The idea of fordicia was born in the last year of writing up my doctorate thesis. It was a daydream-escape when sitting in front of the computer re-reading stuff I had already re-written half a dozen times. I could not wait till I had the thesis handed in and could finally spend some time actually setting up a webpage, making some environmentally sound products and researching various humanitarian and environmental topics. As time have passed my journey have taken me in several directions. I have And the fordicia web pages will hopefully reflect this. It will be a way of documenting my own journey and the journey of my family, a journey of hopefully making better and better decisions, and finding more ethical products and solutions.

 

 

 

When referring to ‘us’ on these pages I mean myself and my family. I might be the person sitting late nights at the computer searching the web or making hammocks on the sewing machine, but the family has to put up with it for starters. My husband does the odd job here and there like cutting out the spacer boards for the hammocks, and minding the children while I finish of on the sewing machine. And my three beautiful children, well, as any mother will tell you, they are the biggest inspiration. They are also the greatest force behind the slow road of change that our family is on. We are trying to make positive changes in our everyday life, mostly small ones, and some bigger ones.

 

 

As fordicia is my own way of celebrating mother earth through making better choices, the content that will be added here will be greatly influenced by my interests. As a biologist and environmentalist I have a keen interest in scientifically based conservation. I believe research is crucial to increase knowledge, as we can not conserve a species or an eco-system unless we know how to do it. Conservation without a sound knowledge base can do more harm than good.

 

 

 

Very much of my daily life is about making choices as a parent of three young children. And where does this fit with conservation or fair trade? I believe that above all else that my most important contribution to the welfare of our planet and its inhabitants is to raise caring children who will become caring adults. You may call it conscious parenting, and it simply means that the choices I make will be watched and copied by my children, and I therefore have a great responsibility to make choices that I want them to make as well. Although children will do as you do, not necessarily do as you say (!), the conversations I have with my children are important.

The Fordicia, also called Hordicidia, was a Roman festival for the goddess Tellus held on April 15. Terra Mater or Tellus Mater was a goddess personifying the Earth in Roman mythology, with both names meaning "Mother Earth" (a common metaphorical expression for the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life) in Latin. Tellus Mater was responsible for the productivity of farmland, and was also associated with marriage, motherhood, pregnant women, and pregnant animals. Terra's Greek counterpart is Gaia, During the Fordicia ceremony, a pregnant cow was sacrificed, the calf fetus burned and the ashes saved for the Parilia festival (an agricultural festival performed annually on April 21).