The Center for Genomic Gastronomy

Project Summary

In 2025 we are building on our work of Food Forest Taste Test with a new round of Food Forest Taste Test events (FFTT).  We want to refine and expand our experiments to engage a broader range of eaters.

The food forest movement has been gaining momentum in recent years, both internationally and here in the Netherlands, as a response to the urgent question: how can we grow food sustainably? This movement has been lead by activists and farmers. While a great deal of work has been done on the side of designing, planting and maintaining a food forest, less people are exploring how to integrate these new and novel ingredients into daily cooking.

Food forests offer a wide range of benefits: increased biodiversity, greater resilience to drought and flooding, and long-term soil health. But they also present unique challenges. The ingredients in food forests are uncommon and diverse. The experts at haute cuisine restaurants can creatively incorporate these ingredients, but what would you do with a cola plant? Or with ‘Hemelsleutel’ or ‘Lievevrouwebedstro’? While the fine dining resturant De Nieuwe Winkel has done amazing things with food forest ingredients and produced a beautiful cookbook, everyday eaters have little knowledge around using these ingredients in their kitchens, at home or commercially.

Food Forest Taste Test is a project that develops the rituals, rhythms, and recipes needed to bring micro-seasonal, food forest produce into daily life.

By optimizing for flavour we hope to contribute to growing a larger network of people who engage with and care about eating from resilient agro-ecosystems.

FRESH PERSPECTIVE: PHASE 2 

We have received a Fresh Perspectives grant from the Creative Industries fund to work with innovative food forest producers to prototype desirable food futures. The aesthetic and cultural components of cuisine, flavour, and social conviviality must be considered when imagining a more just, biodiverse & beautiful food system. For Phase 2, we aim to address climate issues by prototyping aesthetic and cultural approaches to boosting food forest ingredient uptake.

To kick off phase 2 or this project, we traveled to Flevoland to meet with Anje Portman on April 1, 2025, and visit three different food forest sites that she has designed, initiated and/or helped to develop:

• — Thuishaven
• — Het Lydia Waterreus Voedselbos
• — Voedeselbos Eemvallei Zuid

Each site was at a different scale, and had very different for plans for how it was to be managed, maintained and harvested in the future. 

SITE 1: THUISHAVEN (2 Hectare + Additional Hectare )

In 2024 our studio visited Thuishaven and cooked with ingredients at multiple points in the growing season. 

Within the Thuishaven site there are three areas: 

— The romantic food forest (planted in 2018) of 2 hectare.
— The production food forest (planted in 2021/2022) of an additional hectare.
— A wild edible garden.

We have previously written about this site during our 2024 visit, but as a reminder, the surrounding landscape consists of neighboring conventional farms laid down in rows, and power-producing wind farms (also laid down in rows).

One quote from today’s visit: “Every day I discover new plants and animals. You’d wish for people to connect like that too — connection takes time, just like a food forest takes ten years to grow.” – Iris.

Field Notes: The interesting interplay between the romantic forest and the productive forest — that they are informing each other. For example, in the ‘romantic forest’ they discovered a delicious pear, which led them to cultivate more of it in the productive forest. So food production is also led by taste. 

The importance of Art and Symbolism: There is a small hill in the center of the romantic food forest and at the top of it is a boat, indicating sea level. Seeing the boat sculpture above your head helped orient you to the sea level, and remind you that this land is underwater. 

SITE 2: Het Lydia Waterreus Voedselbos (1 Hectare)

“The Lydia Waterreus Food Forest is an educational, novel food forest, open to all residents of Zeewolde. The food forest is on land owned by the municipality of Zeewolde and is managed by a regular group of volunteers from IVN Zeewolde.” (link)

Field Notes: Some sections of the site were well-established and very beautiful to walk through. Other sections were starting to be overgrown with volunteer plants and needed some more active maintenance. A great community asset that is hopefully continued and cared for by large(r) section of residents. 

Q: If we wanted to harvest and serve some produce from this food forest (in order to contribute to the culinary possibilities of the site) who would we talk to, who would we serve? Is there a way to make the harvesting and (especially) the preparation, presentation and serving of the food into something?

