Recorded: Tuesday 20th January 2026
Times: 13:00–14:00

Recording:

Instead of looking towards the centres of “technological progress” why not look towards the fringes? Through a series of interviews and discussions broadcast over the radio, we want to dive into the meaning and impacts of Rural Technology on the development of alternative food system organization. Whether that be software for food distribution, situated publishing practices or communication infrastructure used by farms, we want to spend some time with technology beyond an urban context.

This episode marks the beginning of our second season, where we are working in coordination with Alternative Food Network Rijnmond (AFNR). This series will focus on past and present food infrastructures around the Rijnmond area in the Netherlands, where we try to understand how people, processes, tools and systems affect the relation and image of the urban and the rural. In which ways have past agricultural systems shaped the landscapes of contemporary rural living? And how do food distribution systems inform our relationship to food?

For the fifth radio show in this series of broadcasts we spoke to Birk Heijkants, co-owner of Restaurant Rotonde, one of Rotterdam’s Green Michelin star recipients. Tune in to learn more about Birk’s in-depth takes on how and why the restaurant industry can connect to locality, Rotonde’s awesome work with bottom-up farmers here in the Netherlands, and how you can help cool initiatives like this stay afloat.

Rural Technology falls within Varia’s Homebrew Seed research thread, and is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL and Convergence’s Kickstarter fund.