West of the Netherlands micro food adventure 🥾

This micro food adventure is part of a series of microadventures to discover sustainable food pioneers. Read more about our the impact of local food and don’t forget to let us know how you experienced this route (mareike@forkranger.com).

Link to the full route – 13 km
Link to the shortened route – 7 km (you miss the fifth stop)
Tip: if you use komoot app without the navigation function, it’s free!

First stop: Fungi Farmers

Take the train to train station Leiden Centraal and continue by foot. You don’t need to go far (only 500m) for the first stop, it’s Fungi Farmers at the Field.

Why we picked this stop for you → And this place is not just about local circular farming, but at The Field everythings is made from preloved materials. On their website they have a very interesting section where they explain all about it. Now that you understand that circularity is central to this place, it starts making sense why Fungi Farmers, growing oyster mushrooms on coffee grounds (often seen as waste) fits perfectly. Look around and see if you can find Fungi Farmers’ green shipping container: this is their production location. Unfortunately it’s not always open, but we still wanted to include this stop to show you that sustainable solutions don’t always need to look pretty to be effective. We sometimes are longing for flashy, fancy, new silver bullit technology to solve our issues, while we already have sturdy, effective elements that can be part of solutions today. Let this simple green box remind you that we already know the solutions for our food system, the challenge lies in moving towards those.

Second stop: Oogst

If you want to taste one of the Fungi Farmer products, you only have to make it to the second stop at Oogst, after 2 km from the start. This shop is open for people who have registered in their app Monday-Sunday 6:00-22:00, open for anybody Friday afternoon and Saturday.

Why we picked this stop for you → One of the challenges if you live in a city is how to get your local foods, because there are hardly any farms in the middle of a city. And as we’ve learned, the most sustainable way to get to a farm is by foot or bike. This can turn into quite an effort, especially on the way back when you’ve got to carry all the groceries. That’s why we are such fans of Oogst. They bring the local foods into town for you. Isn’t this the best of both? All produce nearby and local too! And one more thing we also like: you can shop almost any time with their app-based entry for people who register. Did you like this concept? There are more Oogst shops in other places, check here.

Third stop: Stadstuinderij Het Zoete Land

Not much further you find Stadstuinderij Het Zoete Land (after 2,7 km). You are allowed to visit this vegetable garden. If you are curious to meet people from this garden, come on Fridays 9:00-14:00 or Saturday 9:00-13:00 during the harvesting season.

Why we picked this stop for you → You might not expect this in a city, but it’s an excellent example of a local food format: urban agriculture. On 90m x 40m they grow food for 150 harvest participants (7 types of vegetables a week during 30 weeks). So if we make a quick calculation, that’s around 24m2 per participant – just to give you an idea of the land use of our vegetable consumption. As we already covered the fact that distance between your house and the farm is important in actually eating local foods, it comes to no surprise that this place is immensely popular. Right from the start in 2014, they had enough people signing up for a harvest share and until today there has been a long waiting list every season. But the scarce amount of free space in cities, makes it not so easy to expand these concept, despite the demand. So all you can do now is simply enjoy the garden 🙂.

Fourth stop: Groentepark Bontekoe

The foundation behind Het Zoete Land, Stichting Leiden Oogst, also manages another local food format: Groentepark Bontekoe. Let’s walk there for the fourth stop. You will reach it after 4,5 km from the start.

Why we picked this stop for you → A sustainable food system can only work if it’s available for all. Local organic food shouldn’t be something that’s for the elite, for the ones who have the money and/or the time. Groentepark Bontekoe reminds us of this as they grow fresh fruits and vegetables for the Voedselbank Leiden. And it’s organic too! Even the normalness of how this ‘farm’ sits in a neighbourhood, is so nice. It reminds us that we can use any space we have to grow food, doesn’t matter how small it is. Is there a place in your home, outside or close to your house where you can grow food?

Fifth stop: Bij Mei

The shorter route now takes you back to the Lammerschans station, but the longer route continues towards Zoetewoude, and stops at community self-harvest garden Bij Mei! You’ve already done 9,5 km when you arrive, well done.

Why we picked this stop for you → There’s not just one reason, but three! This self-harvest garden is based on commitment to a harvest share, so unfortunately you can’t just go for a one-time harvest of vegetables. First, this self-harvest garden provides vegetables grown without pesticides or fertilizer at a similar price-point of supermarket conventional vegetables. Talking about making local sustainable food affordable.

Secondly, this self-harvest farm shows that farming is not just for people who’ve always been farmers. Mariska worked in the cultural sector, before she realized she wanted to do more with farming. She decided to follow the degree Biologisch Dynamische landbouw at Warmonderhof. Her parents in law happened to have this small plot of land, not really the most exciting near a highway, but that didn’t stop her. Luckily the plot has good clay soils. Such a lovely story that shows us that we can always switch towards something else. If you are excited about sustainable food too, there might be more ways to do something with this passion…

And last, what also inspired us is their thinking. Just like we do at Fork Ranger they believe that all small efforts together can lead to real momentum: “Do you know the butterfly effect from chaos theory: the field of mathematics that studies dynamical systems? The wings of a butterfly on one continent could cause a tornado on another continent months later. Don’t underestimate the power of small things.”

If you feel inspired, one small thing even you can do (without a long term commitment) is take some flowers with you. You can pay cash or by card. And if you want to surprise someone you can even gift them a voucher for a bouquet they can pick themselves later.

With that to sink in into our minds, we can make our way back. The route ends at Leiden-Lammerschans station.

Extra info (updated April 2025):

• Oogst is almost always (6:00-22:00) open for people registered in their app, and for visitors Friday afternoon and Saturday.
• Stadstuinderij Het Zoete Land is always open, but if you are curious to meet people from this garden, come on Fridays 9:00-14:00 or Saturday 9:00-13:00 during the harvesting season.
• Bij Mei is open for visitors: from mid-May on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.