SITE 3: Voedeselbos Eemvallei Zuid (30 Hectares)

“A unique combination of a food forest, herb-rich meadows and recreation Eemvallei Zuid is a joint initiative of the Food Forestry Foundation , the Buytenwold Foundation , the Vliervelden Nature Farm and the State Forestry Service within the framework of the New Nature programme of the province of Flevoland. In June 2017, they signed the agreement for the realisation of an innovative nature reserve (50 hectares) with a unique combination of a food forest (30 hectares), herb-rich meadows and various recreational opportunities for children and adults.” [link]

Field Notes: There were some innovative management plans on how potential buyers of the produce can pay to have access during the season, and then come harvest one or more kinds of produce. 

BONUS – SITE X: The Green Cathedral

At the end of our visit we had the chance to visit the artwork De Groene Kathedraal (1996) by Marinus Boezem. (Small side note: our studio originally learned about this artwork while browsing the bookshelves in Stavanger, Norway’s public library, where an entire book dedicated to Flevoland’s abundant and unique history of land art commisions. The power of libraries, printed books and serendipity offline! But, also the awesome work of Land Art Felvoland). There was some small controversy in the Netherlands in 2025 because MVRDV also proposed building an artwork / installation with the name Green Cathedral.

This project has been selected for a development contribution as part of the Open Call: Fresh Perspectives by the Creative Industries Fund NL 2025.

Early in 2025 we were asked to participate in the Wild, Untamed and Spontaneous at La Casa Encendida in Madrid, curated by Paisanaje (a collective based in Madrid that combines curatorial work with artistic practice, and aims to address the growing ecosocial crises facing the world today).

Paisanaje have been invited to curate the part of the exhibition that will focus and reflect on “weeds” and on their potential from different perspectives. In this edition, they have proposed a study of contemporary artistic and landscape practices which imagine community gardens as spaces for learning, experimentation and cohabitation with other spaces.

This was a great moment to take stock of our own garden practice at Amstel Park (with Zone2Source) and reflect on our activities and what organisms are present. Three questions Paisanaje asked us were: 

A. A SIGNIFICANT SPECIES: We’d love for you to tell us about a plant in the garden that you find characteristic or emotionally significant.

B. CULTIVATED PLANTS: What plants have you cultivated in your garden?

C. OBSERVED ORGANISMS: What organism have you observed in your garden?

—

Luckily we are currently co-developing a biodiversity accounting tool with NiceTrails as part of a MUSAE project, and we have had a chance to put that into action with two recent workshops called “Agroecology Accounting in the Garden (AAG)”. 

One workshop was held for the BioArt meet-up Group from HKU led by Martijn van Gessel and the other was for the Green Office VU sustainability platform at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Here are responses to the curators questions. The third list is from the Biodiversity Accounting that the workshop participants have been helping with.

A. A SIGNIFICANT PLANT:

We recently planted a sea buckthorn (Hippophae rham) as part of our foray into edible perennial species. This is not a taste I grew up with, and was first introduced to it while we were collaborating with the scientist Dr. Wendy Russel in Scotland a decade ago. Now, whenever I taste this unique berry it brings me back to a moment not so long ago when the delight and pleasure of agricultural biodiversity started to resonate at a sensual and not only intellectual level. 

