|  When they’re planting their crops, farmers in this area must always keep an eye out for unexploded bombs. Their lands were once battlefields and the dangerous remnants of those conflicts are still a threat today, decades after the end of hostilities.
Now any number of war-torn corners of the world may come to mind as you read these words but the truth may surprise you. The farmers I’m talking about farm in Belgium, in the fabled Flanders Fields made famous by the poem of the same name written by Canadian doctor John McCrae during World War I. Continue reading Where food, farming and bombs collide  Imagine an 11 acre indoor garden with two kilometres of walking paths, 776 cubic feet of soil, 4736 square feet of pond surface and 300,000 visitors over eight days.
That’s the world famous Floralies of Ghent, an incredible floral and plant exposition that takes place once every five years – a tradition that’s been ongoing for over 200 years.
Continue reading A floral paradise Last month, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress, which took place in Belgium and Luxembourg. Much to my satisfaction – as one who really loves to eat – food and drink played a key role in this gathering of those who write about food and farming. Not only did we enjoy consuming it, we were also quite keen to take photos of what was placed before us, as you can see here: Continue reading An IFAJ congress in food and drink  There was a bit of deja-vu in the air along with the ash as I read in the news this morning that an airport-closing plume had made another appearance in Britain.
It seems a bit like old news now – but a few short weeks ago, the impossibly-named volcano in Iceland that had somehow managed to send global air travel into a tailspin was making headlines around the world. I had a unique perspective on that particular story as I arrived in Europe to participate in the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists’ (IFAJ) Congress in Belgium a day before the now infamous eruption.
Continue reading Return of the ash  The Moselle region of Luxembourg produces some fantastic wines – which we’ve been lucky enough to sample abundantly during our three day visit to the country this week. The tour was part of the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) congress that is being hosted this week in Ostende, Belgium.
The wines of Luxembourg take many forms, but no matter what the colour of the drink, they’re all green as a result of a major shift in focus by wine growers, as we heard from our host and tour guide Stefaan, a senior member of Les Vins Moselles, a wine growing co-operative.
Continue reading Luxembourg’s green wines  Well, we’ve finally arrived in lovely Ostende, a city on the Belgian coast and our home base for the next few days. And we are among the lucky ones – it looks like about half of our IFAJ colleagues either never got off the ground or are stranded at airports in various parts of the world. Continue reading In a palace by the sea
 It was the day of wines – bubbly wines, white wines, pink wines and even red wines. The Moselle wine area of Luxembourg is a gem and one I didn’t even know existed.
We started off the day at Wormeldange cellars of the Domaines De Vinsmoselle, united winegrowers since 1921. They make a fabulous series of cremants – sparkling wines that we would call champagne if they actually hailed from the Champagne region. Continue reading Discovering Luxembourg wine country | |
