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Sustainable living offers hope for future for Hungarian families

Writer's picture: News Agency News Agency
Sustainable living offers hope for future for Hungarian families
Members of an eco-community have lunch at member Istvan David's home in Nagybereny, Hungary, March 26, 2024. Marton Monus

LADANYBENE, Hungary - Laszlo Kemencei lives as sustainably as possible on his small farm in eastern Hungary. He believes the land is effectively borrowed from his young daughter, so he must do all he can to preserve it for the future.

Kemencei, 28, wife Cintia and Boroka, almost two, moved to the farm outside Ladanybene three years ago. They keep horses, pigs and chickens on an area of 4.5 hectares (11 acres), which they partly lease for grazing.

They do not use pesticides, keep their animals free range, and dig the land as little as possible to preserve the structure and moisture of the rich soil. They grow their own vegetables and slaughter or barter the meat they need, while trading the rest with families who choose a similar lifestyle.

Kemencei says while becoming fully self-sufficient seems an unrealistic goal, they rely minimally on external resources.

"This land, we have not inherited from our fathers, but we have it on a lease from our children ... so we try to live and farm the land in a sustainable way," he says, sitting in their cosy kitchen where a chunk of pork sizzles in the oven.