Portugal

Bare summer plains, as far as the eye can see. No water, no shade. Only a very occasional tree. Otherwise: emptiness. Tourist agencies attempt to make the Alentejo appealing to visitors with this very clear scenic icon. But it is hard to live and work in such a sparse landscape. Dilapidated farms in the whole district testify to a massive …

Alfredo Cunhal Sendim (49) runs the Herdade do Freixo do Meio farm in Montemor-o-Novo. As a young man he worked on the fishing nets in Ferragudo in the Algarve, and planned to be a fisherman, but it is in the Alentejo that he is now at the helm of his dream to create a paradise on earth. The “montado” agro-system, …

By solidarity economy is understood the series of “processes, be it formal or informal, of production, exchange, consumption, distribution, income generation, saving and investments, that combine economics with solidarity, an ecological perspective, cultural diversity, critical reflexion, participatory democracy and local development.” This is the definition that is expressed in the manifesto of the Portuguese Network of Solidarity Economy (RPES)(1), a …

Interview with the fisherman Zeca Águas (55), from Portimão. ECO123: Nowadays, when you observe the amount of fish in the sea and compare it with a generation ago, do you notice any differences? Zeca Águas: According to my experience of 15 years ago, both in terms of my studies or from what I can see with my eyes, including soundings, …

Interview with Prof. Mojib Latif (61) GEOMAR, Kiel in Germany   ECO123: We produce a magazine in which we always try to bring economics and ecology together. Do you think that can work? Mojib Latif: Yes, I am sure that can work. People talk a lot today about sustainability, an expression that is already very overused. I think the expression …

Since ancient times, salt has played a key role in the lives of human beings. Used primarily as a means of preserving foodstuffs, it acquired vital importance during the Roman Empire, and is the derivation of the word “salary”. This was because it was common practice in Rome for employees of the Empire, such as legionaries, to receive their wages …

ASAE, the Economic and Food Safety Authority, was set up in 2005 under the Ministry of the Economy and in the nine years since it was set up, until 2014, it had amassed some 175 million euros from inspections, criminal proceedings, seizures and other offences. Since it started, ASAE, the authority specialising in food safety and economic surveillance, has triggered …

How is one to uphold confidentiality on the one hand and transparency on the other, two such contrasting values in politics that are normally mutually exclusive? In the Brussels of the EU, it can be done. Political life there operates in the same way as in the German fairy-tale of Schilda, a village that once had to be re-built. However, …

ECO123 went to meet some small producers who add value to Algarve gastronomy. Through their work, regional products are turned into culinary specialities that satisfy a wide range of tastes. Fresh Algarve goat’s cheese, honey and medronho brandy are some of these traditional products that are perfect for discovering the flavours of the Algarve. Traditional fresh cheese The Queijaria Martins …

The problem is “contemporary, healthy nutrition” and it’s to do with farming, harvesting, conservation, transport, preparation, with foods that are too fatty, with too much meat and not enough time. Have I forgotten anything? What about excruciating industrial livestock farming, the use of hormones and antibiotics, genetic manipulation…? There is so much you can do wrong, and there is only …