The yield of organically grown vegetables is a lot lower, it is more labor intensive and considerably more expensive in the supermarket. So the question is whether vegetables can be grown for everyone without spraying.
“It’s possible, but everything has to be good in terms of weather,” says organic grower Vlaar. “Last year there was a lot of rain and it was almost unprofitable. Then the harvest percentage is too low.”
‘More people, with more wishes’
Can the whole world be fed organically? “That certainly won’t work in Europe,” thinks Vlaar. “Because ninety percent of the land is not suitable for cultivation. And if you start growing organically, you need 25 percent more land, because the harvest is less. So you can never feed the whole world with vegetables.”
And so Botman does not always see the future as rosy. “More and more people are coming, with more and more wishes, but there is less agricultural land. If we are no longer allowed to use pesticides at all? There will be hunger and empty shelves. But also failed harvests, no more returns, less pleasure in your work, complaining supermarkets and consumers who no longer have confidence in the product.”