Last Tuesday, the 21st of March, our students ran a sustainable food roundtable. This discussion, moderated by our MESPOM student Jocelyn Wong, sought to explore what sustainable food means in a Viennese context. It did so by drawing together people working in this field from in and around Vienna.
Participants included a representative from the cooperative farm GeLa Ochsenhertz, Dr Orsolya Lelkes from Kollerabi food cooperative, das Suess'Kind vegan restaurant, Joseph Manuel from Caritas community cooking, and Lilly Kolb, an urban rooftop farmer from Wiener Dachfarm.
Hearing the various perspectives on what sustainability means in the everyday work of these people was interesting and generated a discussion with the audience. From the plastic caps of cooking oil, to franchising with larger corporations, can sustainability ever be something large-scale? It seems both participants and audience considered local production and community an integral aspect of sustainable food. Perhaps this was emphasized by the delicious catering provided by the participating restaurant and rooftop farmer.
The project was brought to life by our MESP students, Lizzy van Megen and Lovisa Kuehnle-Nelson, together with the CEU student group, the Environmental Front, working with a grant from the Open Society University Network.
Congratulations to the students for the initiative!
