Where will our food come from in the future?
Where will our food come from in the future? Many Amsterdam residents see a future in sustainable, green urban agriculture. This can be done on both a large and small scale. In the Lutkemeerpolder and at the Zimmerhoeve city farm, they have already made a start.
“Feel this,” says Iris Poels, visibly delighted as she picks up a handful of soil. “This is clay soil. Do you know why it’s so fertile? Clay retains moisture better. And that’s what makes the Lutkemeerpolder so special: it’s home to Amsterdam’s last remaining fertile sea clay soil. It’s also the cleanest soil!“ Poels points to a head of lettuce in a lush garden bed: ”Even with this drought, we don’t need sprinklers here,” she beams.
Poels likes to talk in superlatives; she is so committed to this piece of polder. A place on the outskirts of Amsterdam between Osdorp and Schiphol, where a plane roars overhead every two minutes, the chickens from the Boterbloem care farm happily scratch around, and the pick-your-own garden is full of crisp endive and coriander.
Pear tree as old as Van Gogh
Before Poels became involved with Lutkemeer, she would sometimes cycle past it. Three years ago, she stopped for the first time and discovered the Boterbloem and its famous pear juice—made from Amsterdam’s oldest pear tree. The imposing giant was planted when Lutkemeer was reclaimed from the sea in 1870 and still produces juicy fruit. “Just imagine, that tree is as old as Vincent van Gogh! You can understand why I became increasingly involved in this special part of Amsterdam.”
She is now an enthusiastic advocate for Voedselpark Amsterdam (Amsterdam Food Park) – an initiative that aims to transform the Lutkemeerpolder into a green, ecological buffer. If this group has its way, the polder, which is currently still partially available, will become a biodiverse landscape park. A place where organic farming goes hand in hand with the protection of animals and plants. “Where affordable, healthy food can be grown for all Amsterdammers.” It is a dream that a large group of Amsterdammers have been working towards for a long time, but one that is not so easy to realize. The Lutkemeer is designated as an industrial estate. Poels points to a leaden-gray colossus of a building that seems to go on forever: a distribution center. “Do we want to fill this piece of open land with gray blocks of concrete, as is currently planned, or do we want to do something else with it?”
Food connects
Food Park Amsterdam sees Lutkemeer as a potential link between the city and the countryside. Beans, potatoes, lettuce, and herbs bring people closer together than an industrial estate, according to the activists.
“Food is something social that brings people together,” says Poels. “And then you can also engage in conversation.” What should that conversation be about? “About Amsterdam getting warmer, for example, that the groundwater is dropping, biodiversity is declining. And about how we, as Amsterdammers, can do things differently together.”
To get her fellow citizens to share her love for the place, Poels started the now famous Lutkemeerommetje. A walk of about two kilometers through the fields and the old apple orchard. You also get to know initiatives that are already cultivating a piece of the polder, such as Pluk. Where 75 households harvest their fresh vegetables and herbs every week. “Even in January, when it’s wet and snowing and I think no one would be interested in a walk, there are still thirty to forty people waiting for me. The polder is alive!”
Sheep shearing
Lukas Sloet is familiar with the enthusiasm of Amsterdam residents for green spaces and biodiversity. In addition to his job at the City of Amsterdam, he volunteers at the Zimmerhoeve city farm on Kostverlorenvaart in Amsterdam Oud-West. Both children and adults love this place, says Sloet, who calls it “almost un-Amsterdam,” because it is so green and peaceful. “Children love to collect eggs or see where honey comes from.” And when the sheep shearer comes by in the spring, the Zimmerhoeve is filled with people. “Nature connects, it’s true.”
Getting started
In Lutkemeer, the mood is also cautiously optimistic. In mid-May, Voedselpark Amsterdam was informed that (after intensive campaigning) it had won a tender for the lease of more than 9 hectares. This means that, if it goes ahead, vegetable cultivation can really begin in Lutkemeer. And that fields full of endive and a food forest will spring up among the distribution centers that are already there.
Voedselpark Amsterdam had already raised money in an earlier campaign. That money can now be used to buy out the leasehold and give future young, committed growers a chance at urban farming. Of the 60 hectares of sea clay soil, more than 40 hectares remain; there is ongoing contact with the municipality about whether more space for biodiversity can be created there. “Let’s build something we can all be proud of,” concludes Poels. “A place that isn’t about big money, but for all Amsterdammers. Who could be against that?”