VFH Project 13 | 2022 | Autumn by Henk_Lamers

VFH project | 13

2022 Autumn

Jeanne de Bont Henk Lamers

Table of contents

Autumn 2022

Weight

Price

Origin

Transport

Farming

Environmental score

Global costs

Supermarkets and markets purchases

Quality labels

Waste

Resources

Autumn 2022

The fall of 2022 was mild, fairly wet and sunny. With an average temperature of around 12 degrees. On September 5, it was still 32º in Gilze-Rijen and Eindhoven. With a national average of 254 mm compared to the normal 222 mm, the autumn was rather wet. In De Bilt, the sun shone for 434 hours compared to the normal 357 hours. This put De Bilt in fourth place of sunniest autumns since 1901. Only 2018, 1959 and 2005 were sunnier. We ate the first star apples from our own garden. Not very tasty yet because the tree is still too young. Overall, the trees and shrubs did well and looked very healthy. Such a forest garden under construction needs quite a bit of attention. If you are not careful, there are nettles everywhere. Stinging nettles are mostly known negatively but you can also approach them positively. The plant likes a soil rich in organic fertilizer. A composition of plant and animal raw materials and nitrates. You can make tea from them, of course. But you can also eat them like spinach and serve them with potatoes. We haven’t tried either option yet. You do learn a lot in a year about growing and cultivating plants but also about insects and other animals in your garden. For example, we occasionally have wild ducks, lots of birds and cats from all the neighbours who come to sniff at our place. We see the need to build a greenhouse where you can pre-seed and grow plants. It would also be nice to grow some exotic plants in it such as red peppers, bell peppers and eggplants. So we started designing the greenhouse and are looking for a company to build it for us. That’s not so easy because most companies work with fixed window sizes. It also turns out to be quite a big financial expense so we are saving up for a while.

Weight

If you look at the chart on the right page, you can see the wide variety of vegetables we ate. It was very different when we were growing up at home. To begin with, every day we ate soup, potatoes with vegetables and meat and then chocolate or vanilla pudding. Starter, main course and dessert, all you ate from the same plate. A plate on which a meatball was standard on Wednesdays and fish on Fridays. As for vegetables, we often ate exactly the same vegetables on the same day every week. For example, cauliflower on Monday, Brussels sprouts on Tuesday, green beans on Wednesday, kale on Thursday, leeks on Friday, French fries on Saturday and so no vegetables. And on Sundays we only ate soup. Because our parents didn’t like to cook. And that every week. And potatoes every day. Except Sunday. Toppers of the past: the meatball, the bacon steak and, of course, the sausage. Now we hardly eat meat anymore. But growing up we ate beans, potatoes and bacon. You also had to go to the greengrocer, butcher and baker every day. Many households did not yet have a refrigerator in the 1960s. But that refrigerator changed everything. Being able to store food no longer meant going to the greengrocer, butcher and baker every day. The milkman came by the door. The constant theme was: we don’t lack anything. And that was somewhat true. What we did lack was diversity. And we have plenty of that now. Back then, a prayer was mumbled before dinner. But when the radio came, the news was listened to while eating. The prayer was exchanged for the word: ‘Attack’.

Also this season, the potato is in first place with eight kilograms. Cauliflower is second. Yellow onions and broccoli are good third and fourth. Because we listed four different tomatoes separately, they do not come in third place.

Oranges, grapefruit and kiwis are mainly the biggest items. That hasn’t really changed in recent years. But when you think about the fact that in one season we ate more than thirty kilos of oranges you are shocked. Especially when you contrast that amount with the one or two oranges a year I was fed at my parents’ house.

We often eat Italian-style recipes. And you can recognize that by the large amount of basil this season. A pound of basil and about three basil plants. The garlic and cilantro are also doing quite a bit. By the way, all three are ‘foreign’ herbs that we have never eaten before our twenties.

