Over the coming years, the initiative will work on joint procurement strategies, pilot projects connecting producers and buyers, knowledge sharing, and encouraging the transition towards nature-inclusive and organic farming. UT is among the organisations that have signed the declaration.
Birgit Dragtstra, environmental and sustainability policy officer: ‘Our current contract still has two years to run. During that period, we want to take small steps towards making the assortment more local and organic. In the past, for example, we sold locally produced organic kefir in the canteens. Those are the kinds of products we want to explore further.’
The initiative aims for roughly a quarter of all food served at UT to be both organic and locally sourced by 2030. It is not yet clear how much of that target will be reflected in UT's canteens.
Dragtstra: ‘Once the new tendering process begins, we will examine to what extent we can follow the manifesto's guidelines, namely sourcing a quarter of our food organically and a quarter locally. We do not yet know what will be feasible for UT, but we will certainly take the manifesto into account. We expect to know more next year.’
Besides UT, BioRegio Twente includes organisations such as Medisch Spectrum Twente, Provincie Overijssel, and Twente Board.
