can still keep their seeds.
But for how long?
Herebelow, the original post:

There are 2 million farmers and 300 million consumers in the US. Standing in between are a handful of companies who control how food gets from one side to the other.

In 2010, the USDA and Dept of Justice are holding a series of hearings on this issue — the matter of corporate concentration in food and agriculture. The first hearing was March 12, in Ankeny, Iowa. The night before, about 250 independent family farmers and community activists gathered for a town hall meeting to share their own experiences with big ag.

Related articles by Zemanta

• What Did Farmers Do Before Roundup? (cenblog.org)
• Justice to Probe Monsanto Monopoly (friendseat.com)
• U.S. to Scrutinize Agriculture for Antitrust Issues (nytimes.com)
• Monsanto monopoly held up to some light (permaculturesendaverde.blogspot.com)
• Monsanto Takes Fight To Control Your Food To Supreme Court (treehugger.com)

Il McAsiago

Yesterday I wrote about McItaly, a new Mcdonald’s roll that according to advertising propaganda could benefit everyday Italian folk(axiom no.2 remember?)

Good, but I have a few questions that I want to try (with you) to get answered. Who are these everyday folk that Zaia and Mcdonald’s are talking about? Who will exactly benefit from this operation? An indication that everyday folk of Mcdonald’s aren’t those who we have in mind which are us and you. These are the same words of the Minister. Here is the statement of the Minister. Listen to this extract of an interview where the Minister responds to an email that denys this axiom no.2. (press play):

Did you here it? Now we begin to understand.

The everyday folk according to the minister who earns our affection are not the maggiority of Italian citizens, those who have small businesses, and that Zaia admits, don’t have the possibility to sell in large distribution. No.

The everyday folk who earn money are the only interlocuters with which the multinationals (like Mcdonald’s) can integrate: large distributors, wholesalers, maybe multinationals.

The same people who contribute in creating that diabolical supply chain of which 3 euros that we pay for apricots from the counter, only 20 cents go to the agriculturist that have cultivated that apricot. This perverse mechanism of which 120 million euros is spent by the Italian consumer in buying alimentary products. A good 58 million goes to businesses and services , 37 million to the alimentary industry and only 25 million to agricultural businesses.

And in effect researching the internet we found confirmation of all of this. There is no need to search websites underground or of protesters of no-global: it is enough to visit Mcdonald’s, the same multinational company as a point of reference to learn about the tracking of their products.

And of which every day folk do we find the trail? Of these:

East Balt inc: Historical supplier of bread to Mcdonald’s that has 19 industrial baker’s around the world who bake the rolls for Mcdonald’s. From this website you can read that only the Italian establishment produces 1 million rolls a day (!). But they don’t say with what wheat.

Eisberg: the biggest multinational of vegetables for Central and Eastern Europe has 400 workers and 5 establishments all around Switzeland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and a centre in Spain.

Inalca SBS: Multinational of meat owns 30 per cent of the Cremonini group and 50 per cent of the Brasilian SBS SA ( the biggest producer of meat in the world). Inalca transforms 260.000 tonnes of meat a year across 6 establishments in Italy and 9 are present in Europe, Russia and Africa.

Here are the suppliers of Mcdonald’s

Here are the everyday folk.

Fortunately it doesn’t happen often to be able use this tool with its spikey iron wheels but this is the right time of year. Our land, the Baraggia is harsh and the weather rains heavily. There isn’t any escape and in rice fields with the rubber you can’t get around easily. In this way using this tool is an extreme solution but the only possibilty at this moment, it requires a lot more time and a lot of patience.

This morning in Paris at the head office of Microsoft France Agrycult.com presented itself to the prestigious public!

Our idea to cultivate the agricultural part of the net was one of the 20 ideal finalists of Miniseedcamp of Paris.

We had 5 minutes,five to explain where Argycult wants to arrive and how.

We did it by talking about the sound of cheese.

We explained how the irritating sound of the large copper pot battered by a large stick becomes a solid sound, full of

contents of an excellent contents

And here is where Argrycult wants to aim to colonise always more the particle 2.0 filling up with real contents a really interesting place like the web where now on food there is too much confusion. There is alot of rumour which Agrycult wants to transform in conversation and afterwards  in markets for everyday folk who are on the outside.

