Erasmus: Solidary Agriculture in Blumenthal

Posts über unser Erasmus-Projekt erscheinen in Englischer Sprache – Übersetzung? | Posts about our Erasmus project appear in English – Translation?

After attending the University of Augsburg, we went by bus to “Blumenthal“, a community devoted to sustainability, in the early afternoon of March 29. The Erasmus group was shown the beautiful estate „Blumenthal“ near Aichach by Mr H. Horack, who led us first to the small Catholic church, which is still used, though mainly by the Catholics living in the neighbourhood. He then led us to the hotel and the fields where the vegetables are grown.

To become a member of the community a new applicant must formally apply and after a while can be admitted if the other members consent. Moreover the applicant is expected to contribute some money to the project, which will be reboursed if the person decides to leave the community. The collected money is used for renovation of existing buildings or for building new ones in order to provide dwellings for new members. The community itself offers jobs for example in the hotel or in the field of agriculture whereas other members retain their jobs outside.

The hotel provides 40 rooms that were individually designed by members of the community. In the restaurant, which is also part of Blumenthal, the hotel guests and the other customers are offered organic, mainly self-produced food. The meals with meat, such as the Bavarian Schweinebraten, is still very popular despite the issue of climate change and sustainability.

The Erasmus group was then shown the greenhouses with lettuce and vegetables as well as a growing herd of goats. Whereas the goats` milk is used for self made goat cheese, the billy goats end up in the restaurant kitchen. But for the time being the Erasmus students liked watching the young goats playfully trying a seesaw and of course not knowing their future fate yet.

The idea behind the food production in Blumenthal is the so-called solidary agriculture. This means that the people ordering a box with vegetables regularly pay a prefixed price and they are supplied with seasonal goods which depend on the weather and not on their preference. That`s how the farmers in Blumenthal get a safe income independent of weather risks.

Before the Erasmus guests from Romania and France returned home on Friday, three workshops were scheduled for Thursday, March 30: cooking, insect oasis and raised beds.

All posts about the Erasmus project can be found here

erstellt am: 22.06.2023 von Julia Kabatas

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