The topic of animal products has become a subject of heated discussions in the past decade. There’s a seemingly unbreachable chasm between vegans and meat lovers, farmers and politicians, climate scientists and nutritionists. While we don't sell meat at CrowdFarming, we do sell cheese. We are often confronted with whether that choice is in keeping with our sustainability ethos. This is why we invited experts from two sides to discuss the different aspects of animal husbandry and cheese production: Cristina Domecq, our Sustainability Director, and Antonia Herm-Stapelberg, our Farmer Analyst and daughter of dairy farmers. 
They help us dismantle the two main issues, environmental impact and animal welfare, but also touch upon the social implications and what the reality for our farmers looks like.

Although the topic is complex and very controversial, we did our best to answer all of the most common questions we receive regarding milk production, including:

• Is there a distinction between organic and non-organic in terms of animal welfare?
• Why are the young separated from their mothers right after birth?
• What is the difference between cheese from the supermarket and CrowdFarming cheese?

Listen in to find out more! 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

Charles Dowding, award-winning organic gardener, book author and creator of the “No Dig” method has a recommendation that will make all those looking to grow their own food very happy: leave your soil alone!
In this podcast he explains to us why that is, what’s most important for our soil to be healthy, how to treat it and how to achieve a bountiful harvest without using any chemicals. 

We also get philosophical and talk about our food system, whether food security can be achieved through organic food production and the importance of educating youth. 

Did you know that gardening can improve both your mental and physical health? 

Tune in to find out how your gut is related to gardening, how the No Dig method works and more!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

In this episode, Alessio Terzi, Economist at the European Commission and author of "Growth for Good" talks about how we can reconcile economic growth with sustainability. While circularity and phasing out fossil fuels are important pillars of a green economy, we also need a determined society that demands to put nature first  - "We need action from all sides".
Some major questions we discuss include:

• How important is the role of policy to achieve a "green economy"?
• Can new sustainability-oriented business models thrive in the current socioeconomic (inflation!) climate?
• How is the war on Ukraine affecting the "green transition?

Tune in to learn more!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

A shocking third of all the food produced worldwide is thrown away, while millions are starving. How did we get to this point? Why is it so hard to avoid food waste? And what is the difference  between food waste and food loss?

Too Good to Go's Helena Calvo shares her perspective with us and explains what the company is doing to make an impact.  We discuss the complexities of the food waste issue, where most of it ocurrs, its relation to emissions, why households are not necessarily to blame and what we can all do to better the appalling inefficiency of the food system. To put it in Helena's words: "It's nonsense!" 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

 Goodbye season 1!
After 15 episodes of learning, laughing and questioning, the first season of What The Field?! is coming to an end.

Our amazing guests have taught us so much and opened our minds to new worlds and perspectives.  We will be continuing the conversation!

What was your favourite episode?
Do share your thoughts with us!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

What is the connection between climate change and agriculture?
Why are wildfires becoming more and more frequent in Europe? And what can we do about it?

Dr.Emilio Chuvieco Salinero is the winner of  the Jaume I Prize for Environmental Protection 2022 and a Professor of Geography. He is also the author of 33 books and 402 papers and serves as the scientific leader of the Fire CCI project of the European Space Agency as well as scientific coordinator for the European project FirEUrisk. 
As such, he is the perfect partner to dive into the controversies of climate change with, and explore a topic that became especially relevant this past summer: wildfires.

At a time where political discourse has taken over the climate debate, this episode tries to bring it back to scientific grounds and the down-to-earth world of farming. 

Whether you are looking for some arguments to counter climate-change-deniers or want to know what the main causes of wildfires are (and what shepherds have got to do with!), this one's for you.

Let's make scientists the new influencers!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

It is much more sustainable to buy all your food from local producers...or is it?
In this episode, CrowdFarming's co-founders Gonzalo Urculo and Juliette Simonin are grilled on their business philosophy, why they sell Spanish oranges to Germans (and Brits and other fellow Europeans) and how they work with farmers across several countries.

Some of the burning questions they answer include:

• What does "local" even mean nowadays?
• Why are imported goods the better choice sometimes?
• How come there are no British or Dutch CrowdFarming farmers?

Sharing both their personal perspective and what they have observed in their daily business in the food industry, Juliette and Gonzalo dare to open the Pandora's box that is the "local vs. European" debate occurring in households and social media.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

Have you ever wondered how much of an impact your home deliveries have? 
What role packaging plays in the great scheme of a more sustainable planet? 
Or what the transport of the future will look like?

In this podcast Katja Busch, CCO of DHL and Head of CSI at DPDHL, shares her vision for making the transport sector more sustainable.

Together with our co-founder and logistics expert Gonzalo Urculo we discuss:

• What industries pollute the most 
• How much impact having a parcel delivered to your doorstep has in terms of emissions 
• The impact of the last mile
• Why circularity is the word of the hour
• What the holy grail of packaging would be

Tune in to learn more!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

Kim Russell can almost be described as a modern-day Robin Hood. A restless Englishman who revived an old cocoa estate on the Caribbean island of Grenada and gave the land to the people. Who rants about "the corporates" and doesn't want his business to grow too much. Who bases his decisions on which materials to use on the social impact it will have on the locals because “worldwide the cocoa situation is desperate for the farmers that grow it."

Kim is the farmer behind Crayfish Bay Organics and produces chocolate in its purest form, together with his wife Lylette -  “If you cut out the greed, you end up with quality”.

He tells us his story and explains some cocoa-related facts such as:

• What is tree-to-bar and why can it change people's lives?
• What does child slavery have to do with your chocolate bar?
• Why is there such a big difference in the taste of the same type of chocolate?

Tune in to learn more!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/

Bernat Añaños Martinez is Chief Social Movement Officer and co-founder of Heura Foods, a company that creates plant-based meat products with a Mediterranean twist. 

The motivation driving him and the people at Heura seems simple at first glance: For people to stop eating animals by providing the tastiest alternatives possible, akin in both texture and flavor to the meat products it seeks to replace.

We discuss the many reasons why cutting down on meat could be one of the most powerful ways for an individual to make an impact and talk about Heura’s vision for the future.

"We want to create not meat alternatives but meat successors"

We grill Bernat on all the obvious potential caveats:

• What makes Heura products different from other plant-based meat substitutes?
• Why do they come in plastic packaging?
• What ingredients do Heura products contain and are they not unhealthy?
• What does an animal meat-free diet have to do with social justice?

“Social justice is just inherent in the whole food system. (...) We can build a food system that is socially just.”

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowd_farming/
Blog: https://www.crowdfarming.com/blog/en/