NUREMBERG, Germany – A unique Summer Edition of Biofach, the World’s Leading Fair for Organic Food, and Vivaness, the International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal Care, will be held at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre from 26 to 29 July 2022. Exhibitors and trade visitors as well as government and media representatives will finally be back to meeting in person and on site.
On opening day, they can look forward to a top-notch keynote address that deals with ecology, climate change and resilience in accordance with the theme of this year’s BIOFACH Congress: “Organic.Climate.Resilience”.
Biofach and Vivaness met with the keynote speaker ahead of time to talk about his main concerns and messages.
David de Rothschild, what do you see as the connection between adventure and nature? What exactly is “adventure ecology”?
We are nature and nature is us. The time we spend investigating nature refreshes our minds and our bodies because we experience a deep respect for the natural world, we feel like we’re a part of something bigger and more important than we are. This connection makes us more inclined to protect this place, even if it’s only out of self-interest because we want to protect the feeling of being alive.
From your own perspective and based on experiences from your expeditions, what can we do as a group to respond to climate change?
We can stop acting as if the problem is far away or in the future. On expeditions, we learn about other places, cultures, and communities and quickly realize that we all have the same relationship to nature and we’re all facing the same problems. Without effective legislation and political leadership, it will never be possible to drastically shift the playing field. We should only support leadership that thinks along these lines and, even more importantly, acts along these lines.
What will be your 3 main messages for the organic and natural and organic cosmetics community in your keynote address at the official opening of the combined trade fair?”
“Organic” and “natural” have to be more than just labels on a product. They represent a fundamental change in our respect for nature. When we don’t act accordingly, then everything is just marketing and we aren’t making the necessary changes to the system.
Our bodies are nature. If we see the changes in the systems around us, we shouldn’t be surprised if they’re reflected in our health.
If we integrate innovation or images of nature in our production and products, shouldn’t we also be paying nature a licensing fee?
