Urban Food Stories

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Urban Food Stories

Romania’s Expo Stand at the International Union of Architects World Congress, Durban 3-7 August 2014

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Credits

A project by

  • Alexandru Fleșeriu
  • Iulia Hurducaș
  • Eszter Péter

Image, sound, editing

Image, sound

  • Claudiu Moisescu
  • Mihaela Țânțaș
  • Vlad Marchidanu
  • freesfx.co.uk

Website

Translations

  • Oana Bența

Many thanks to

The Ecoruralis Association

  • Ramona Duminicioiu
  • Szőcs-Boruss Miklós-Attila

The Hoștezeni Community

  • Gyurka Jutka
  • Gyurka László
  • Pásztor Gyöngyi

La Terenuri (At the Fields), Mănăștur, Cluj

  • Bogdan Buta
  • Silviu Medeșan
  • Laura Panait

The Pajura Gardens, Bucharest

  • Bogdan Iancu

The Peasant’s Box

  • Mihaela Bar
  • Ronen
  • Andreea Luncașu

Temporary markets

  • George Emanuel Micle
  • Eugen Pănescu
  • Monica Borsai

© 2014

All projects

Urban farmers

The Hoștezeni Community

“What is important nowadays [is] that the supply chain should be short-circuited as much as possible, and the Hostezeni may be an example in this respect. The identity of the city dweller is not contrary to the identity of the farmer, while gardening belongs to and may be a part of the city dweller identity.” Gyöngyi Pásztor - sociologist and university teacher

Video

The Hoștezeni are a historical community from the city of Cluj, Romania. They used to deal with urban gardening in an organized way. Their story might not be unique in the world or in Romania, but the understanding of their economic role within the city history is more than a nostalgic memory of a specific community – it may also outline a strategic perspective over current local producers.

Their history indicates that this community has dealt with urban agriculture starting with the XVth century. Up until the XXth century they supplied the entire city with fresh products – vegetables, as well as animal products. Across the centuries, they formed a homogenous community within the city, relating to their ethnic group, religion, customs and the way they organized agricultural flow.

Nowadays, they are defined by the consequences of socialist urbanization and post-socialist economy: the community members who used to live in a certain area of the city have now dispersed and only few of them still deal in their traditional occupation.

Romanian cities have developed and grown; they entered rapidly under the influence of the globalized food industry to the disadvantage of local producers. However: “What is important nowadays [is] that the supply chain should be short-circuited as much as possible, and the Hostezeni may be an example in this respect. The identity of the city dweller is not contrary to the identity of the farmer, while gardening belongs to and may be a part of the city dweller identity.” (Gyöngyi Pásztor - sociologist and university professor)

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