news &
Congratulations to the whole family
Friday, March 22, was a little gray outside, but heartwarming inside the walls of the Flevoland Natural Pavilion. Dozens of farmers and non-farmers poured in, some on clogs, others came on OV bikes. At The Fifth De Nieuwe Boerenfamiliedag, we greeted old family members and welcomed new faces.
Five years off the beaten path
De Nieuwe Boerenfamilie is celebrating its birthday, hurrah! After five years, NBF has grown into a mature platform where countless farmers and non-farmers have already found each other. And five years of NBF also means: five editions of the Boerenversneller, the change program for farmers who want to do things differently. As many as 75 farmers have already participated in this agricultural accelerator and accelerated their business. We asked four of them where they are now, and what the Boerenversneller has brought them.
It doesn't matter if you start with sausage and end with ice cream
Food Hub and Kitchen Republic are joining forces! Finally, you might say. After all, they have known each other for years and have shared their knowledge with each other before. But now it is time for a serious collaboration, in the form of the Food Business Toolkit, a "living document" containing everything you need to know as a beginning food entrepreneur. Joszi Smeets (Food Hub) and Bart-Jan Veldhuizen (Kitchen Republic) explain how and what.
Side business for the farmer: a sustainable solution?
Farmers looking for a better future often think of expanding their farms with new activities. These side activities should lead to more and more stable income. In this column, financial expert Jeroen van IJzerloo shares why this is a logical thought, but does not always have a sustainable outcome.
Together toward a (not so) new agricultural vision: the rag picker's call
While we are still recovering from the Lower House elections and preparing for a new cabinet, tempers continue to run high in the agriculture debate. Nitrogen, glyphosate, climate change, animal welfare; it is clear that the conversation is at an impasse in many areas. "We need a vision!" it often sounds then in farm country. But is the problem really a lack of vision or rather a surplus? What we really need is a story that brings together the best of existing visions, supplemented with new insights. So let's work on that: a vision that makes everyone happy. And let's not underestimate the help of the rag-and-bone man.
These people share a troubled future, but never sat down together before
Where the debate about food and agriculture is stuck like a tractor in the mud, one project has the ambitious desire to rewrite the narrative. Stop the Food Fight is venturing into transition in its own unique way, and recently held its third think tank session in an effort to fundamentally change the conversation about food.
Food100 2023: one hundred people improving the Netherlands' food system
We believe in the power of collaboration and innovation. Therefore, for the seventh year in a row, we honor the people who are making a difference in our food chain with the Food100 list. This group of 100 driven individuals are crucial in the fight against climate change and food challenges. By publishing this list, we want to highlight the importance of the ongoing efforts needed to transform our food system.
Where the agricultural transition meets the financial transition
The agricultural transition requires a different view of financing, for the farmer, the community and the traditional financier; the bank. Alternative providers, such as CrowdAboutNow, are stepping into the gap left by farm loan banks. Together with The New Farmer Family, they are guiding agricultural entrepreneurs to find the right path for their plans.
Bundle strength to education
Agrio, Food Hub and the New Farmer Family are proud to announce a new partnership. From now on, the courses of Food Hub and the New Farmer Family can be found at The LeerErf. That's the new online knowledge environment for subscribers of Agrio's agricultural media brands.
Farmer accelerator is ready: sign up now!
The fifth edition of the Farmers' Accelerator will start in November. Interested parties can apply until August 31, 2023. Both novice and experienced farmers and gardeners can participate, large and small farms, mainstream and alternative: anyone who wants to respond to changes in agriculture. Scroll down to sign up!
AI-powered grant finder helps farmers
On Tuesday, June 13, The New Farmer Family hosted the first afternoon of testing of the "grant assistant" developed by Deloitte. The idea for the tool originated during the Net Positive Academy 2022, a result of the collaboration of Joris Lohman (Food Hub) and Arthur de Wilde (Deloitte). Arthur works for Deloitte's Centre for the Edge, a team that realizes smart and sustainable applications of technology in business. In this case, it's about facilitating farmers looking for perspective.
Regenerative agriculture lacks connection to existing system
"The tendency to trivialize regenerative agriculture undermines its potential," writes Food Hub creative director Joszi Smeets. Good regenerative agriculture is not easy and makes most of us a little uncomfortable. Using an iterative and context-specific approach as a linear roadmap is like putting a flowing river in a bottle.
Today we celebrate one year of Cooked History
Today marks exactly one year since Food Hub launched its very first online training: Cooked History. In the course, which we developed with our friends Ira & Ayra Kip of KIP Republic, you look at your own story through food. On this first anniversary, we reflect on the power of culinary stories.
Food Hub celebrates seven-year anniversary with ambitious food transition goal
Food Hub launches its new website today. The enhanced digital identity underscores the company's evolution since its founding in 2016. In its seven-year existence, Food Hub grew from young project agency to mature education maker with an ambitious goal. Over the next seven years, Food Hub aims to empower one million people to change the world of food: fair, diverse and sustainable.
Wanted: the 100 most impactful food change makers
Which 100 most impactful food changers are creating better and more sustainable food and drink for all? Food100 seeks innovators who will roll up their sleeves and solve the problems within our food system with fresh ideas. These tacklers and thinkers are desperately needed now that the future of our food is daily news.
From 14 to 14,000 farmers
With the election results, BBB's win, the political landscape has officially changed. However, the forces of change have been in play for much longer, and the climate and environmental task remains. A new phase of the agricultural transition is dawning, one that affects all of us, farmer or not. Joszi Smeets, Dieuwertje van Muyden and I, Joris Lohman, see De Nieuwe Boerenfamilie in new light.
Good grades, bad grades
Are farmers becoming increasingly dependent on the right conditions, or can the food system keep up with the vagaries of climate? Since we just don't want to put our food in the balance, we prefer to put the whole system in the balance. Let's talk about measurements, numbers and models!
We brought together 100 farmers and non-farmers
Every era has its pioneers. Once they drained the polders, now they create wetlands. Pioneers are brave go-getters, headstrong thinkers. Not afraid to look to the future, not afraid to change course. They are farmers who lead the way in agricultural transition. And that is not without controversy. The New Farmers' Family Day 2023 was all about being at the forefront.
Indispensable agricultural women
Meet three indispensable agricultural women who - despite male dominance - managed to leave a valuable mark on food and agriculture. And what about the future, are we going back to agrarian androgyny?
In the Resistance
The food system has crashed. Back in the 1980s. When towering butter mountains asked us: what the f*** are we doing? The first signs of the nitrogen crisis were also visible then, prompting the first European nitrates directive in the early 1990s. We need a better system, but the old one hasn't broken down yet. Read your way through the big rebuild and realize that flip was the most versatile piece of kees for twenty years....
Heavy fog clouds limit our visibility and yet we must move forward
The foggy unexplored polders of the education and food system limit visibility ahead and make it difficult to pioneer and effect change. Joszi Smeets cycles through a foggy polder and reflects on the food changers who do step through the fog.
Comparing apples to Apple's
Anyone who knows that Dutch greenhouse horticulture is a hyper high-tech environment won't find the seclusion surprising. You don't just walk into an Apple factory (pun intended) either.
Farmer and Amsterdammer join hands
A normal conversation about agriculture, nature and nitrogen. Without everyone immediately getting into each other's hair. That is what food innovator Joris Lohman and dairy farmer Geertjan Kloosterboer hope to organize this week. Article forwarded from Trouw.
