Vandana Shiva patron of Eosta's Save Our Soils campaign

Press release - Berlin/Waddinxveen, Oct 28, 2013: Vandana Shiva, the renowned Indian champion of women's and farmers' rights, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1993, will be the new international patron of the Save Our Soils campaign. On October 28th, during the kick-off of the Global Soil Week in Berlin, she participated in a guerrilla farming action to generate attention for the problem of soil degradation. She did this together with Volkert Engelsman, CEO of Eosta and Nature & More, and Klaus Töpfer, a German figurehead on sustainability. The campaign was launched in 2012 by Nature & More and will run until 2015, the international Year of Soils.Vandana Shiva, Klaus Töpfer and Volkert Engelsman planted seeds and green cabbage in a Berlin street after removing a few pavement tiles. Vandana Shiva: "I am delighted to support the Save our Soils campaign as international patron. We are all struck by the effects of soil degeneration and destruction, but the countries in the southern hemisphere are suffering from the consequences the most. Therefore it is important to unite worldwide in combatting soil destruction. An important contribution is already made by organic agriculture. So let´s use the campaign to promote this great soilution potential."According to the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the U.N., soil degradation is a major threat to food security. More than 25% of all potential cropland is currently degraded and every minute another area of 30 soccer fields of fertile soil is lost. Nature & More, a Dutch-based company that supplies organic fruit and vegetables to consumers worldwide, took the initiative to start a consumer campaign. More than 50 international partners have now joined, including the Soil Association, the Sustainable Food Trust and the Youth Food Movement.Volkert Engelsman, the initiator of Save Our Soils, explains the campaign goals: 'Consumer decisions shape the world. In our campaign NGO's are working together with companies and retail chains to make consumers aware of the fact that organic agriculture is a proven solution to save soils. Organic agriculture may require a few more hectares, but certainly less than are now being destroyed by intensive industrial farming.' The campaign impact will likely be boosted by Vandana Shiva's commitment. Originally trained as a quantum physicist, Vandana Shiva became India's best known environmental activist, authoring more than 20 books. In 1993 she received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. She is well known for her activism in the field of food sovereignty and her fight for the free exchange of seeds (see www.seedfreedom.eu).More information about Save Our Soils, Nature & More and Global Soil Week:  www.saveoursoils.com - www.natureandmore.com  - www.globalsoilweek.org

Contact:Eosta B.V. / Nature & More, Michaël WildeT: 0180 63 55 63   M: 06 20 53 50 63   E: michael@eosta.com