Price

Let’s talk about how expensive or cheap vegetables can be. We came to a remarkable conclusion. Fresh vegetables from the store are the most expensive vegetables you can buy. As an example, let’s take green beans from Odin’s, the kilogram price is currently €15.16. These biodynamic grown beans are definitely the healthiest you can eat. Vegetables that are newly harvested are full of nutrients. A few days later they are available in the store. Inevitably, though, some nutrients will have been lost. So the older the vegetable, the less nutrients. With fresh vegetables, you have very little packaging. A healthy tip:

The kilogram price of frozen green beans is €5.44. So that’s almost a

Steam your green beans

third of the price you pay for a kilogram of fresh green beans. That price

instead of cooking them

is so low because the vegetables are frozen in large quantities in season

in water to reduce the loss

immediately after harvest. This is great for the level of minerals and

of vitamin C!

vitamins because it keeps them well intact. So that may mean that frozen green beans are healthier than fresh green beans that have been in the store for a week. Just keep in mind that the taste will be a little less than fresh green beans. But stocking up on green beans from the freezer is therefore a great choice. The amount of packaging is also small. The kilogram price of a glass jar of green beans is €5.56. Slightly more expensive than frozen green beans. But also about a third of the price you pay for fresh green beans. But a 340-gram glass jar contains only 184 grams of green beans. The glass, lid and water weigh 156 grams. So you pay almost half that in packaging plus water and salt. In addition, the green beans are pre-cooked. Which is also not conducive to the taste. But the very cheapest way out is to grow your own green beans. And you only need a few square feet per person to grow them. With a garden greenhouse, you can even extend the seasons. It does take some time. But it’s also great to watch your green beans grow.

So we spend most of our money on potatoes, rocket and cherry roma tomatoes. It would be best if we grew cherry roma tomatoes ourselves. They are more expensive than regular tomatoes and we use them a lot.

Although fruit is the biggest expense we are not going to cut back on fruit. Since we eat kiwis in the morning and squeeze oranges, lemons and grapefruit we have hardly ever been sick. And that is also very important.

Miraculously, parsley ranks first among purchased herbs. Yet it is an herb we do not consider a favourite herb.

Origin

The summer of 2022 was very hot, extremely sunny and very dry. With an average temperature of 18.6 °C compared to 17.5 °C normal, it was the third warmest summer since 1901. Only 2018 (18.9 °C) and 2003 (18.7 °C) were warmer. This has quite an impact on the supply of fruits and vegetables. Some crops root deeper, allowing them to survive during prolonged droughts. The French cos lettuce for example but also Batavia lettuce roots deeper and resembles common head lettuce, but with strongly puckered leaves and a wavy leaf edge. There are light green, but also reddish-brown varieties. Batavia lettuce is the French predecessor of the hardier American iceberg lettuce. Which was grown to survive the long refrigerated transport time. Parsnips, burdock root and chard, also root deeper. Find water there and thus can withstand drought better. Cherry tomatoes grow and root stronger than beef tomatoes. But amaranth, New Zealand spinach and tree spinach, also still grow well during dry and hot summers. Of course, it is fine to start growing other crops but with this we also lose onion, garlic, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, kale, rocket and radish. These are all shallowrooting vegetables. Of course, you can accommodate this by growing everything in a greenhouse. But a big advantage of the new climate could be that we could even start growing oranges and lemons here in the Netherlands. That would save a huge amount of transportation because they would no longer have to be imported from Spain, Italy or South Africa.

It is clear. Most of the products purchased come from the Netherlands. This is followed by Spain and Italy. What is striking is the amount of cauliflower we are suddenly eating. 15

Kiwis from New Zealand. Oranges and grapefruit from South Africa. It remains difficult to stay away from this fruit in the fall. Especially now and in winter you need it. But fortunately, some of it also comes from Spain and Italy.

We came up with a new rule for produce like ginger and avocado. In any case, they must be organically grown. If so then we allow ourselves to buy them. But if the same products are offered from the EU then we take them. We should start applying this rule to fruit as well.

Transport

We are off-balance as it comes to what and how much we eat. People started eat more fruits, vegetables, pork, chicken, fish, seafood and cheese. Potatoes, milk and beef, on the other hand, we eat less than we used to. This is somewhat due to social and family evolutions, but also to a change in the market. In 1960, a grocer offered two thousand different products. Today, a supermarket offers more than one hundred and fifty thousand. As a result, you can buy products from all over the world on every street corner. And there is a wide variety of fruits and vegetables all year round.

Transport Boat Train Car Truck Airplane

Grams per km ton 15 – 30 30 168 – 186 210 – 1430 570 – 1580

The unit of these numbers is the kilometer ton, which corresponds to the CO2 emissions to transport 1 ton of food over a distance of 1 km (Defra 2005). Climate impact according to sustainablefootprint.org The big differences in truck values are due to the use of different types of trucks. As a rule, larger trucks produce more CO2 than smaller trucks and refrigerated trucks more than non-refrigerated trucks. With airplanes, the distance plays a major role as the largest CO2 is generated during take-off. As a result, short flights have a higher CO2 production per km ton than longer flights.

