Sugar cane, beets & co - from the bittersweet taste

We love sweets! Accordingly, sugar was and is an important commodity with increasing consumption and growing cultivation areas worldwide. Just 200 years ago, sugar was still considered a luxury item. The "white gold" arrived in Europe from colonies. The European hunger for sugar cane and rum also fueled the abhorrent system of slavery. The first trade restrictions began as early as 1806 with Napoleon's Continental Blockade. It was during this time that the sugar beet was developed, which was first cultivated in order to become independent of tropical sugar cane. Today, cane and beet compete with each other on the world market, and there are many trade restrictions and exceptions. However, the growing areas under sugar cane cultivation are not only for human consumption, but also for the production of fuel, "bio-ethanol". How does the cultivation of sugar cane crops or sugar beet fields affect the environment? In the workshop, we look at the political, social and ecological aspects of sweetening plants. We work interactively in small groups with padlets, PC skills are required.

Speaker: Ines Fehrmann, Witzenhausen.

Registration only by e-mail to tropengewaechshaus[at]uni-kassel[dot]de by 14.2.22