News
The municipality of The Hague wants more residents to experience sustainable, local, and healthy food. In the new Hague Food Strategy, the municipality emphasizes the importance of food for a sustainable and healthy future. In collaboration with residents, businesses, and social initiatives, the municipality highlights the future of The Hagues plate: as much as possible plant-based, healthy, and locally produced food.
Alderman Robert Barker (Animal Welfare, Outdoor Space & Environment): ‘The food on our plate contributes to our health, the climate, and the society we are part of. By making conscious choices, such as eating more plant-based foods, we can have a significant positive impact on the world around us.’
Sustainable and Flavorful
By 2050, about 10 billion mouths will need to be fed worldwide. This can only be achieved within the planets limits if we adjust our menu. Therefore, the municipality focuses on more vegetables and fruits and less meat and sugar. Sustainable food requires less land, contributing not only to the health of humans and animals but also to a healthy planet.
To promote sustainable food, the municipality helps entrepreneurs and social food initiatives to get started. This is done by sharing knowledge, providing subsidies, and giving a platform to good, tasteful examples. Also, at municipal locations, a good example is set: in 5 years, at least half of the offerings at these locations must consist of plant-based choices.
Learning and Discovering
Unknown makes unloved. Therefore, the municipality wants more people to experience tasty sustainable food. The municipality is signing a climate deal with the Hague branch of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland to better position sustainable food in the hospitality industry and stimulate conscious choices. Through programs like Sustainable Masterchef, where students are challenged in a cooking competition to prepare the tastiest plant-based dish, children and young people are taught about healthy and conscious eating in a fun way. There are also various educational packages that teach children more about the origin of food.
Initiatives in the City
‘Many residents of The Hague are already working towards the plate of the future. In community gardens, people come together to grow vegetables and fruits, entrepreneurs work on the tastiest plant-based dishes, and schools pay plenty of attention to fair and sustainable eating. We want to support these initiatives as much as possible and put them in the spotlight. The more people participate, the greater our positive impact,’ says Alderman Barker about the many food initiatives in the city.
Our Food
An important driver of sustainable eating in The Hague is the association ‘Our Food’. ‘Our Food connects residents, entrepreneurs, and experts to work together on a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system. Because food connects and is the foundation of a strong community, we are committed to a city where everyone has access to good and affordable food. Our wish for The Hague? That in all neighborhoods there are food connection places where you can eat, garden, and just be human with each other,’ says founder Liane Lankreijer.
ROC Mondriaan
At ROC Mondriaan, where the chefs of the future are trained, there is also a lot of attention for sustainable food. ‘In our theory lessons, we provide our students with knowledge about what sustainable, fair, and healthy food entails. From ground to mouth, taking into account sustainable cultivation and a fair income for the producer. In the practical lessons in our kitchens and restaurants, students work with this knowledge. Think of learning to cook with local, seasonal, and organic products, using leftovers, and fermenting. By teaching this to students during their training, we hope these future chefs and hospitality workers will make sustainable choices that keep the earth healthy,’ says ROC Mondriaan sustainability ambassador Sylvie van Bleiswijk.