Protest Flour
Vienna (Austria), 2020-21

“Food should grow on the land around Vienna International Airport, not the profits of a few! Our protest flour stands for the growing resistance”.

In Austria, a coalition of local producers, citizens’ initiatives and climate activists, created the “3rd Runway Flour” made from organic wheat, grown on the fields that Vienna International Airport wants to seal for a planned third runway.

This shows what can grow on the fields around Vienna International Airport if they are not concreted over for the airport expansion. It is a sign against the third runway and for safeguarding of regional food as well as for the preservation of valuable soils.

Timing

  • The opportunity to act had to be taken during the delay caused by COVID-19, and before the return to business as usual.
  • Preparations started in February 2020; the “Protest-Flour” was launched in November; call for baking cookies and sharing the story of the protest in December.
  • In 2021, a celebration of more than 20 years of successful resistance against the airport expansion took place in one of the fields after the harvest.

Location

  • Wheat was grown on the fields next to Vienna airport and also previously on the soil now lying below the existing runways (among the most fertile soils in Austria).
  • The flour was distributed at some stores and food coops in Vienna, at markets and shops in the small towns of the airport region and at events.
  • There was a big banner (“Pflugfeld statt Flugfeld!” – plough field, not air field) placed on the threatened field, visible from a frequented road to make the action more visible in the region. A second smaller banner (“Rather bread from the region than CO2, noise and concrete”) was used in events for selling the flour.

Type of Action

  • The project was called P_flugfeld (Pflug means plough and Flugfeld means airfield). It aimed at bringing together: local citizens affected by noise and pollution; farmers affected by expropriation; people focused on climate justice and the environmental impact of aviation. It aimed to get more people in the movement to reduce air traffic and show how protesting climate damaging projects can be done by different groups of people in society.
  • Together with a threatened farmer who grows organic wheat, the coalition produced a 3rd runway “P_flugfeld” flour, including a specially designed package.
  • The action was carried out in a broad coalition between civil society initiatives of the region (BI Rauchenwarth, SOS Ostregion), a local farmer and miller, and System Change, not Climate Change! (SCNCC!), a climate justice group from Vienna.

Insights

  • Though challenging, it was crucial to work on building a locally rooted coalition with different types of people. The flour worked well as an inspiring symbol of resistance, entangling the different sides and actors in the struggle.

Obstacles

  • Difficulty in establishing a collaboration with farmers affected by the airport expansion (something attempted since SCNCC! started working on this topic in 2016), due to the influence the airport has in the region and the prejudices both regarding activists from the cities rural contexts.
  • It’s hard to develop a product if you want to fulfill all the food standards.
  • Coming up with a fixed price was hard but essential for selling the flour at local shops. It led to a reflection on the value of food; at markets it was sold with a recommended price (donation basis) to accommodate those not able to afford it, and others who might want to give more.

Strengths

  • Working in a coalition meant the different actors could bring their different strengths: the civil society initiatives brought the local connections and were key in distributing and advertising the flour and banner production; the farmer produced the wheat and sold the flour, providing his field for the banner, as well as other material needed, and offered a very convincing testimonial; the miller produced the flour and packaged it; SCNCC! designed the package, produced the texts and website, organised the video and event in Vienna, was responsible for outreach and distribution of the flour in Vienna.
  • The flour was a very tangible symbol of the resistance, that appealed to many people.
  • Buying it was an easy way for any one to support the movement. At the same time we offered several different steps to engage: sharing the story of the flour and the protest when eg. sharing cookies, distributing leaflets, organising the sale of flour or joining one of the groups in the coalition.

Lessons learned

  • Important to go to local meetings, get to know people and build trust. A game-changer was the collaboration with some locals that were well connected and served as gate openers.
  • It’s a good idea to plan each step (production of the flour, installation of the banner) in articulation with photo and video needs, which are a priority.