Food forest offers a way out of various crises A food forest captures a lot of CO2, emits no nitrogen, retains water and requires no fertilizer, no pesticides and no diesel for tractors. But it does provide a continuous flow of food. According to the Food Forestry Foundation, this form of agriculture is therefore a solution to various current problems. Agriculture and nature Twelve years ago, Wouter van Eck started a food forest on two hectares of former maize land near Groesbeek. He planted several trees and shrubs and then mostly waited. Now, twelve years later, his food forest already provides a lot of nature. Beavers live on the property, as do weasels, grass snakes, glowworms and over thirty species of breeding birds. 'But the forest also provides a lot of food', emphasizes Van Eck. 'This is an agricultural system that produces food and nature.' More than grass or corn land Van Eck swears that with his food forest he already earns more money than a farmer who grows ryegrass or maize. 'That's mainly because I hardly have to do anything for it. I don't have any bills from a contractor, I don't have to buy fertilizer or pesticides and I don't have an expensive tractor. But in the meantime I can supply food, including to a top restaurant here in Nijmegen.' Solutions While agriculture and government were still facing each other this week, the Netherlands Food Forestry Foundation wrote a letter to the Ministers of Agriculture and of Nature and Nitrogen. The tenor of their story: Food forests can offer a way out of the various crises that agriculture is currently facing. Van Eck 'We think that in the next 10 years you could convert 170,000 hectares of agricultural land into a food forest. You produce food for more than a million people while saving climate, biodiversity and nitrogen. In the meantime, you would also capture as much CO2 on those 170,000 hectares as the entire Dutch industry would have to save until 2030.' Switching To prove that this is not a fairy tale, the foundation has already joined forces with several farmers. They are now in the process of converting large tracts of agricultural land into food forests. 'This gives us a good perspective for farmers who want to work in a truly nature-inclusive way,' says van Eck. 'Of course you cannot convert all agricultural land into a food forest. you also need grain for example. But meanwhile, the fruits, vegetables and nuts from a food forest provide very valuable nutrients for the Wheel of Five'.