IMAGE: Food Phreaking Issue 01

B. CULTIVATED PLANTS: 

1. Bay Laurel, Laurier, Laurus nobilis
2. Blackcurrant (Ben Sarek), Zwarte bes, Ribes nigrum x Ben Sarek
3. Blackcurrant (Titania), Zwarte bes, Ribes nigrum x Titania
4. Blueberry, Blauwe bes, Vaccinium corymbosum
5. Blueberry (Pink Lemonade), Blauwe bes, Vaccinium
6. Cornelian Cherry (Dublany), Gele kornoelje, Cornus mas
7. Cornelian Cherry (Szafer), Gele kornoelje, Cornus mas
8. Creeping Saltbush, Strandbiet, Atriplex halimus
9. Cucumber Shrub, Blauwe worstboom, Decaisnea fargesii
10. Daylily, Daglelie, Hemerocallis
11. Dune Thorn (Leikora), Duindoorn, Hippophae rham
12. Dune Thorn (Pollmix 2), Duindoorn, Hippophae rham
13. Elderberry, Vlier, Sambucus nigra
14. Eternal Cabbage, Eeuwige kool, Brassica oleracea var. acephala
15. Fig (Brown Turkey), Vijg, Ficus carica
16. Golden Raspberry, Gele framboos, Rubus idaeus
17. Hazel (Cosford), Hazelaar, Corylus avellana
18. Hazel (Red Zellernut), Rode hazelaar, Corylus
19. Honeysalt Bush, Zeevenkel, Crithmum maritimum
20. Hosta (Elegans), Hosta, Hosta sieboldiana
21. Hosta (First Frost), Hosta, Hosta
22. Japanese Ginger, Japanse gember, Zingiber mioga
23. Japanese Quince (Cido), Japanse kwee, Chaenomeles japonica
24. Jostaberry, Jostabes, Ribes nidigrolaria
25. Kiwi Berry (Ken’s Red), Kiwibes, Actinidia arguta
26. Kiwi Berry (Weiki), Kiwibes, Actinidia arguta
27. Lemon Balm, Citroenmelisse, Melissa officinalis
28. Lemon Mint, Citroenmunt, Mentha x piperita f. citrata
29. Mint (Apple Mint), Appelmunt, Mentha x rotundifolia
30. Mint (Moroccan Mint), Marokkaanse munt, Mentha spicata var. crispa ‘Moroccan’
31. Mint (Peppermint), Pepermunt, Mentha ×piperita
32. Mint (Strawberry Mint), Aardbeimunt, Mentha arvensis ‘Strawberry’
33. Medlar, Mispel, Mespilus germanica
34. Mulberry (Illinois Everbearing), Moerbei, Morus alba x rubra f. Illinois Everbearing
35. Olive Willow (Amber), Olijfwilg, Elaeagnus umbellata
36. Olive Willow (Sweet ‘n Tart), Olijfwilg, Elaeagnus umbellata
37. Pineapple Sage, Ananassalie, Salvia rutilans
38. Red Sage (Hot Lips), Rode salie, Salvia microphylla
39. Rue, Wijnruit, Artemisia abrotanum
40. Salt Cabbage (Jacob’s Blue), Zeekool, Crambe maritima ‘Jacobs Blue’
41. Seaberry / Sea Buckthorn, Duindoorn, Hippophae rham
42. True Sage (Blue Sage), Blauwe salie, Salvia officinalis
43. Valse Chistusdoorn (Honey Locust), Valse Christusdoorn, Gleditsia triacanthos inermis
44. Walnut (Common Walnut), Walnoot, Prunus dulcis
45. Wayfaring Tree, Wollige sneeuwbal, Toona sinensis

