Just when the sector is under fire (again) and feels cornered by Budget Day plans, perhaps a paean of praise could help the sector. In Elsevier, a Dutch weekly news magazine, Simon Rozendaal wrote such praise under the headline: ‘Dutch Glory under glass.’ He observes that there are a lot of smart people in the Westland area and calls the sector “one of the most innovative in the Netherlands.”
Yet the sector struggles with its, especially domestically, poor image. Simon points out how the sector is indeed sustainable and, for example, also makes the important contribution to stabilizing the electricity grid with cogeneration plants, which is well known in the sector but often forgotten outside. With 9% electricity supply, this is a bigger contribution than the nuclear power plant in Borsele.
Even more than food horticulture, ornamental horticulture is having a hard time. The phenomenon there, Simon also knows, is ‘flower shaming.’ Read the whole article here (€) (NL) in which, among others, Koppert, Lely, Looye, Priva, Ter Laak, and Certhon (Lotte van Rijn shares the whole article on LinkedIn) are reviewed. And tomato grower Paul van Schie who says of that flower shame: “Eating out and going on holiday is not strictly necessary either. Are we going to stop doing that too?”