Dispute over stubble fields

A purple beetle with six orange dots on its back and six long legs climbs its way over a thistle, up and down the tips of the flower’s crown. A ladybird larva in search of its breakfast: aphids. The thistles grow chest-high, they are oil plants and are said to meet the annual oil needs of a person. Lead-coloured cloud towers puff up above the treetops in Kockelscheuer. There is not yet a cow in the field at the edge of the forest. A separate stubble field has been set aside for their nourishment. The wind brushes through the leaves of the crops on the 2,000 square metres of land. Sugar beet, soy, bush beans. "Every inhabitant in Luxembourg has an average of 2,000 square metres of agricultural land at their disposal", says Kerstin Klemm.

She is a researcher at the Institut fir Biologësch Landwirtschaft an Agrarkultur Luxemburg (Ibla) (in engl.: institute for biological agriculture Luxembourg) and shows us around the grounds behind the conservation center Haus vun der Natur. "We have made up a fictitious citizen who produces his food here on this land." The Ibla takes care of tilling the fields and the scientific evaluation, natur&ëmwelt does the public relations and educational work, and the non-profit organization Co-Labor tends and harvests. Strawberries, nuts, bread wheat. Kerstin Klemm introduces us to Jerry. He removes plants that sprout wildly between the crops, weeds, byproducts of organic farming. The needs covered by the area are based on the nutritional recommendations of the German Health Aid (DGH), guidelines for a health-promoting diet. Cucumbers, spring onions, bush beans.