C. OBSERVED ORGANISMS:

1. Alder, Els, Alnus
2. Blueberry, Blauwe bes, Vaccinium corymbosum
3. Bryophyte, Bladmossen, Bryophyta
4. Common Hazel, Hazelaar, Corylus avellana
5. Common Nettle, Grote brandnetel, Urtica dioica
6. Common Oak, Zomereik, Quercus sp.
7. Common Yew, Gewone taxus, Taxus baccata
8. Dandelion, Paardenbloem, Taraxacum officinale
9. Didymo, Rotslijm, Didymosphenia geminata
10. Diplopod (Millipede), Miljoenpoot, Diplopoda
11. Ephemeroptera Nymph, Eendagsvlieg nimf, Ephemeroptera nymph
12. False Nettle, Valse brandnetel, Boehmeria cylindrica
13. Field Pansy, Veldviooltje, Viola arvensis
14. Firebug Beetle, Vuurwants, Pyrrhocoris apterus
15. Garlic Mustard, Look-zonder-look, Alliaria petiolata
16. Gold Dust Lichen, Goudstofkorst, Chrysothrix chlorina
17. Golden Shield Lichen, Goudschildkorst, Xanthoria parietina
18. Goosegrass, Kleefkruid, Galium aparine
19. Ground Ivy, Hondsdraf, Glechoma hederacea
20. Groundcover Strawberry, Wilde aardbei, Fragaria
21. Groundsel, Klein kruiskruid, Senecio vulgaris
22. Herb Bennet, Geel nagelkruid, Geum urbanum
23. Holly, Hulst, Ilex aquifolium
24. Lawn Grass, Gazon gras, Poaceae
25. Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata), Geelgroene korstmos, Flavoparmelia caperata
26. Lichen (Golden Shield Lichen), Goudschildkorst, Xanthoria parietina
27. Lichen (Hypogymnia physodes), Blaaskorstmos, Hypogymnia physodes
28. Lichen (Unidentified), Korstmos, Lichen sp.
29. Lichen (Xanthoria sp.), Gele korstmos, Xanthoria sp.
30. Marsh Pennywort, Waternavel, Hydrocotyle umbellata
31. Mayfly Nymph, Eendagsvlieg nimf, Ephemeroptera nymph
32. Moss (Bryophyta), Mos, Bryophyta
33. Orange Algae (Trentepohlia aurea), Oranje alg, Trentepohlia aurea
34. Patella Limpet, Gewone lympet, Patella vulgata
35. Peacock Spider, Pauwspin, Maratus
36. Pirate Spider (Pisaurina mira), Piratenspin, Pisaurina mira
37. Planktonic Algae, Planktonalgen, Chlorophyta
38. Ranunculus, Speenkruid, Ranunculus ficaria
39. Red Slime Mold, Rode slijmzwam, Fuligo septica
40. Rove Beetle (Paederus spp.), Oeverkruiper, Paederus spp.
41. Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle, Aziatische lieveheersbeestje, Harmonia axyridis
42. Strawberry, Aardbei, Fragaria
43. Terrestrial Earthworm, Regenworm, Lumbricus terrestris
44. Veronica Speedwell, Veldereprijs, Veronica persica
45. Wood Cricket, Boskrekel, Gryllidae
46. Wood Formica Ants, Houtmier, Formica spp.
47. Wolf Spider, Wolfspin, Lycosidae

This blog post gathers some of the experiences and conversations from the initial dissemination of Genomic Gastronomy’s “Terroir That Travels” project in Lautrec, France which was organized and hosted by Camille Pelissou, and features the story of Pink Garlic, a PGI from the region.

TERROIR THAT TRAVELS (TTT) uses maps and stories to ask how agricultural products and taste of place will migrate due to climate change.

The following field notes were collected by Camille:

Context

TERROIR THAT TRAVELS was shown in Lautrec on December 20th and 27th at the weekly market. We were given a spot at the market by the municipality and were able to show the project to some local residents: inhabitants of Lautrec, local farmers and merchants. 

The market takes place every Friday from 08:00 to 12:00. It is the ‘quiet’ season from December to March, as not many tourists visit the town. Even though the attendance at the market was lower than it would be in other parts of the year, we were able to share the project and talk to some of the attendees.

Material

The following material was used on both days:

• A suitcase
• 2 maps (one showing the PGIs areas in 2024 and one showing where the selected 3 PGI products might migrate in 2080);
• 3 viewmasters;
• 6 booklets (one for each PGI both in French and English);
• 1 bell;
• 1 set of headphones (connected via bluetooth to a phone);
• 2 pillows;
• 7 garlic crates (that once assembled were used as 1 table and 2 stools);
• 2 straps.

General notes

When I arrived in Lautrec on December 20th, around 07:30 AM, to set up TTT for the first time, people looked at me and I could hear them think ‘Who’s this person with the suitcase? We’ve never seen her on the market..?’. After introducing myself to all the other merchants, I collected their first impressions. Most of them were quite curious and intrigued about the project. Others did not really understand what the point was.

At first, people tended to be quite defensive (‘Who are YOU to talk about this issue?’) but once they heard that I was from the area, they loosened up a bit. Just like most families in Lautrec, mine has been growing garlic for generations. For this reason, people usually have a very strong emotional bond with pink garlic. The installation featured stories from three countries, but the story they were most interested to hear about was, of course, Pink Garlic. (In future versions of this project, we will continue to refine the ways that we tie the stories together and unify the shared concerns across geographies.) 