To those we will say that more than km zero need the km 2.0……:-)

Is it a crazy undertaking? Will the judges of seedcamp believe in us?

In the last few days I have learnt with a pinch of stupor that a Friulian agriculturist claims the right of freedon to sow asking to be free to cultivate OGM cereals.

During this time we have assisted in a lot of initiatives and theories pro OGM. Often superficial because there is too much speculation over the reality of the fields that are often more complex than most people believe. In the countryside there is such a variability and unpredictable number of events that one can not absolutely understand the certainty that are foreign to this world.

The numerous ‘reassurings’ zones of respect that should separate the cultivation of OGM from the conventional are no more than centres of a genetic vehicle. All the studies that support the pro OGM theories constitute only a small part of the reality.

The life of an agriculturist is made of many rights but also many duties, above all the salvation of one’s territory. For this simple reason first the right to sow comes with the respect for the environment for and for who works there. Unfortunatly for some this is a small insignificant detail, even agriculture doesn’t miss who thinks to be able to cure only their own interests.

Two weeks ago I went to Paris to participate to the Seedcamp event, arguably the most authoritative and networked micro seed fund programme to jumpstart the entrepreneurial community in Europe.
Agrycult was the first Italian team (together with the awesome teams of VisualSport and Mobnotes, also present in Paris) to be selected for the Seedcamp EVER (since 2007, Seedcamp reviews hundreds if not thousands of applications each year).
Of course we were proud of it, but what about the event? Was it worth attending it?
To explain my impression about it without annoying you too much, I’ll ask you to try, for a moment, to put yourself in my shoes.
Imagine you are an etrepreneur, doing for the first time a project no one ever tried before.

You need clues, right?

And a lot of feedback from people more experienced than you.
Now, imagine you have the opportunity to meet one of the most influential entrepreneurs/VC/consultants in the field you are entering with your startup, and spend half an hour with him, explaining your idea, asking him all the questions you like about tricky aspects of your project, or problems you’re not sure how to solve.

Now imagine you can have 6/7 entrepreneurs/VCs/consultants at once, all of them focussing on your startup and using all their expertise to help you. Lastly, imagine you can have 4 sessions like that, all taking place in the same day, meeting a total of about 30 experts to extensively discuss your startup with.
That is the Seedcamp, and so much more.
What did me and Agrycult take from it?

Well, we found out that our approach to certain aspects of our business idea was wrong, or needed some work first, that we didn’t anticipate.

We also understood better which are our strenghts and got hints about how to leverage them. We understood the importance and the delicacy of measuring objective and achievements, that we underestimated. Ultimately, we made our development roadmap clearer and better, which will lead us to achieve our goals more efficiently, effectively and with less effort and time.
Besides, we are building a network of very intelligent and expert people we met in Paris, who like our project, are willing to help, and probably will become determining in the success of Agrycult.
Do I need to say more?

p.s. the idea of the picture of the Eiffel tower was taken from the nice post of our startup mates from Hear a Blog, met in Paris.

p.p.s. Ah, I forgot the volcano: if it wasn’t for the ash cloud ,I’d never have had the opportunity to know some extraordinary people. I’ve never seen a safer and friendlier catastrophe!

Awesome & destined.

The lady in the photo is the face of La Basia. She is my mother Elena.

Originally from a Milanese family, a city where she has lived in total a week. She graduadated in agriculture a few years ago.

From there two stories: The first half is the story of a family that grows and grows: five children ( two girls and three boys), always with her husband Antonio. The second half of the story that is connected to the hills of Garda where they have started to produce their wine with the passion and curiosity to discover the taste and history of a fascinating land rich with flavours. Within this land is full of their roots and with the years even this story grows and follows new roads and new characters. Today it is a little world made of wines and other products ( oil, grappa, honey and polenta) open to the public, animated with the presence of friends that have chosen  La Basia for their passion of horses.

 This will not be easy to introduce ourselves to everybody… We will need time. But a little at a time there will be space for everyone….

 see you soon!