Dario

On 17 June 2026 the European Parliament gave final approval, at second reading (431 to 201, with 29 abstentions), to the regulation on New Genomic Techniques — NGTs, or in Italy TEA, tecniche di evoluzione assistita, “assisted evolution”. It splits NGT plants in two: NGT-1, judged equivalent to what ordinary breeding could have produced and now treated more or less like any other crop; and NGT-2, which stays inside the existing GMO framework. The shift is one of philosophy — from regulating...

When syntropic agriculture arrived in Europe, it took on a very specific form, codified around a course that Ernst Götsch taught in São Paulo, Brazil, about a decade ago. Speaking to an audience of non-specialists, Ernst showed how one could plant all the stages of ecological succession from the very start, in a single row holding plants meant to populate the system's various layers (emergent, high, medium, and so on) over the short, medium and long term. Lately I've been paying close...

Making a vegetable box is such a simple act. And yet, it has become so profoundly emotional for me. It makes me think, every week, of the meaning and beauty of this job. It makes me think of the people I’ve encountered along the way. It makes me think of the frenzy, skill and excitement involved in harvesting everything needed to make a box. I have such fond memories of harvest days: waking up early in the morning; watching and hearing friends and volunteers picking veg in the background; the...