The maps worked very well as a conversation starter. When people saw where their beloved product might migrate in the future, they showed signs of worry and it sparked their interest to hear more about the project.

(Above) The 2024 Map of European PDO and PGI products created by Genomic Gastronomy with Nataly Khadziakova Studio.

(Above) The 2080 Map showing a prediction of where three existing GI products could migrate, based on geographies that might have the necessary conditions for the product to survive. Created by Genomic Gastronomy with Nataly Khadziakova Studio.

QUESTIONING THE SYSTEM

Each farmer in the area has their own specific way of growing garlic. A lot of them question the cooperative system, especially the seeding system that they implemented years ago. If farmers join the cooperative, they have to use the certified bulbs that were chosen by the cooperative in order to grow big, pretty-looking garlic and have high yields. However, according to the farmers, these bulbs are often already contaminated with the pests and therefore rot very quickly. Therefore, some farmers decided to leave the cooperative and grow ancient varieties of garlic instead, which will grow smaller and have less yield but that can be kept for longer. According to farmers, these ancient varieties were also easier to digest because they were not treated with antigerminative products which in most cases make the garlic hard to digest.

ENVIRONMENTAL & LIVING COSTS 

People are concerned by the use of pesticides. A visitor shared that he comes from a family of wheat farmers and that all of them have either Parkinson or Alzheimer. According to him, these two issues are related. He was also worried about the impoverishment of the soil. He said that nowadays if we don’t add agricultural inputs into the soil, it would be completely dead and nothing would grow. He assumed that this was because of years of pesticides and other chemicals use. 

People are also concerned about suicides within the agricultural sector as they all know families affected by this issue. Farmers often end up being stuck within a system where they feel like they don’t have the choice: they have to invest in very big infrastructures in order to follow up with an economic dynamic that only encourages profit and growth. They end up borrowing money from banks and paying back huge loans but if their harvest is bad for a few years in a row, they cannot pay back the banks.

DIFFERENT PRODUCTS, SAME ISSUES

One of the merchants who was selling vanilla from Madagascar on the market came to experience the project. She reflected on how the challenges that pink garlic is facing are similar to the ones Vanilla is facing in Madagascar. Madagascar’s vanilla crops are highly vulnerable to climate change, as they require specific temperature and humidity levels.

In the last few years, more and more extreme weather events such as droughts and storms have hit the island. These conditions often devastate harvests, deepening the economic challenges faced by Madagascan producers. Just like pink garlic in Lautrec, to secure the future of its vanilla industry, Madagascar needs a multifaceted approach that includes continued investment in sustainable farming practices, infrastructure improvements, and technological innovation. 

Around the end of the market, I went to buy some cheese at the cheese stand and I noticed that some of them were labelled ‘thermised milk’. As I was unfamiliar with this label, I asked the cheese merchant what it meant. Here is what he told me: around 20 years ago, farmers heard that the European Union wanted to ban raw milk from cheese making practices because of sanitary reasons. Therefore, they decided to come up with a new kind of milk to counter the law: thermised milk. This is an alternative product that stands in between raw milk (which is not heated up) and pasteurized milk (that is brought to a 90°C boil to get rid of most bacteria present in the milk). Thermised milk is brought to a 60°C boil to remove some of the bacteria, but not all. By doing so, the farmers could preserve a taste that was similar to raw milk cheese while preventing the presence of most bacteria.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The contestation around Raw Milk is something CGG has following since way back in Food Phreaking #00. It is interesting as an “indicator species” of food system perspectives.)

WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION?

A lamb breeder who experienced the project shared that her biggest challenge was to anticipate how the next generation will be able to farm. According to her, meat has bad press, especially in the eyes of the new generation, and it is very difficult to see a future for this kind of farming. Indeed, her son is not willing to take over the farm. 

Moreover, although she is passionate about her job, her business is almost not viable economically. All these reasons pushed her to stop her farming activity in 2025. Instead, she is now considering planting Mediterranean trees such as almond and pistachio trees as they should be able to grow well in the region according to climate predictions. But growing trees takes time and that is something that only the next generation (her son) will be able to profit from. She is now struggling to find an alternative activity that she could do in the meantime, to sustain herself.

