We are all at the end of an era. The way we produced and processed our food for decades has no future. The costs are too high: Mother Earth is depleting, the climate is going haywire and our health is suffering too much. This has to change. It can be done differently, and the Northern Netherlands is showing that.
The Northern Netherlands is an ideal region to experiment, test theories in practice and scale up.
There is plenty of research in various places, both commercial and at educational institutions, to find better ways to feed ourselves.
Less sugar, less salt, less carbs. That's obvious. But the Northern Netherlands goes further. There is a realization here that we need to radically reinvent ourselves. The transformation has already begun. Food industry, agriculture, education and government are joining forces in more and more areas to work on completing that transformation: towards a food system that is good for everything and everyone.
The Northern Netherlands is an ideal region to experiment, test theories in practice and scale up. Here there is literally room to develop. Nutrients grow right around us, research institutes invest in nutrition issues, some major representatives of the food industry are located here and are open to cooperation.
Speaking of cooperation, one of the North's most important Forces is its vibrant ecosystem. Soberly put, the lines are short, not only within sectors, but also between them. Nutrition, meditech, A.I., green chemistry, water quality. These are all sectors that use each other to advance themselves. These cross-sector collaborations make the Northern Netherlands a powerful entity, where entrepreneurial initiatives find fertile ground.