Good food in a healthy landscape: Het Nieuwe Menu offers a long-term vision for agriculture in the FoodValley region
In the FoodValley region in central Netherlands, we are seeing depleted agricultural soils and farmers without a clear future perspective. This is particularly true in the transition zone between the agricultural heartland and the Veluwe’s Natura 2000 nature areas. Ultimately, this area needs to become a transition zone where (virtually) no nitrogen is emitted. However, the complexity of this transition means that progress is slow. What is missing is a vision for the region’s future. For farmers, this uncertainty and lack of prospects are contributing to mental health problems. The question, therefore, is: what can we do?
With Het Nieuwe Menu, we present a positive long-term vision for the future. We show how the agricultural sector in this area can gradually transform into a resilient and sustainable form of agriculture. And it all starts with one thing: healthy food.
Eating what the landscape provides
Agriculture in the FoodValley is still largely based on a food model that emerged in the 1960s, when meat and dairy began to play a larger role in our diet. We advocate redesigning the landscape with greater crop diversity and a larger role for plant-based products, as well as flavourful crops that make our menu more delicious and interesting. In doing so, we can bring back the diverse agricultural landscape that the Netherlands once had, while enriching it with new flavour biotopes.
This transformation will take place step by step. The landscape, with its over-fertilized and depleted soils, first needs to go on a ‘diet’. That is why the initial crops will be those that help restore soil health, such as potatoes. Protein-rich crops such as beans provide healthy plant-based nutrients for people while also contributing to healthier soils. They absorb many nutrients from the soil, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers.
Regional applications
Het Nieuwe Menu offers regional applications at four locations within the transition zone in FoodValley. It demonstrates how we can address issues such as economic prospects, connections between urban and rural areas, rural living, and the relationship between communities and food production. In doing so, we move beyond the technocratic approach to the agricultural transition and food challenge that currently dominates the debate.
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