Transcript of Expert Podcast
In our Podcast, social farming expert Mr. Jose Salvador gave us his impressions and point of view on different topics related to social farming and our SoEngage Plus project.
In this way we addressed the following points
Firstly, we have dealt with the concept of social agriculture and how this concept is understood in Andalusia and in Spain. We have noticed that it is a very new concept in Spain and we understand intuitively that social agriculture is that which encompasses agricultural, livestock and forestry activities with the priority of establishing social relations that contribute to the health of the communities involved. When we talk about health, we are talking about a broad term: social health means any activity that brings benefits to a society in a balanced and sustainable way.
Secondly, we talked about new practices and the future horizon of social agriculture. New initiatives include: citizen support projects for farmers through conscious consumption or land conservation initiatives: those in which society commits itself at different levels to the preservation of the landscape and biodiversity, beyond the production of food. We are talking about a wide range of conservation activities and the promotion of people’s relationship with nature, such as collective cleaning of the environment or the maintenance and signposting of trails.
Thirdly, we have talked about the values promoted by social agriculture, considering the participation of citizens in an agricultural environment as an objective and the health and sociability of people and their contribution to the maintenance of this environment as the ultimate goal.
Fourthly, we have discussed the sources of social farming. Bearing in mind that the sources of social agriculture from a genetic point of view would be none other than society’s need to find tools that facilitate sustainability and balance with the agricultural environment and health, both physical and mental, and ultimately the socialization of the individual.
Fifthly and lastly, we talked about the added value of our SoEngage Plus project and its objective of structuring a network united around the value of social agriculture.
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