A group of bright American students came to Paros and made a video documentary about the challenges of agricultural production on the island and the impact (as well as the potential benefit) of tourism on it.
It is interesting how obvious the issues of modern agriculture become in the video:
- the prices of products do not reflect their real value and are determined by anybody else but the procuder;
- it has become really costly, almost prohibitive to produce meat, which is an activity heavily dependent on oil;
- bartering used to be a common way of transaction between producers;
- products like barley have lost their value as a commodity (despite their nutritional value…);
- super markets have raped the local farming economy, although the quality of the local farmers’ produce is much much better;
- tourism has changed the face of the islanders, modified their professional choices, changed their ethics, changed the way they interact with the environment;
- Agriculture will no longer be a sustainable activity if it continues to be done in the conventional way;
Something has to be done and something can be done…
Click to watch the video Food of the Past: Nourishment for the Future on Vimeo
We are eagerly waiting for the second video produced by this team, where you can see Tao’s Center and hear more about permaculture and how it can help farmers make a more sustainable living.