Munich's Organic Market Becomes a Great Destination for Family-Friendly Fun
Text and photography / Chang Sheng-han
To help more people learn about organic agriculture, 5 German cities - Bremen, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Warnemunde and Munich - hold regular events every year where visitors can experience organic living. The events are usually held on weekends from July to September, and in addition to emphasizing locally sourced products, they also show the public the joys and many different facets of organic living.
Many local organic businesses come here to take part. One highlight of the event is the chef show, where a chef cooks African dishes while the host interviews him, picks up a sauce to promote it and asks the chef where this sauce can be bought - an interview that doubles as marketing - and once the dish is ready, the audience below is invited to taste it. In addition, the host also interviews well-known figures in the organic world about their vision for the organic industry and invites businesses to promote their products.
During the interludes, models walk the runway in green-concept clothing, accompanied by relaxed music and sweet smiles. Organic living is not just a practical healthy concept, but also a lifestyle taste and a trend!
To attract children, the sheep that provide wool are also brought out to meet the guests. Animals are usually the best at drawing children's attention, and instilling environmental and organic ideas in children from an early age is very important. The goal announced at this organic event was to let Bavarian elementary school students enjoy locally sourced organic meals at school too.
The photos were taken by the author in Munich, at a relatively small-scale event with about 40 stalls.
The chef show promotes African cuisine
A natural-style modern fashion show, with a chic mom walking the runway together with her cute little girl with puffy hair - and everything they are wearing is made of organic cotton!
A sheep-farming family gives a live demonstration of how to turn wool into yarn on a hand-operated spinning wheel. This gentleman patiently explains to the audience while demonstrating the movements for everyone. Their products, from yarn to wool socks and sweaters, are all made entirely by hand from scratch!
This video is from Hamburg's Organic Experience Day. People in Hamburg pick up new information and ideas quickly, and the scale of the event is also much larger than Munich's.
http://youtu.be/iEl1B8U1BG0