NZZ-Format: Biodiversity in the Alps - How farmers save old species
The Alpine region consists of an extremely diverse + at the same time fragile ecosystem. 30,000 animals and 13,000 plants are at home here. But the natural cultural space in the Alps is threatened: climate change, urbanization + mass tourism, industrial forms of agriculture + globalization endanger biodiversity + thus the livelihood of mountain farmers. The number of farmers who can survive under these conditions is shrinking just as rapidly as the fertile agricultural land.
But how can we design a sustainable agriculture in the Alps that ensures the return of species, makes the soil usable again, avoids long transport routes + the waste of food + ensures a closer connection between producers and consumers?
Journalist Anja Tschannen from western Switzerland breeds + sells old livestock breeds such as Pomeranian ducks, Appenzeller Spitzhauben chickens and Evolèner cattle. Italians Federico Chierico + Federico Rial grow 60 different potato varieties in the high mountainous areas of the Aosta Valley. Simon Vetter from Lustenau in Vorarlberg delivers 700 vegetable boxes with old + new varieties every week in direct sales to the region.
They all have a common goal: the preservation of alpine diversity. At the center of this movement is the newly founded Culinarium Alpinum in Stans. In an old monastery, under the direction of food scout and food historian Dominik Flammer, a place of encounter + exchange has been created, where mountain farmers and chefs, restaurateurs and gourmets come together to reshape the future of the culinary cultural space of the Alps.
Broadcasting on 18th of November 2021 at 11.00pm on SRF/ Switzerland
Music: POPVIRUS Library