Les Foodingues

- The pastures with their cocktails of Medicinal plants and the Rubioceas which can give maximum productivity in meat with the equal quantities of forrage, a quality that only nature can produce :

- auxiliary insects which feed on the pests and the necrophage insects that transform cow shit into fertilizer :

- Psylocibes and necrophage fungi which transform carbon into sugars which they exchange with the plants directly at their roots where they need it, thanks to their Mycelial net.

All these beings are the best allies of the agricultor, the guaranty of a sane and rich forrage.

But many are those unaware of this and prefer more radical ways.

Here are two organochloride molecules which have been invented in 1942 to put an end to the Second World War by creating a weapon capable of readicating the soil, all cultures, defoliate all vegetation to spread famine. Added to a detergent so that in can penetrate more easily in the cells of the plants, it is sadly famous under the name of “Agent Orange”. Note that the carbon links of both molecules are very stong and not easy to degrade by nature. Here, near the big house, you see a man weeding the banks of the stream which brings the water to be used by the people in the village… These mollecule have been invented by synthetising growth hormones of the rice… According to Professor Séralini of the University of Caen, with dosis 100 000 less strong than the one suggested to any gardener, they provoque necrosis on the placentas pregnant women.

This what is used here to weed: our mission is to show that these weeds are not altogether bad, nor competing with the cultures… Our aim is toshow that some are helping the cultures and it needs observation and a good managment of sowing to turn some weed in the best allies possible for the cultures. And all this use of potentialy dangerous products, what is it for? to grow genetically engineered soja (GMO) modified in order to resist to such products… You can see above the 3rd crop in three years of GMO soja 25 days after sowing… no more bigger than the “weed” which have been sprayed 3 times since sowing; there is no much more than one seedling of soja every 2feets…

In Argentina the price of such products have raised 25% in 2008 and it is said that the raise willbe stronger in 2009 … to spend so much money on so mediocre results… anyway from our experience on this site the experience is far from successful … Not to mention that all the biodiversity shown above have disappeared from these fumigated fields.

Argentina is now one of the biggest users of these chemical products for its’ agriculture. Today, more than 60% of the Argentinian meat is bred in “feed-lots”, also fed with GMO corn and soja. In January 2009, the Argentinian government has asked the medical and biochemical university of Buenos Aires a report on the sanitary impact of the agriculture on the people at a national level, due to be released in 4 years.

North West Argentina, not far from the Chilean and Bolivian border.

Les foodingues are heading for an agriculture design consulting on an a 100 000 acres domain. 

The purpose is to study the soil with the bioindicator plants, give advice on cattle breeding, 7500 calves and 500 horses, as well as to suggest diversifications. The objective is not to over exploit the place but to bring it back to an economical balance so that it dont looses money. The place has been bought 4 years ago after a long period of errance.

Our first step : check the possible hydro and metal ressources of the under ground.

From Tarrascon in France we consult the data base of the radar satellite of the NASA with our partner geologist : 3 little streams of water, small traces of copper, not much on this side. Underground, nothing viable.

But Alain, the geologist, lead our attention on the other side of the valley… “Have you seen the other side? I have never seen so much water !” A paradise for agriculture.

On the spot it is the absolute contrary : what seemed a dry land, what we are consulted fo, is in fact a green and fertile meadow. But on the other side of the mountain, the vale with the extraordinary water ressources… is a desert.

See the mountain in the back of the panoramic photo? This is what the other side of the mountain looks like.

What happened? Considering the evolution of nature itself, no difference. It is an impressive water collector for which the geologic evolution has been very similar on one side of the mountain and the other.

The only difference seems the use man has made of it. This place has always been well communicated and cultivated by man. Prehispanic caves are all around.

The site has been desertified by a lousy managment of the soil by man:

1. Agriculture : the cultivating practices of the indians : burn the vegetal covert. turn over the soil, sow, harvest and start all over again. When the land is dead, start all over further down. Let the ground rest a while, but the rain has already taken away the organic matter, the ground is now only laterite, dead.
2. Cattle breeding : With colonial times lama and alpaca breeding, species that select their menus while preserving a good vegetal covering, these are replaced by cattle and mules for the army, transport and mining. Trees are cut down to get more forage. The amount of cattle increases every day. Overgrazing. The vegetal coverture disappears. The ground is eroding itself. It collapses and you have now a wonderful canyon for tourists.

One more example to show that there is not a single desert in the world which has not been created by man. If you know one please, tell me.

To design food you have to know how it is produced.

Step 1 : Find water. Water study by satellite radar, With Alain Gachet the creator of the technique. The radar satellite of Alain Gachet goes 20m deep in the ground to trace water and understand its history and future evolution. This study gives us the exact GPS data to dig the wells.

Step 2 : Understand the soil. 80% of the living beings of this planet are in the soil. Study of the soil by Bio-indicator plants. With the botanist Gerard Ducerf, creator of the technique. Gerard Ducerf is also the manager of the recollecting teams of wild plants for the Boiron Laboratories and the Laboratoires Fabre, both major farmaceutical labs in Europe.

All the seeds have been spread off all over the planet for millions of years. But only the ones that encounter the conditions for which they are genetically programmed germinates. When you know the original biotope of the plant, the bio chemistry and the genetics it is responding to, we can define the state of the soil, and the inner dynamic of the soil.

How the soil is evolving and what we can do to influence this evolution. No classic soil study could give us such acurate information with such a small investment.

Step 3 : Depollution, planting & natural fertilisation. From the above studies we can decide of urgent moves and adapted cultivations. Our interventions never use synthetic means and always enhances the solutions experienced from nature :

• myco-depollution : mushroom are the biggest eaters of hydrocarbons and PCBs (a 12 feet road can be crossed – eaten – by a mushroom in 2 months)

• myco-fertilizers : mycelia are dependent on dead plants to grow, therefor they protect them and accelerate there life cycle: the most buoyant and rapid they are the more they can eat, but as well, the better agro turn-over we can achieve.

• myco-restoration : combining techniques of seeding with clay inoculated with mycelium we can recreate the first steps of soil creation by generating the first steps of “clay/organic matter balance” so that the soil can step out of a desertification spiral.

SIAL is THE World food fair.

They have given us all the liberty with the agency of Annie Ziliani, Novale Next, to set the trends and select the leading products throughout the world and design the stand “Trends & innovations” (stand of 250sqm

approx.).

Among the creations for this event we designed the first eatable wall made with the microplants of Koppert Cress : sakura, shizo, … each day the wall grows and the visitors eat…

We organised as well a demonstration of the French forbidden tomatoes. All the tomatoes which are not on the official French list and therefore forbidden to the market. But at the same time they are part of the French historic gastronomy and have their place on the best restaurant menus such as Lasserre in Paris.

• 4 spaces to display the trends with sented videos.
• Products such as sea urchins and sea anemones cryogenised to preserve the texture.
• Rare wines such as dominio di Bagnoli
• The wine of the Popes since 900.

It also led to the creation of many prospective products which are in the process of entering the market….