Westerkwartier Food Agreement gets the go-ahead

The Board of Mayors and Aldermen of the municipality of Westerkwartier has approved the Implementation Plan Food Agreement. By doing so, it gives the starting signal for a first set of activities in the field of food, health and nature and landscape, which were suggested by the inhabitants of the municipality.

"A fine example of the new way of working together between residents and government," said councillor Elly Pastoor. "Before, the food policy and the implementation plan would have been thought up from behind the desk in the town hall. Here, we do it the other way around: it's not us but society that's making the move. With the support of the Gebiedscoöperatie Westerkwartier (Area Cooperation Westerkwartier), four working groups have turned the ambitions of the Food Agreement into activities. The municipality has a facilitating and supporting role. A cooperation that fits the changing role of the government. 

Knowledge caravan and other activities started

The implementation plan includes various activities that will start this year. For example, the Knowledge caravan will start in December: a series of lectures on numerous aspects of food. "If you want to be able to make the right choices, you first have to have the knowledge to be able to make those choices", says an enthusiastic Elly Pastoor. "But we are doing more: we are also working on the treat policy at schools, stimulating the bee population and a trial for planting fruit trees and bushes in public green spaces. And it does not stop there. The inhabitants of the Westerkwartier are full of ideas that we will develop further in the coming period. For that purpose we will also appoint a booster for food policy. "Food deserves a permanent place in the municipal organisation and we are starting on that now".

Food agreement is a collection of ambitions

In October 2020, the Westerkwartier community, together with the Gebiedscoöperatie Westerkwartier, presented the Westerkwartier Food Agreement to Alderman Elly Pastoor. The Food Agreement is a collection of ambitions of inhabitants, social organisations and entrepreneurs in the field of food, healthy living environment, nature and landscape and economy with food as the connecting theme. These ambitions are worked out in an implementation plan. The municipality contributes to the organisation and financing of these activities.

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