Projects Circular Economy Social Improvement
3 min.
Urban farming, syntropic farming and hydroponic farming, all of these trending styles of farming are reaching mainstream media more and more. But what about us who do not like farming or really cannot (or prefer not to) prioritize farming ourselves? Is there nothing we can do? Of course, there is! We could start redirecting our attention to our local farmers and buy local right away!
A few months back we have published this article about The Hidden Green Movement. With the start of the campaign just around the corner (October 1st!) we would like to shine another light on this inspiring campaign in Curaçao.
Not just a temporary campaign
As Berber van Beek and Reina Keijzers, the founders of the yearlong campaign, are still working hard on the final stages of the preparation, they are also very excited to go live and create momentum with the movement. This immediately highlights one of their main goals, to not just shine the limelight on the farmers who agreed to be portrayed, but to create an island-wide movement of people and businesses making more sustainable decisions by turning to local resources for their meals.
The four areas in which The Hidden Green Movement founders believe to make an impact are the local economy, the community, the environment and health, and food security in Curaçao.
In order to do so, apart from creating awareness by portraying a different farmer each month for 12 months back-to-back, they have decided to take it one step further. They have created a quality brand that informs us of the origin of products. It will not only be used on products, but also supermarkets and restaurants are soon able to use the logo. For restaurants, the only condition is that they offer at least one dish on the menu with a minimum of 80% locally bought ingredients. As Berber and Reina told Future Islands enthusiastically, it may be a special or a fixed dish, and preferably it would have options, but the focus should be on the Curaçaoan origin of the ingredients.
“Together we are the change”
The Hidden Green Movement is also about connecting and informing the society. Berber and Reina were proud to share that even during the preparation stage, they were able to help out one of the farmers through their growing network! The farmer in question mentioned that he was not able to sell his yield, so they started reaching out to their network. Together, they found a solution and the local farmer was able to sell his products, thus proving the economic possibilities of the movement, even before it actually takes off.
Another way of creating awareness is by designing a place for farmers, scientists, researchers, policymakers, etc... to share their knowledge. On the website that will be presented on October 1st, the Hidden Green Movement provides the opportunity for people with all sorts of backgrounds to share their ideas through blogposts.
Berber and Reina call for anyone to connect, join the movement, and send in their blogposts on the theme to grow the network and inform the society further. “On Curacao we are multi-cultural, so it is important to us that everyone can express themselves in their native tongue, therefore the blogposts may be in any language”, the Movement’s founders state. With that being said, they even make an effort to take away social barriers to reach their goals.
Are you a restaurant- or business owner or just inspired by Berber and Reina? Follow, join and/or connect with The Hidden Green Movement through their Facebook page and/or their Instagram account:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/hiddengreenmovement
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hiddengreenmovement/ .
Would you like to donate and support the movement? Check out their funding page at Doneeractie.nl https://www.doneeractie.nl/hidden-farmers-on-curacao/-57384
Written by Thyrza Piëst
