Category Archives: Education

Local food at the Rhederoord estate – gastronomic highlight II

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Earlier MSc-student Renee Ciulla added a post on our gastronomic field trip to the Rhederoord Estate. I made a video clip of the display of local food and explanation by patron cuisinier Gerhard van den Broek of the Rhederoord Estate. As I shot the clip with a regular photo-camera, by way of experiment. The quality is not excellent, also because of the yellow atmospheric light, but still the food look very tasty and the explanation whets your appetite. Rhederoord was indeed a gastronomic highlight for the students and myself!

You can watch more video clips on Rhederoord at http://www.youtube.com/user/rhederoordnl

Local food at the Rhederoord estate – gastronomic highlight

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By Renee Ciulla  – Msc-student attending the course Origin Food: a market for identity

On April 8th, the Origin Food course (see earlier post) was treated to a gastronomic excursion to the Rhederoord estate near the town of Arnhem in De Steeg. Located on 12 ha, the estate provides a magnificent view over the foothills of the IJssel valley and Veluwe forests. The Rhederoord  is mainly known for it’s restaurant which offers a fine dining experience, sourcing most of their products from the surrounding countryside or within the Netherlands. However, the estate also caters events, hosts weddings and can accommodate over 250 guests in their 22 rooms. Possibilities also exist to book business and private meetings.

Despite the snowy morning, grey clouds and traffic delays in Arnhem, our group was in high spirits when we saw what greeted us in the foyer of the Rhederoord: a cheerful group of staff awaited to take us to a tastefully decorated coat room followed by a delicious estate-made apple tart on a delicate butter crust. As we mingled with our steaming cups of coffee, the sounds of clinking forks and laughter drifted up the wood-paneled walls and out the large paned windows to the manicured gardens and rolling fields. After our mid-morning feast we sat for an entertaining and inspiring history of the Rhederoord. The goals are to support local farmers and producers in every culinary aspect of their restaurant which they believe is reflected in the flavors and visual appeal. Additionally, the estate tries to educate other chefs and visitors about how to grow their own vegetables and herbs. A garden near the entrance of the restaurant displays various herbs, strawberries and vegetables enabling chefs to see first-hand what these foods look like in their growing state. Sheep and cows are also owned by the estate for their own supply of local meat.

Buffet of local food at the Rhederoord estate

After our outdoor tour we couldn’t have been more surprised when we saw the buffet that welcomed us downstairs. Glowing in the atmospheric, perfectly positioned lights was an assortment of local gastronomic gems: pates, organic sheep, goat and cow cheeses, savory thinly-sliced ham, loaves of freshly baked breads with Dutch wheat, and mounds of warm rolls. Local greens and cabbage made some delicious salads. Meats included blood sausage, sea bass and river lobsters. The food was bursting with flavor and succulent textures- the entire room fell silent during our first ten minutes of eating as everyone floated in their personal eating heaven. A wine tasting of foud Dutch wines followed with ample joking about the quality of Netherlands wine. As for me, I was too distracted with the dessert still sitting on the buffet table: beautiful croissant-type cream puffs filled with fresh-egg custard and pieces of dark chocolate; every bite melted in my mouth.

The entire experience to Rhederoord was reminiscent of a family Christmas dinner. We all left feeling extremely grateful for the learning experience and culinary delights. Thanks to Dirk for organizing a spectacular and delicious trip!

Growth of local food economy in USA – Ken Meter

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Sustainability impact is one of the five themes of the course ‘Origin Food: a Market for Identity’ (see my earlier post for more info). Surfing on internet, looking for some empirical material on the importance of local food for local economies, we came across the work of Ken Meter, president of the Crossroads Resource Center: 

Crossroads Resource Center, a non-profit organization, works with communities and their allies to foster democracy and local self-determination. We specialize in devising new tools communities can use to create a more sustainable future.

Ken Meter is one of the most experienced food system analysts in the United States. His work integrates market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. As president of Crossroads Resource Center in  Minnesota, Meter holds 39 years experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building.

As documented ath the site, Ken Meter has promoted 45 local food networks in 20 US-states and one in Canada. He has thus built a record on building local food communities and its impact on local economy. In an interview published in three part on You Tube, he shares his vision and experiences on ‘ Building a local food economy’: see part I, part II, part III. At the CRC website also an example presentation of Ken Meter on the ‘Growth in local food economies‘ in the USA. An eye-opener to all of us knowing that the USA is the worlds largets food exporting country, but actually has to import food to feed their own residents as Ken Meter says.  Anyway, local food seem to be booming in the USA, the internet is loaded with initiatives, as was already documented in the posts of our collegue Petra Derkzen at this blogsite.

Wanted: student for an intensive experience in Slovakia

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Are you a student with a Major, Minor and/or internship in Rural Sociology/Rural Planning/Rural Development? Then we offer the possibility for a 2 week intensive experience in Slovakia. With an international group of students from various European countries (a.o. Portugal, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Lithuania, Slovenia) you will work out a case study about the Role of agricutlure in territorial identity and competitiveness of rural areas in Slovakia. You will acquire knowledge about rural development through lectures and field trips as well as experiencing working in an international diverse group with various background knowlegde. The programme will take place near Nitra (Slovakia) from 18-30 April. Travel and subsistence costs will be reimbursed by the programme. Are you interested? Please contact Els Hegger (els.hegger@wur.nl).

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Studenten gezocht: onderzoek Usseler es

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De  Vereniging tot Behoud Usselo en Usseler es (VBU) zoekt studenten die meewerken aan een onderzoek naar identiteitsdragers van de Usseler es, zoals die tot uiting komen in verhalen, beleving en emotionele waarden van bewoners, gebruikers, lokale en regionale burgerij en naar de sociaal-economische betekenis hiervan voor het gebied.

Het onderzoek maakt deel uit van een project dat in het voorjaar van 2010 van start gaat en een looptijd van ca. 10 maanden kent.

De Usseler es is de grootste krans-es van Noordwest Europa, gelegen in de zuidwestelijke stadsrandzone van Enschede en is als zodanig een zeer belangrijk cultuurhistorisch, archeologisch, landschappelijk en landbouwkundig complex. De Vereniging tot Behoud Usselo en de Usseler Es heeft in 2008 een zienswijze ingediend naar aanleiding van het ontwerp bestemmingsplan voor een modern gemengd bedrijventerrein op deze unieke plek. Deze zienswijze: “Usseler es: Behoud door Ontwikkeling?” houdt in dat de unieke landschappelijke en cultuurhistorische kwaliteiten behouden blijven en uitgangspunt zijn voor de ontwikkeling, dat wil zeggen het open houden van de bolling van de es en eventueel een beperkte verdichting van de krans van boerderijen en schuren.

Demografische ontwikkelingen in de regio wijzen echter op een krimpsituatie vanaf 2020. Dit is aanleiding tot een serieuze bezinning op sociaal-economische en ruimtelijke investeringen. Nieuwe functies die passen bij de kansen van dit unieke gebied en specifieke behoefte van de stad en regio zouden ontwikkeld moeten worden, zoals toerisme en recreatie, innovatieve vormen van land- en tuinbouw en passende bedrijvigheid in de krans. Deze zienswijze vraagt om uitwerking. De voorliggende opdracht is om meer inzicht te bieden in de sociaal-economische betekenis hiervan.

Studenten met interesse kunnen contact opnemen met collega Rudolf van Broekhuizen (Rudolf.vanBroekhuizen@wur.nl) van Rurale Sociologie (tel. 0317-483833)