The majority of fresh exotic products (fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish) are transported by air. At the same time, this mode of transport causes a lot of pollution. Shopping by car also increases the impact of our food on the environment, especially if we go shopping far from home. Why not – to the extent possible – do our shopping on foot, by bicycle or public transportation? That way we will get to know the grocer around the corner again and avoid unnecessary purchases, which only leaves us with a crooked back and an empty wallet! The annual study by Wageningen Economic Research (WEcR) and CBS commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality shows that the Netherlands exported agricultural goods worth €122 billion in 2022. The Netherlands imported agricultural goods worth € 88 billion. The Netherlands is the largest EU importer of soy (products), palm oil (products) and cocoa (products) from non-EU countries. We are also the second EU importer of wood– and beef products from non-EU countries and the sixth EU importer of coffee. In 2020, nearly 1.7 billion tons of goods were transported from, to and within the Netherlands. Most of the goods transported, 58 percent, had a foreign origin or destination.

All purchases of vegetables now come from Europe. Netherlands and Spain are the highest contributors. This is totally fine.

We are still concerned about the import of fruit from New Zealand and South Africa. On the other hand, it is all organic fruit. We don't think we will be able to get it 100% right to eat only fruit from Europe. Especially since we have been working on it for almost three years now.

In spices, we managed to do better. Here only one purchase has been made from Morocco and two from Peru. Belgium, Portugal and Spain are the main suppliers.

Farming

In addition to mainstream organic and biodynamic agriculture, there are a few other developments going on. The food forest movement and the local cultivation of vegetables, fruits and herbs. This development is exactly what mainstream agriculture does not like because for years they have done their best to provide food as efficiently as possible. But this comes at a price. Artificial fertilizers, no animal welfare and chemical pesticides and the extinction of many essential insects.

The food forest movement is in full swing. Books, courses, workshops everything is being pulled out of the closet to teach people how to set up a food forest or a forest garden. It can be a challenge to find land in the Netherlands. But there are private individuals who own a lot of land and would be happy to let you do something with it in exchange for a part of the harvest.

In our residential neighbourhood, all residents have a vegetable garden in which they grow their own food. Locally grown vegetables, fruits and herbs. Some do it with more enthusiasm than others but that it happens is remarkable. That was, for us, one of the reasons to live here. We’ve been at this for two years now and actually see many more possibilities. And it‘s accessible to everyone to a greater or lesser extent. Even if you only have a small balcony or a tiny garden you can do a lot with it. A low stemmed apple tree will certainly fit in any garden and even in a container on your balcony. We see people growing herbs in pots on the kitchen windowsill. For us, the most important thing is to do it in a organic way. Biodynamic is going too far for us. We are also not going to keep cows or chickens. And there are only two of us. What is the difference between organic and biodynamic? Biodynamic farmers and gardeners meet the legal organic requirements. There are specific requirements for animal welfare, soil quality, nature and landscape. Closing cycles for manure and feed. Most cattle feed is grown on the farm. Actually, a biodynamic farm is a closed circle. Nothing is added and nothing is thrown away. There is also attention to spiritual and cosmic aspects. Sowing during a full moon, for example. But that‘s where our interests stop.

Three hundred grams of the fifty kilograms of vegetables were not organic. A good result. This way we should succeed in switching completely to organic vegetables.

Apparently we bought four hundred grams of non-organic white grapes somewhere. But then it really stops there. All fruit is now organic or biodynamic.

Even in herbs, we have not made any purchases that are not organic. We are on the right track.

Environmental score

The environmental score of vegetables, fruits or herbs indicates how environmentally friendly a product is, compared to other similar products. The division into scores A, B, C, D, E is based on the most common cultivation method, the most common mode of transport and the most used packaging material for that product from that country in that month. The national share of geothermal energy use and energy-efficient greenhouse horticulture has also been taken into account for the Dutch greenhouse vegetables tomato, pepper, cucumber and eggplant.

Environmental score explanation We have again interpreted the fruit and vegetable calendar as accurately as possible. A B C D

Comes from the Netherlands, is in season, from a field (organic) and has a quality mark. Comes from the Netherlands or Europe, is in season, from a field or a greenhouse (organic) and has a quality mark. Comes from the Netherlands or Europe, is in season, from Dutch greenhouses (not organic) and has no quality mark. Comes from countries such as Israel, Egypt, Morocco (about three thousand kilometers), is out of season, comes from Dutch greenhouses (not organic) and has no quality mark. Comes from Africa, South America, Asia or New Zealand (about ten thousand kilometers), outside or within the season (it doesn’t matter), comes from Dutch greenhouses (not organic) and has no quality mark. Environmental score chart On the left side of the chart we listed the countries where the products come from. Products themselves are listed in the second column from the left. In addition, there are five columns with A, B, C, D and E. In those columns you find white small squares. The number of squares indicates how often we bought a product in spring with that particular classification. At the bottom of the graph, the total is again shown per column.

