The University of Salamanca was the stage for a special meeting between the ReSEED Project and students who came from Latin America or are interested in there. On October 15, 2019, principal investigator Dulce Freire gave the talk “The agricultural meeting of two worlds: a historical perspective of the current challenges” at the Institute of Iberoamerica.
Freire focused on the European agricultural and food past, where the seeds from the new worlds played a decisive role. She also highlighted the strategic position of the Iberian Peninsula, arguing it was the main gateway to the new products in the old continent.
Students of the Master´s degree in Latin American studies, as well as doctoral candidates and post-doctoral fellows with different scientific backgrounds, attended the conference. The discussion concentrated on the historical view of the global circulation of the plants, a process in which Portuguese and Spanish navigators were protagonists and contributed to the dissemination of American seeds such as potato and cassava around the world.
Another subject of debate was the importance of peasant agriculture in preserving agrobiodiversity. To adapt to new conditions brought about by climate change, seeds must be sown regularly in the agricultural context. It was discussed to what extent historical analysis demonstrates that peasant agriculture is better prepared to respond to these changes and contributes to ensuring
