Sustainable Tuesday: on the impact of our food system and alternative choices

The theme of Sustainable Tuesday this time was sustainable food. What is the impact of our current food system and what alternative choices can you make? Students and staff from the Green Office organised a busy market in the hall and there were inspiring speakers on food and lifestyle. You could also take part in an excursion to Stadsoase Spinozahof: a green spot in the middle of the city, where local residents can relax, enjoy nature and connect with neighbours.

At the market, television chef Pierre Windt stole the show by spectacularly demonstrating - and tasting - alternative food choices. Using tools you would not easily expect in the kitchen, such as a drill, he cooked a number of sustainable dishes using local produce from our suppliers and other local initiatives. 

Local food chains

To draw attention to local, fair and healthy food chains, a number of partners were present with a stall to tell more about their offerings. Tuinderij Wijdehorst, for example, an organic horticultural company from Wassenaar that supplies toxic-free products to the local community and organises recreation and education on sustainable living. And Rechtstreex, an initiative offering local, fresh and sustainable food, directly from farmers in the region and without unnecessary brokering. But also Ons Eten, an organisation committed to a healthy and fair food chain and supporting initiatives through The Hague Food Council. 

Initiatives on THUAS

Several initiatives at THUAS itself were also at the market to share more with fellow students and staff. First-year Spatial Development students showed off their creative sustainable campus designs and Nutrition & Dietetics students let you taste their homemade sustainable snacks, as part of their research into more sustainable food. Caterer Eurest also had sustainable dishes to sample at the market. The research group Circular Business  (Centre of Expertise Mission Zero) gave you colour advice so you can better choose which clothes suit you. By wearing clothes longer, you reduce your ecological footprint, which is also good for our planet and thus our food. 

Lifestyle

At the Zero Waste Warriors, a club of students and staff of The Hague, you could test your waste separation skills and even get a diploma for it; your 'Master Waste Warrior'. The Zero Waste Warriors are committed to a college with 0% residual waste by 2030. A stall further down, you could talk to the coaches of Climate Conversations about making sustainable lifestyle choices. Of course, the Wellbees, students from various courses who work to improve the well-being of students at THUAS, were not missing either; because healthy food, a healthy mind and a healthy body go hand in hand.

Eyecatcher at the market was the video project Wormonomics by visual artist Charlotte van Winden. In a greenhouse, she humorously showed what economic lessons we can learn from earthworms.  

Nutrition and psychology

In halls around the market you could listen to some interesting speakers. Joran Lammers from Leiden University took visitors through the question: what would happen in the Netherlands if everyone started eating vegan? Research shows that less meat and dairy has many benefits: more space for nature, relaxation, climate, biodiversity, and more justice. How we use space in the Netherlands depends heavily on our choices of diet and production methods. And lecturer Patricia Bulsing of Nutrition & Dietetics discussed the psychology behind sustainable food choices. 

Her colleague, researcher and lecturer at Nutrition & Dietetics Annelies Rotteveel took her listeners through exactly what sustainable food is and what you can pay attention to in your own diet so that it is also healthy and nutritionally complete. And how to break down psychological barriers to changing patterns. Indeed, despite increasing knowledge about the health and sustainability of food, most people continue to eat as they always have. It can be done differently.

Sustainable Tuesday ended with a Sustainability Pub Quiz, which covered fun facts about food and how to break your diet. Food for thought in short.

Green Office

Sustainable Tuesday is an initiative of THUAS Green Office, in collaboration with event organiser The Lighthouse. The Green Office offers students the chance to develop their sustainability initiatives and encourages colleagues to put their sustainability initiatives in the spotlight with the Sustainable Ambassadors Initiative. This is a new initiative to bring attention to all those great sustainability initiatives already alive at the college. Students, colleagues, anyone who is committed to promoting sustainability in one way or another can come here. We are going to put those initiatives in the spotlight in the coming period, because this is the place they deserve. 

Are you a student at THUAS and want to become a volunteer at the Green Office? Send an email to [email protected] and we will contact you.