This season all products are within the limits of categories A, B or C. A very good result.

We will have to wait and see how our new rules – buying organic products from far away countries – will influence the results. For this season all products are within our limits.

A remarkable result that most of the herbs ended-up in B category. But ultimately we stay within the limits of A, B or C.

Global costs

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, by 2022 our food prices will have risen more than eleven percent from 2021. It is not often that food prices rise this much. The last time prices increased by more than ten percent on average over an entire year was in 1976. The total price of fall 2021 was € 732.34. In 2022, we spent € 702.36 on vegetables, fruits and herbs. We actually spent less in fall 2022. But maybe it’s because in 2022 we started growing our own vegetables. That’s another story. But we’ll come back to that in our new publications. Meat and fish took the crown with a price increase of more than fifteen percent. Meat cost sixteen percent more in June 2022 than a year earlier. On the one hand, we hardly eat meat, and if we do it is organic. But we do eat a lot of fish. Fish rose ten percent in price. An average consumer spends more than five times as much on meat as on fish. So we are no longer an average consumer. In a World Bank Blogs article, they report, ‘Food prices fell in the third quarter of 2022. The World Bank’s food price index fell twelve percent in the third quarter of 2022 (quarter-on-quarter) after reaching a record high in April. The index remains almost twenty percent higher than a year ago. However, in domestic currency terms, food prices remain high due to currency depreciation. Food prices are expected to fall five percent in 2023 and stabilize in 2024. Despite the expected declines, most food prices will remain high by historical standards. The forecasts are also subject to numerous risks.’ In addition, there will be severe scarcity of food. The Refugee Foundation reports, ‘The number of hungry people worldwide will have increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2022. More than a quarter of a billion people have acute hunger and people in seven countries are living on the brink of starvation. So warns the UN.’ 30

If you look at the total number of purchases, most products come from the Netherlands and Spain. New Zealand and South Africa remain necessary evils.

Of all the vegetables fruits and herbs, we bought only € 3.86 worth of non-organic products. That seems like a victory.

Most of the money was spent on organic produce from the Netherlands and Spain. New Zealand and South Africa are hard to avoid if you want to eat oranges, grapefruit, lemons and kiwis daily.

Supermarkets and markets

Supermarkets are moving into seasonal vegetable offerings. For example, Albert Heijn is promoting typical autumn vegetables such as pumpkin, mushroom sprouts, kale, stewing pears, parsnips or celeriac. But there is something new. AH is launching a new fall campaign that focuses on innovation, benefit and connection. They again expanded the number of fresh food packages, which allow customers to put an affordable, fresh and delicious meal on the table in no time. The focus this fall is on casseroles, stews, traybakes and soups. All products are specially selected for the season, as this is when they are at their tastiest and most affordable. In addition, customers can save for casseroles and baking tins. Let’s take the vegetable stew goat cheese freshness pack. Such a package weighs 1021 grams and serves four people. What’s in it? Two carrots, two Jerusalem artichokes, two cerise potatoes, two stalks of celery, three Roma tomatoes, three shallots, one garlic clove, two sprigs of thyme, two sprigs of rosemary, one can of beluga lentils, one can of tomato paste and a bag of spice mix. After work, just grab one of these packages always good. Supermarkets that can best predict customer demand determine what suppliers can deliver and when. The battle for the consumer is in full swing. The market leader sets the standard, but also creates the competitive inequality that forces other supermarket chains to go along with it, merge or have a clear focus. The supermarkets have enormous power over ordinary consumers, determining what is grown, cultivated, harvested and eaten. And then this. From the NOS News of Saturday, May 20, 2023. Financial retail company Marshoek has calculated that in 2022 an average of 66,300 euros of products per store was taken home unpaid. That’s some 20,000 euros more than a year earlier, when inflation remained below three percent. For the entire supermarket industry, this represents an additional cost of seventy million euros. 34

Clearly, Odin is the largest supplier of our fruits, vegetables and herbs. For now, we don’t see why we should change this. In addition, it is a cooperative and we are therefore co-owners. Therefore we have influence on the assortment. That won’t happen with supermarkets.