UNINFORMED CONSUMERS

A lot of farmers I talked with were concerned about the lack of knowledge that people have about the products they consume. For instance, with pink garlic a lot of consumers think that when a garlic clove starts sprouting, it is not edible anymore and they throw it away. However, the farmers see this as a good sign showing that the product is alive and hasn’t received an anti-germination treatment.

The prices between GPI certified garlic and uncertified garlic are not that different (14€/kilo for certified garlic VS 12€/kilo for uncertified). When asked about this difference, the farmer answered: “The certified garlic needs to be more expensive for the tourists, we need to be able to justify the quality of the product by raising its price”.

We gained access to the GGGarden site in May of 2024. We were encouraged by our neighbor art-gardeners de Onkruidenier to be okay with spending a lot of time observing (and not intervening) the first season.  

This was good advice, especially since May is a bit late in the growing season to make any extensive plans for going crazy with annuals from seeds or perennials. We decided to put a few plants in the soil, build out some infrastructure (raised beds, a willow dome, etc.) and get to know the conditions, rhythms and patterns of the site. 

The beans grew well along the fence despite the pretty poor soil conditions, and hopefully their nitrogen fixing is one small step forward for that section of the land.

We started to identify the range of volunteer plants that had inhabited what was overall a very marginal site in terms of soil health with lots of recent disturbance. We also started to notice how much plastic there was in the soil, and document that as well.

We tidied up the artificial pond early on, and when it warmed up, got to see frogs and salamander and a range of water insects.

Most of the frogs looked pretty healthy and happy, but last week (THU OCT. 10, 2024) we managed to take a photo and noticed something in or on the frogs mouth. Did the frog manage to find some food or was this some kind of massive growth on its face? Perhaps it was a very small bird hatchling? Otherwise, maybe it was some kind of growth or infection? If anyone knows frogs and can identify this situation, let us know. 

Right around the large tree, and near the treeline in the rear of the site, the soil was slightly richer, but towards the entry the soil consisted of a a lot of white sand and shells, a remnant of its use as a seal enclosure, and possibly because we had heard (unconfirmed) rumors that the initial site infill was dredged from the North Sea. 

At our most recent public workshop on Saturday Oct. 5, 2024 we did a few kinds of DIY soil testing including using pH paper and counting worms. The site pH was neutral to slightly alkaline. However, much more concerning was the lack of worms and insects in the soil. Two of our test spots yielded no worms, while a third spot had only 1 worm. 

Now that the season is coming to a close, we have begun a process of soil remediation in preparation for next year. In 3 locations we dug trenches, added leaves from offsite and covered this in hay (which was stored in the shed on site), and possibly used by the Wallabies which used to be housed here until 3 years ago. 

We are also making some plans to plant some cover crops in the new year, and perhaps revisit our research into “Cover Crop Cuisine” that we conducted in Ireland back in 2016. 

Here is a very initial cooking experiment we made in June:

Sweet Chestnut + Wild Herb Crackers
w/ Vegan Marscarpone
& Ramson Kimchi
OR Ramson Capers
OR Food Forest Berry Preserves

—
INGREDIENTS FROM:
Amsterdam Voedselbos (Berries)
Voedselbos Thuishaven (Wild Herbs)
Voedelbos Baarle-Nassau (Sweet Chestnuts)
Amstel Park (Ramson)
—

SITE VISIT FIELD NOTES 

On TUE July 16, 2024 we had a chance to visit the Voedselbos Thuishaven in Flevoland. Our studio has previously procured and cooked with their ingredients, but this was our first time to visit in-person. 

We visited 3 areas of the landscape: the romantic food forest (2018), the production food forest (2021/2022) and a wild garden. The surrounding landscape and context, the landscape of Flevoland agriculture, and large windmills is quite unique in terms of our ongoing Food Forest research. More on that in future research into the MOCK WILD + FRACTAL FOOD FUTURES. 

But for now onto some field notes:

PRESERVED DUTCH PLUMS: We had a chance to taste salted-preserved green plums which were delicious. (Here is one recipe in english.) Definitley an ingredient we will use in future Food Forest Taste Tests.

