Agriculture played a leading role during the second edition of the Sustainable Thirty. Webshop De Streekboer, where consumers buy directly from farmers, received the grand prize from the jury; the majority of the public opted for the Land van Ons cooperative.
Land van Ons is a citizens’ initiative in which members buy agricultural land together to produce food in an environmentally friendly way. Last year, the cooperative did this with a plot of 35 hectares between Bakkeveen and Wijnjewoude. Newspaper readers from the Northern Netherlands are clearly enthusiastic about it: of the more than 8,300 public votes cast, almost 21 percent were for Land van Ons. The foundation therefore receives 25,000 euros to advertise in the news and dailies of Mediahuis Noord.
High quality from small to large
This spring, more than a hundred participants registered for the Sustainable Thirty: an annual competition of Newspaper of the North , Leeuwarder Courant and Frisian newspaper , intended to put good green ideas from the North in the spotlight. The jury first compiled a top 30 and then chose the winners in the categories ‘People and living environment’, ‘Innovations’ and ‘Sustainable business operations’.
,,I found the quality really high”, said jury president and Frisian newspaper editor-in-chief Ria Kraa on Thursday evening during the award ceremony in a well-filled Sluisfabriek in Drachten. “There are things that you can tackle yourself tomorrow, but also large institutes that have been working for a long time.”
In terms of operational management, the jury was most impressed by Fietslab Groningen, where virtually new bicycles are made from used parts. Fietslab wins 50,000 euros in advertising budget.
Garden and agricultural trade ECOstyle from Oosterwolde came out as the most innovative entry. The jury not only appreciates ECOstyle’s innovation in the field of nature-friendly gardening and arable farming, but also the ‘attention to housing and knowledge sharing’. ECOstyle also receives a media budget of 50,000 euros.
‘So important to tell our farmers’ story’
There is no less than 100,000 euros for De Streekboer: founder Sandra Ronde was not only the winner in the category ‘People and living environment’, but was also rated as the very best across the board. De Streekboer wants to make it as easy as possible to eat locally and honestly: consumers order their groceries directly from Groningen, Frisian and Drenthe farmers in the Streekboer webshop.
Last year, De Streekboer just missed out on the prizes in the first edition of the Sustainable Thirty. “I am very happy that it has now worked out. I hadn’t dared to hope that. We think it’s so important that the story of our farmers is told, that’s why we participated again.”