For the past eight months, the Phito Van has been with our Phito partners in Romania. During that time, it was featured in two Phito Stories episodes and two Phito Radio Shows and served as a mobile office to meet farmers and to test the Phito App.
Finally, after our annual in-person plenary meeting in Iași, it was time to drive it back to the Netherlands for its annual technical check-up.
It’s a long way from Romania to the Netherlands: more than 2000 km and six countries. And since Phito is not only about developing an app to support farmers but also about telling real farming stories, this was the perfect opportunity to meet farmers and collect some of their stories.
Along our journey, we met regenerative women farmers for our “Women in Agriculture” series, as well as other inspiring farmers who think outside the box and do things a little differently. We will share more about them in the upcoming months, but here is already a little teaser:
1. Regenerative farming in dry conditions
Our first stop is the Great Hungarian Plain, where we meet regenerative farmer Maria. When we visited back in September, we immediately noticed how extremely dry the land was. With climate change and more extreme weather, this seems to be the new normal, and it comes with many challenges.
Yet things grow here, and when we visited, Maria’s fennel seeds were almost ready for harvest. It shows how resilient nature can be. Farming in such dry conditions is challenging, but Maria is optimistic and believes that with a bit of creativity, farming will remain possible even in difficult conditions.
2. Selling stories and Eggs
We learned about Remeny Farm on Instagram, where they share their stories with more than 100k followers. We got curious, and after reaching out, they invited us to their farm in northern Hungary near the Slovakian border. Remeny Farm is a regenerative, family-run farm with many inspiring stories and plenty of creative ideas to future-proof their farm.
One of these ideas? They developed their own app where you can adopt a chicken. In return, you do not only get eggs but also stories and updates from your chicken. It’s a genius way to connect with local communities and make people feel more connected to their food.
3. Building a social farm in Czechia
When we arrive at “Sociální podnik Jasan”, it immediately feels like a community place. It’s a small regenerative farm near Brno selling its products to local residents through a community-supported agriculture (CSA) model. To realise their vision of a social farm, they collaborate with local schools, run a kindergarten on the farm and offer people with special needs a safe place to work and belong. During our visit, we also talked with Eliška, one of the women working at the farm, for our “Women in Agriculture” series.
4. Drones to optimise farm labour
A bit of a thematic outlier on our van tour was our visit to ZD Květná, where we visited our sister project, Guardians, at their Czech pilot farm.
Instead of regenerative farming principles, the project in Květná focuses on new technologies and explores how drones can optimise farm labour.
5. Protecting the people from the climate crisis
“Mezi poli” means “between the fields” and this is exactly where this regenerative farm started: on a small strip between two larger fields. By now, the place has grown and spreads around an old fort just outside the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic.
Once built to protect the city from an enemy army, the fort now serves a different purpose: protecting the city from the climate crisis. That’s at least how Marek, the owner, sees it. To become more future-proof, he believes that agriculture needs to become more decentralised, with strong local communities and more food being produced and sold locally.
We will soon share more about all these farms, and the next Van Campaign is already planned: In December, we will take the Phito Van to Portugal, and along the way, we will collect more stories for you.