INGREDIENT LIST: In addition the 20+ plants that we tested in the kitchen in May 2024, there were additional possibilities for our next test kitchen in September 2024. 

MAY 2024 INGREDIENTS

OTHER INGREDIENTS

• Black Currants
• Red Currants
• Plums
• Rhubarb
• Hawthorn Berry (Wild & Bred Cultivars)
• Oaks (but the ones planted here might be too high-tannin)

—

SUPPLY CHAINS: The farm is already selling to a co-op in Almere, and selling some processed ingredients (mint, lemon balm, Alexanders[Smyrnium olusatrum] ) to others. (In the past they tried juiced apples, and now have frozen berries, etc.) Lots of low-powered preservation techniques, but a freezer has its uses for sure. * Speaking of our good friend Nicola Twilley has a new book out about the history of refrigeration called FROST BITE. 

FOOD FROM THE FOREST ASSOCIATION: We spoke to Anje about her work with https://voedseluithetbos.nl/en/ An amazing project and look forward to learning more. 

PLANT BREEDERS & NURSERIES: One question we wanted to learn more about was the landscape of contemporary plant breeders and nurseries who are acting as the suppliers for Food Forests or permaculture projects. Are there public plant breeders who are creating improved varieties for traits that are preferable in the context of food forests? Are there nurseries who specialize in perennial or wild species? One nursery near Utrecht we were pointed to was https://kwekerijstekkers.nl/ 

CAT TAIL PANCAKES: While walking through one of the designed wetlands on site, Anje mentioned that there is a recipe for Cattail (Typha) Pancakes. Here is one (https://www.natureoutside.com/how-to-make-cattail-pancakes/). However, this left us reflecting on our thoughts about resilience, (in)convenience, taste, sustinence etc. when it comes to eating wild or food forest ingredients. 

WIND PARK FLEVOLAND: We learned a bit about the recent history of wind energy production in Flevoland. Originally there were about 200 windmills in the area, each owned and cited by individual farmers, but more recently newer windmills have been put up that are more efficient and generate much more energy. The number has been reduced to 80, the farmers are members of the corporation, and they are installed in straight lines. (The Dutch love their straight lines and grids!). As per the Flevoland website “As few mills as possible that generate as much energy as possible. Placed in lines that strengthen the open character of the landscape.” (https://www.flevoland.nl/wat-doen-we/energie/wind).

AGRICULTURAL CONTEXT: The farms in the neighborhood mostly grow products such as potato, onion, sugar beet and corn. 

A NEIGHBORHOOD TASTE TEST FEST / or FOOD FOREST BANQUET: Since Thuishaven is somewhat unique in its approach to landuse and agroecology in its neighborhood, we thought that a really important future intervention might be to create a large meal or food festival on site, and specifically inviting neighbors to taste and experience the landscape with fresh eyes and open taste buds. 

This project has been selected for a development contribution as part of the Open Call: Fresh Perspectives by the Creative Industries Fund NL 2024.

Join us from 12:00-15:00 on May 25, 2024 at Zone2Source in the Amstelpark for the very first Mock Wild Picnic, where we will be tasting a combination of food forest ingredients and alternative proteins.

The MOCK WILD Picnic series takes two very different visions of the future of food and sticks them in a blender to see what happens.

Register ahead of time to reserve your picnic basket for 2-5 eaters, which you can pick up at the Orangerie and enjoy anywhere in the Amstelpark. Tell us how many eaters to pack the picnic basket for (2-5) when you register and make a €2 deposit secure your basket before they run out.

All the recipes will be created by the MVP x FFF Food Computer, an AI-assisted thinking and tinkering tool for harmonizing the rhythms and culinary possibilities of Minimum Viable Proteins (MVPs) and Food Forest Flavours (FFFs).

If you don’t register for a picnic basket ahead of time, or you don’t want to eat, just stop by the Orangerie where you can: Test the MVP x FFF food computer and view the MOCK WILD video and textile installation.

This project is developed as part of the Hungry EcoCities S+T+ARTS Residency which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.

Hosted by Zone2Source.