Exploring sustainable regional food networks in the Swiss mountains

The educational programs of the WFSC are designed to build the knowledge and skills of the next generation of decision makers to tackle food system challenges. The WFSC Alpine Excursion allowed a mulit-cultural and multi-disciplinary group of WFSC alumni and external pageFuture Food Fellowscall_made to learn first-hand the opportunities and challenges for creating sustainable regional food networks in Swiss mountain regions.

The group, along with several WFSC staff members, traveled to Graubünden, a region comprised of 150 mountain valleys, three different languages and a variety of production systems. During the 2-day excursion, participants personally met and discussed with innovators in the local agro-food sectors. The group first visited the fields of ET AL, a producer of saffron and truffles. Discussions focused on marketing of niche products, providing working opportunities for disadvantaged groups, and farming without owning land.

The tour continued to Stall 247, a market dedicated to purchasing products directly from local producers. The group discussed key elements of the initiative’s success in the regional food market, in particular the role of connecting producers and consumers during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The next stop was at Alpen Pionier, who source hemp from a collection of farmers and process it into innovative food and drink products with high nutritional value. This was an opportunity to learn about how traditional crops can be reintegrated into production systems and how collaboration across the value chain can create new opportunities.

The trip ended with an exchange with producers farming in different settings. Firstly, at the biodynamic farm Biohof Dusch the group learned about diverse and integrated crop and livestock systems, the importance of the ethical raising of livestock and the path to change career and become a farmer. The journey ended on Alp Nurdagn, where alpine farmers shared insights about the unique system of raising animals for milk and meat in a mountainous areas, how common grasslands are managed and the tradeoffs that involves.

The excursion wrapped up with a discussion on the main learnings and opportunities looking forward. The participants took a few key messages and insights with them on the trip home:

• Creativity, collaboration, and perseverance are necessary to overcome the challenges inevitable when creating change;
• When moving away from mass production of commodity crops, the skill of authentic storytelling becomes critical to communicate value to consumers;
• How important it is to have an enabling and coherent policy environment locally and nationally to support diversity, build sustainability, and incentivize innovation;
• The potential for combined agriculture and agrotourism to diversity income and connect consumers and producers.

Discussions throughout the excursion highlighted the profound impact that seeing successful stories from innovators can have on those looking to make change. The first-hand experience also afforded participants the opportunity to explore their own role in these local systems and reflect on how that can be cultivated to support transformation to a sustainable food system.

The WFSC thanks all contributors for sharing their inspiring stories and to external pageGraubündenVIVAcall_made for their support to connect with the local initiatives.