THE MAGAZINE FOR THE SWISS ABROAD APRIL 2006 / NO. 2 Swiss farmers face an uncertain future Booming new Swiss fi lm industry Poverty in Switzerland and how to fi ght it PUBLICIS Your direct contact to Switzerland www.swissinfo.org Swiss news International news Specials Forums Swiss links 70 years of quality reporting Contact Content also available via Mobile/PDA/Newsletter/Audio Download/News Feeds EDITORIAL CONTENTS 3 2000 farms disappear every year wiss farmers are worried: they fear for their own existence. 5 This is why more Mailbag than 10,000 farmers from all corners of Switzerland gathered on Berne‘s Bundesplatz Sto demonstrate against “current developments in agricultural policy.” Farmers fear a 5 reduction in subsidies and competition from cheap, foreign agricultural products. As the Pres- Sounds: Blues from Switzerland ident of the Swiss Farmers‘ Union dramatically portrayed the situation, many farmers are al- ready living off their savings. 7 Images: An anthology of station life The statistics are hard to believe: Every year, 2,000 farms go to the wall: that‘s fi ve every day. Whereas in 1990 there were 93,000 going agricultural concerns, last year there were only 8 65,000. At the same time the number of farmworkers dropped from 253,000 to 190,000. And Swiss farmers are worried there‘s no end in sight: the 2011 agricultural reform will result in the disappearance of between fi ve and ten farms every day. 12 Nostalgic tunes from a Swiss cow byre Swiss farmers receive CHF 4 billion in federal subsidies every year. “Too much,” say trade associations, economists and politicians who are calling for structural changes or, in other Regional news words, fewer but larger operations that can produce as cheaply as their competitors in the USA or the EU. As our feature article illustrates, however, it‘s not as easy as it sounds. More- over, farmers have an important function to fulfi l as landscape gardeners. 13 The increase in poverty and related welfare services are continually the subject of politi- Federal parliament in session cal debate. In an interview with the “Swiss Review”, Walter Schmid, Director of the Univer- 14 sity of Social Work and President of the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare, outlined an ef- Offi cial DFA Information fective way of alleviating poverty in Switzerland. Having been in charge of the Youth and Social Services Offi ce of the City of Zurich for many 16 years, he is well acquainted with the subject. First and foremost he calls Booming new Swiss fi lm industry for supplementary benefi ts for young families, to ensure that their chil- dren can be raised and educated properly, as well as for working people with incomes below subsistence level. In Schmid‘s opinion it is shame- ful that, in this day and age, a country as affl uent as Switzerland still has people working for pay that does not even cover the costs of daily liv- Heinz Eckert ing. Schmid also criticises the fact that Switzerland‘s social policy suf- fers from an “intellectual straightjacket” that prevents the development of modern, effective welfare solutions. A Swiss fi lm has also become a hot topic recently. Thousands of people have been fl ock- 18 ing to cinemas to see “Grounding”, the partly fi ctional, partly documentary account of the fi - Poverty in Switzerland nal days of Swissair. Controversial discussions have been triggered by Michael Steiner‘s fi lm, which blames banking giant UBS and its CEO Marcel Ospel for Swissair‘s grounding and 20 presents Mario Corti, Swissair‘s last CEO, with a clean slate. Thanks to Michael Steiner, the OSA News Swiss fi lm industry is experiencing a revival. Coming on the heels of the highly-acclaimed 22 “Mein Name ist Eugen”, “Grounding” is Steiner‘s second big box-offi ce hit. Who is this direc- Switzerland – Mecca of low-cost airlines tor who has given Swiss cinema its two biggest hits in recent years? Alain Wey portrays this 36-year-old native of Zurich and takes the opportunity to chat with Michael Steiner about 23 his new projects. His conclusion: Having overcome its agonies, the Swiss fi lm industry is ex- News in Brief periencing a new lease of life and is now producing such high quality works that it once more Cover photo: Renzo Blumenthal – Organic farmer HEINZ ECKERT has the chance to gain international recognition. and Mister Switzerland 2005: A symbol for modern agriculture. Photo: Keystone il 2006 / No. 2 il 2006 / No. IMPRESSUM: “Swiss Review”, the magazine for the Swiss Abroad, is in its 33rd year of publication and is published in German, French, Italian, English and Spanish in 21 regional editions. It has a total circulation of over 380 000. Regional news appears four times a year. lm I EDITORSHIP: Heinz Eckert (EC), Editor-in-Chief; Rolf Ribi (RR), Alain Wey (AW), Gabriela Brodbeck (BDK), responsible for DFA Information Pages, Service for the Swiss Abroad DFA, CH-3003 Berne. René Lenzin (RL), reporting from parliament. Translation: CLS Communication Ltd I POSTAL ADDRESS: Publisher, Editorial Offi ce, Advertising: Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, Alpenstrasse 26, CH-3006 Berne, Tel. +4131356 6110, Fax +4131356 61 01, Postal Account (Swiss National Giro) 30-6768-9. Internet: www.revue.ch I E-MAIL: [email protected] I I I Photo: Freneticfi SWISS REVIEW Apr PRINT: Zollikofer AG, CH-9001 St.Gallen. