1000 euro? Province wants to promote local food with student challenge

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The province of Overijssel wants to stimulate people to use local products, to make the path from producer to consumer as short as possible, according to Hetty Flierman, one of the organisers of the challenge. Many people don’t realize that the choices we make on food have impact on our environment, she says.

“When you go to the supermarket, you buy what you feel like, for example an avocado, although the product might have been shipped all the way from Peru. According to Flierman, there are countless examples like this one. “You must realize that these products have had a much longer transportation line, than when you get a piece of cheese or other food from a local farmer.''

The challenge is aimed at students, since they often eat together. “If you get young people on board then you have the future, we are really trying to create awareness,'' says Flierman.

Eating local produced food is very well possible, she thinks, even in a city. You can buy local products in many places. “People tend to go for convenience and low prices. I understand that, but we still want to encourage people to pay attention.”

Elham Neisiani from Iran is doing the Master Innovative Textile Development at Saxion Enschede. She’s participating in the challenge. A friend of her came up with the idea. She signed up with two other international students. ''We bought everything from a farm that is about a twenty-minute bike ride from the Enschede city centre. The starter was a pumpkin soup and as a main course had a dish with potatoes and a salad. I find it important to eat organic as much as possible. At the AH everything is so perfect. That’s too good to be organic, I always think. I also like to see what kind of dishes my fellow students come up with. The German, Greek, Iranian and Dutch cuisine are all completely different. Also, we don't have much to do on the weekends now, so then an initiative like this is nice!''

Students have until December 20th to participate in the challenge and to submit a video in which they show their meals. They get 10 euro each in advance for doing grocerier. Flierman: “After the challenge we look mainly at the number of kilometres the meal has travelled. We also look at the motivation of the participants, why does the group think; this is my best plate. And we look at how the video was made, is it original?”

 To determine a winner, there’s a three-member jury. A farmer and agro dietitian, someone who makes deals between regional producers and restaurants and the third judge is a chef from the Slow Food Youth Network. The winning group will be announced in early January and every participant wins 100 euro.