A Danish production and delivery service providing organic food directly to the customer was voted winner of the first Royal Green Food Award last Friday in the Netherlands.
Manager Thomas Harttung of Aarstiderne received the prize at Wageningen University. Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, former Dutch Minister of Agriculture and president of the international jury, praised Aarstiderne for the remarkable achievement the company has made in establishing a direct connection between customers and producers of sustainable food. The audience shared the opinion of the jury by also choosing Aarstiderne for the special audience award.
The theme of the Royal Green Food Award 2002 was sustainable, safe and healthy food production. During a symposium on this theme, four nominees presented themselves to the jury and a diverse and international audience. The official winner was presented after a sustainable banquet in the auditorium of Wageningen University. He received a trophy, a diploma and a sum of €25,000 from the jury president.
The jury remarked that the Dutch Green Development Foundation has created a very innovative concept to link consumers of coffee to the primary producers, making the way to fair prices and more sustainable production by involving the capacities of a bank to reach the consumers. This project sets a good example to other branches of the food production process.
In publishing an annual social and environmental report, the integrated food company Nutreco adds a high level of transparency to already high achievements in its integrated approach to sustainability, which the competition organisers also recognised. The Hungarian Varga Ecofarm combines sustainable agriculture with promoting employment, education, and tourism. This approach is highly innovative beyond Eastern Europe and has high potential as a model for small farmers. The jury finally emphasised the importance of promoting a proven record of success in sustainable food production.
The Royal Green Food Award is a newly established prize for the most distinctive initiative in Europe in the chain of sustainable production of safe and healthy food. The city of Wageningen, in close co-operation with Wageningen University and Research Centre, adopted the RGFA. With this prize, Wageningen shows its position as a leader in the field of agriculture and food in Europe. Through the co-operation with universities in Murcia, Spain, Gödöllö, Hungary and Aberdeen, Scotland, the nucleus of a European network to promote sustainable food has been formed.
With the food prize in Wageningen, the European Royal Awards Foundation expands its network of sustainability prizes, already covering Berlin, Birmingham and Barcelona. The next Royal Green Food Award will be presented in 2004, following awards that will be presented in the four regions of the network.