Comedian & Anthropologist dive into horticulture
Dolf Jansen and Jitske Kramer complete their in-residency
From February 1 – 3 2023, EatThis organized another multi-day residency in horticulture. This time, comedian, writer, tv and radio host Dolf Jansen and corporate anthropologist Jitske Kramer were invited for a deep dive into the world of modern food production. The versatile duo started their journey with a visit to the Westlands Museum for some historical perspective, whereafter they paid visits to a selection of renowned Dutch horticulture companies for guided tours and meetings with their visionary leaders.
The residency kicked-off with visits to GreenCo and Tomatoworld, where founder Jos van Mil welcomed them into the world of tomatoes and snack size peppers and cucumbers. They were even put to work for a while to set out biological pest control.
A visit to Koppert Cress, pioneers on sustainable food production, and Koppert, experts in biological crop control, taught them even more about what it means to cultivate in close partnership with nature. In a large meeting, hosted by Koppert Cress, Dolf and Jitske shared their first impressions and observations with the EatThis. network contributors and previous residents.
With Puck van Holstein, director of World Horti Center, and Ted Duijvestijn, previous CEO of Duijvestijn Tomaten, Dolf and Jitske discussed the horticulture sector’s intentions and efforts to connect to the youth, and society as a whole.
At Trias Westland, Bart van Meurs from Division Q showed how the world of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) uses waste products, such as heat and Co2 to optimize their crops. It’s a pretty technical story, just like the one from Logiqs, a leading company that connects technology, robotisation and algorithms to health and food production.
A visit to Harvest House and meeting with Jelte van Kammen showed Dolf and Jitske the power of an international association of passionate growers, who together grow the ingredients for healthy salads with sustainable methods, and distribute them in the most efficient way. Besides that, they are very aware of the need to communicate and connect to society, which is why they’re invested in different projects and movies that connect worlds.
Last but definitely not least, is a meeting with Meiny Prins, CEO of Priva, former business woman of the year and the motor between the Sustainable Urban Delta. She is one of the figureheads that manages to connect the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector to society and politics.
The 3-day in-residency has been an intense program in which we have not only been able to fully immerse Dolf an Jitske, but many viewers and readers as well due to the generated media exposure.
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About Dolf and Jitske
Dolf Jansen is one of the most famous comedians in the Netherlands and is also active as a presenter and writer. Besides that, he is also an avid marathon runner. In addition to his career as a cabaret artist, Dolf can also often be seen and heard on Dutch radio and television. Until 2008 he had his own show at the 3FM radio station and nowadays he presents the radio show Spijkers met Koppen on NPO Radio 2. He also gets invited regularly to prime time actuality shows to share his opinions.
Jitske Kramer is a corporate anthropologist who travels all over the world to learn from traditional healers, leaders, surprising innovators and random passers-by. She is known for being the bestselling author of Deep Democracy, Jam Cultures, Work has left the Building and The Corporate Tribe. She brings worldly knowledge and experiences back to the world of organizing, cooperation and leadership through challenging keynotes and masterclasses.
Why an artist-in-residence in horticulture?
We believe that, in order to find solutions on how to feed the world without harming the planet, we need to collaborate and connect to society. We need to embrace possibilities and innovation and team up with artists, designers, economists, politicians, and creative thinkers to come up with new ideas for the future of food. Read all about our in-residencies here.