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please advise your local Embassy or Consulate – do not write to Berne. Single copy CHF 5.– All-round insurance cover 8IFSFWFSZPVSOFXSFTJEFODF for Swiss citizens living abroad. XJMMCF XFXPOjUMFUZPVMPTF TJHIUPG4XJU[FSMBOE The CSS Insurance International Health Plan covers medical expenses: on the job, off the job; sickness, accident and preg- JBAFBK>OQ@LJ nancy. For details and a quotation: www.ihp.ch XXXCSPBEDBTUDI 3FDFJWF BMM UW QSPHSBNT BOE GVSUIFS SBEJPQSPHSBNTPG43(443JE³FTVJTTF UIF 4XJTTQVCMJDCSPBEDBTUFS MJWFBOEVQEBUFE WJBTBUFMMJUFJOFOUJSF&VSPQF Phone: ++41 58 277 16 87/91 (FU NPSF EFUBJMFE JOGPSNBUJPO BCPVU E-Mail: [email protected] SR 2/06 UIJT BOE PUIFS QSPEVDUT PG 43( 443 JE³F TVJTTFPOXXXCSPBEDBTUDIPSWJBPVSJO UFSOBUJPOBMIPUMJOF TBUBDDFTToBTFSWJDFPG Insurance A precious part of home – the new postage stamps have arrived! The complete range of products under: www.swisspost.ch/philashop MAILBAG SOUNDS 5 THE MAGAZINE FOR THE SWISS ABROAD Congratulations Here in Ver- High-altitude blues. If you were to ask for two high-fl ying DECEMBER 2005 / NO. 6 As a recently natu- mont we‘ve been Swiss bluesmen, then Napoleon Washington from La Chaux- ralized Swiss living struggling for de-Fonds and Hank Shizzoe from Berne would defi nitely abroad, I would some time now to come out on top. Both are guitar virtuosos blessed with deep like to thank you get a moratorium voices and a special feel for out-of-the-ordinary melodies. for the “Swiss on the planting of They are representatives of a vibrant, contemporary blues Review”, which is GM crops passed style of a quality that ranks alongside that of the true greats one of my most (without success), of this genre on the other side of the Atlantic. Napoleon 30 years of Christmas markets important links in Switzerland a seed labeling law Washington recently brought out his second album “Home- Radio legend: to Switzerland. “Echo der Zeit” turns 60 passed (with suc- grown”, which he recorded in New York. He has been playing Direct democracy: Congratulations, A huge responsibility for politicians cess but without the guitar since he was twelve, and his life to date has been particularly, on the subsequent en- pretty adventurous. He was engaged for tours in America layout of your December issue. forcement) and a bill passed (1991, 92 and 95) by New Yorkers Gary Setzer (brother of The colors on the cover and which would protect farmers Brian) & The Roostabouts. He toured Europe and the United the picture of the Christmas from lawsuits by GM seed manu- States with his old blues formation, The Crawling Kingsnake. market in front of the Einsiedeln facturers (still in the legislature). ying high blues fl Swiss The dawn of the new millennium saw Napoleon Washington’s monastery made for a really We have already experienced debut as a solo artist with his renowned steel guitar. As an instru- well-illustrated and dynamic the contamination of organic mentalist in a class of his own he earned universal praise with his magazine. crops by GM genes, and we know fi rst album “Hotel Bravo”. An extraordinary concert, fi lmed in 2004, FACUNDO M. SIMES LANFRANCHI, that there are increasingly reports is becoming one of the most original advertising media ever: “The CÓRDOBA, ARGENTINA surfacing about the health risks of Washington Theater” is a virtual cinema on the Internet, in which eating GM foods, and yet our ef- anyone can discover the bluesman at work – simply by visiting www. Step-by-step forts to awaken people to these napoleonwashington.com It was very refreshing to read circumstances are frequently Ode to the water-lilies. Organic atmospheres, hypnotic moods, your objective editorial in frustrated. So it was very grati- intimate ballads – these are all features of the second fantastic al- the December issue and then fying to be part of a vote that had bum from the band Water Lily, entitled “13th Floor”. It is impossi- the beautiful picture of the such a positive and hope-fi lled ble to place the six artists from Valais in one particular style cate- Christmas Market with the outcome. gory: they create a universe that hovers back and forth between Einsiedeln Monastery in the SYLVIA DAVATZ, HARTLAND, rock, trip-hop, pop and folk and reveals a particular predilection background.