Quality labels

It is now mandatory in 64 countries to label genetically modified food. Unlike most other developed countries - such as 28 countries in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and even China - the U.S. They have no laws requiring labelling of genetically modified food.

Due to the increase in world population and climate impact, people are currently experimenting with genetic manipulation of food. Fortunately, the Dutch government only permits this if the risks to humans, animals and the environment are negligible. But that is not a rock-hard limit. Corn that is no longer susceptible to infection. Rice with added vitamin A to possibly solve the food problem in Third World countries. Tomatoes that are fuller red and with a longer shelf life. Cholesterol-lowering dairy products. These are some examples of existing and (yet) non-existent forms of genetic modification or manipulation of food. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. According to the nutrition center, genetic modification changes the properties of plants, bacteria or yeasts. Genes with positive properties from one organism are added to another organism. For example, genetic modification makes plants insensitive to herbicides or insecticides. Genetic modification allows yeasts, bacteria or fungi to make useful substances, such as vitamins, enzymes and flavourings. Or drugs, such as insulin. Genetically modified soy and corn are often raw materials of animal feed. Milk, meat, eggs and

The EKO label indicates that the product comes from organic agriculture. No chemical-synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers have been used. Farmers do not use genetically modified seeds and livestock farmers have animal-friendly practices.

other products from animals fed genetically modified corn or soy is GMfree. This is because the genetically modified feed has completely broken down in the animals’ intestines. Gene alteration does take place in organic farming, but by crossing plants with different desirable traits. The question is whether it is possible for

EU Organic label makes it easier for us to recognize organic products. That logo may only be used for products that contain at least ninety-five percent organic ingredients and that those ingredients meet additional strict requirements for the remaining five percent.

genetically modified crops to mix with non-modified crops? Gentech crops can mix with organic crops growing nearby. Pollen may blow over, for example. Or an organic crop may be transported in a truck that previously carried a genetically modified crop. This cannot be prevented. Therefore, organic crops may contain up to 0.9 percent of the

Demeter is the quality seal for biodynamic agriculture and nutrition. Biodynamic since 1924. 36

genetically modified crop. The producer must then be able to prove that mixing was unavoidable.

The EU label is the most dominant in all three categories. The question is whether there will ever be a label that replaces all the others. It seems almost impossible because even apart from the EU label, diversity of labels is already starting to emerge.

Waste

Besides waste from vegetables, fruit and herbs, a large part of our waste consists of plastic packaging material. A Dutch person opens an average of seven packages every day. This creates a lot of waste: twenty percent of our waste consists of packaging. Plastic cups from the yogurt, plastic bottles, plastic vegetable trays, you find plastic everywhere. On the other hand, it is an inexpensive material that remains sturdy for a long time and is useful for packing things. Unfortunately, plastic packaging can also be found in an organic supermarket! For now, the use of plastic remains an important part of many products. Nowadays, recycling plastic is offered as a solution to the pollution problem. But recycling is far from perfect and much of the plastic still ends up in the environment. But there is something you can do about it. Ecofoodprint gives you tips on how to use as little plastic as possible. A few are listed below: – Use your own shopping bag – Go to the greengrocer or market and buy products without packaging – Buy dairy products in refundable and re-usable glass bottles – Store your products in glass jars or glass bottles – Use a wooden washing-up brush – Re-use plastic bags and do not throw them away after using them once – Bring your own food and drink when you are on the road. At gas stations, almost everything is wrapped in plastic.

Interestingly enough, waste is very low with vegetables. You have the most waste, about half, with cauliflower. This is mainly because of the leaves. We have yet to test whether we want to eat them. With potatoes, one-and-a-quarter is waste. It mainly depends on how you use them. The skin is often edible if you bake or boil them. Mashed potatoes with skins quickly look messy.

Grapefruit consists of almost half waste. Kiwi fruit is one-quarter waste. Lemons are almost half garbage and oranges are almost a third garbage. The best thing would be to eat only blueberries. Unfortunately, Dutch blueberries are only available from May to late September.

Actually, herbs that you buy as plants are not efficient. You buy one-eighth herbs and the remaining seven-eighths is waste. It becomes a different matter if you place them out of the pot in the garden. Then at best you can use one season of them.

Resources Albert Heijn supermarket EKO label EU Organic label Milieucentraal.nl Odin organic supermarket ggn.org justlabelit.org uu.nl foodlog.nl sustainablefootprint.org

VFH project Autumn 2022