Sugar cane, beets & Co - of bittersweet good 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 considered a luxury item. The "white gold" arrived in Europe from colonies. At the same time, the European hunger for sugar cane and rum fueled the abhorrent system of slavery. The first trade restrictions began as early as 1806 with Napoleon's Continental Blockade. It was at this time that the sugar beet came into being and began to be cultivated in order to become independent of tropical sugar cane. Today, cane and beet compete with each other on the world market, and trade restrictions and exceptions are manifold. However, the growing acreage of sugar cane is 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 sides of sweetening plants. We will work interactively in small groups with padlets, PC skills are assumed.

Speaker: Ines Fehrmann, Witzenhausen.

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