THE KILLER BEAN

SOY

THE KILLER BEAN

TV- TALKSHOW on the Brazilian soy-films of  Wiek Lenssen

tv-uitzending:                             talkshow:   

 Mato Grosso in Brazil is the place where most soy is grown, on huge plantations. So the Netherlands benefits from importing soy from Brazil, because it also generates a lot of work and therefore income for the port of Rotterdam. And for Brazil it is an important export product. But not all that glitters is gold. Soy cultivation in Brazil is at the expense of small farmers, indigenous peoples and millions of hectares of tropical rainforest..

On October 1, 2012, Wiek Lenssen Filmprodukties initiated a TV debate at the Floriade in Venlo, on the relationship between Dutch cattle feed and Brazilian soy ;The Netherlands is Europe’s largest importer of soy and the intensive livestock industry is the largest consumer of it..

Is soy farming sustainable? Are there alternatives? Participants in this evening-length debate included: the Dutch Feed Industry Association (Henk Flipsen) , Stichting Milieudefensie (Klaas Breunissen), the Dutch Arable Farmers’ Union (Hans van Kessel) the SP (Henk van Gerven), Land and Horticultural Organization LTO (Peter Brouwers) , Dutch Dairymen Board (Sieta van Keimpema), Stichting Wervel (Luc van Krunkelsven)  and agricultural expert Guus Geurts. Niek Koning of Wageningen University provided the introduction.

​Special participants included three Brazilian guests who had been portrayed in three short films in their own environment, surrounded by soybean fields. The films gave direction to the subtopics of the debate. These guests were: Genito Kaiowá, Guarani Indian, Nilfo Wandscheer, a small Brazilian farmer and Giba Veira dos Santos of the Brazilian NGO CIMI. During the talk show, they explained their personal experiences with soybean cultivation.
The duo presentation was in the hands of agricultural journalist Aart van Cooten and Jos van den Broek on behalf of L1TV and the evening was musically enlivened by the Parel Leed Aktie Groep (PLAG).

Click    for three short films and more info on the sequel to this project

 

The initiative was financially backed by OxfamNovib/Growfonds, Friends of the Earth Netherlands, The ministery of Foreign Affairs and the European Committee. With thanks to the Province of Limburg.