When they met, Artur was vegetarian and worked in the field of permaculture; Carla, who has been a crudivore for about two years, had been a vegetarian for 20 years, and worked professionally in teaching yoga, in functional medicine and macrobiotic cooking and Ayurveda. “I was interested in finding a location to open an organic grocery and Artur was looking for a place to open a vegan restaurant; we were both independent and started to look at shops and got to know each other better; we ended up falling in love,” Carla explains, with a twinkle in her eye. Their …

Packaging-free vegan summer menu for yoghurt lovers. In this vegan summer menu, I have paid attention as far as possible to the use of ingredients that can be purchased without disposable packaging. The aim is to pass on ideas about ways to avoid rubbish in the long term. The main ingredient is plant-based, home-made yoghurt, which is a common thread running through my menu planning. It all starts with the production of one’s own plant milk. We could buy milk of course, but in a household that consumes milk daily too much unnecessary plastic or too many Tetrapak cartons accumulate. …

What do four bloggers, one organic grocery, one farmer and ten guests do on a wonderful sunny day at Quinta das Seis Marias in Sargaçal, Lagos? They prove that fruits that are treated with respect are those that provide the best final taste. On your plate and in your body. And so, baskets in hand, four culinary bloggers go down to the farm to gather products that, together with those from the Mercearia Bio, they will combine in nearly twelve recipes made exclusively from organic foodstuffs. All the participants are involved in observing, gathering and smelling. Queries about plants such …

You only become aware of the advantages of living in the countryside, in a village, and definitely a long way from the city and the coast, when you’re out walking, for example on a hike. Who wants to own a plot of land beside a beach that is flooded with salty water, or clean their teeth with water that tastes of salt or chlorine coming out of their apartment’s taps? Towns like Aveiro, Olhão, Faro, Albufeira, Portimão, Setúbal and Figueira da Foz lie more or less at sea level. With a spring tide at a time of climate change or …

Erika Dux (62), a doctor of medicine from the University of Düsseldorf and trained in a wide range of additional disciplines, such as Chinese-Japanese Bo-Meridian Shiatsu therapy, has been living in Portugal for 32 years and works privately as a doctor. She has three grown–up daughters. Why do people become ill? I’m afraid I really can’t answer that question for you. What are the causes of illness? For different reasons: people get an infection, have a genetic illness or a metabolic disorder, or are affected by exhaustion and intoxication caused by pollution, environmental degradation, or precarious housing. How do you …

Why roam far afield, when good things are so close at hand! Conjuring up delicious dishes with local foodstuffs… As a vegan cook, artist, photographer and blogger, I explore the question about how we could drastically reduce the industrial consumption of animals. Through creative projects and by thinking about sustainability and cruelty-free eating. Let’s share opinions, facts, ideas and recipes and grow together. My basic idea when developing this Mediterranean-inspired, three-course, late-summer menu is to use exclusively plant-based ingredients organically grown in Portugal. The ingredients currently offered to us by the season and the local market underlie my menu planning. …

Maureen Robertson  I have been getting stomach aches recently, maybe for two or three months, every time after a meal. The ache comes on about 30 minutes after I’ve eaten and I can’t seem to eat any spicy food lately. Are there foods I should stay away from, and which herbs may be beneficial? It sounds like you might be suffering from inflammation of the stomach mucosa lining and, when the stomach acids and other digestive juices and enzymes are released on the introduction of food into the stomach, the resulting relatively acidic environment will be aggravating the sensitive stomach …

Recipe for finding your way – Building a small wind turbine Have you and your children ever built a wind turbine that generates clean energy? If not, you now have a unique opportunity to sign your children up for a do-it-yourself workshop for the summer of 2017. The target group consists of middle-level pupils and their teachers, from years 8 and 9, aged between 14 and 16. Participation in the ECO123 workshop “I build my own wind turbine” is free of charge if as a parent and teacher you help to support the crowdfunding campaign to finance it. In the …

Human survival during climate change Gil Penha-Lopes is a Guest Lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. He has been coordinating European and national projects on bottom-up climate change adaptation with a focus on community-led initiatives. He also lectures on the International Doctoral Programme on Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies at Lisbon University. Gil also co-founded the European platform of community-led initiatives on sustainability and climate change (ECOLISE) and recently published a book on “Permaculture and Climate Change Adaptation”. The words that form the title have already started to appear and to be uttered at the events …