Cities and their inhabitants can make a significant impact on the agricultural system they wish to support. Their food choices directly influence the food chain that produces these products. Opting for plant-based, organic, or locally sourced products can greatly affect farmers’ decisions about how they grow food. Bart aims to facilitate agricultural and food transitions by identifying opportunities to increase healthy food consumption while reducing environmental footprints. Partnering with private sectors, governments, and knowledge institutions, we analyze challenges and develop solutions for the sector.
Bart has worked extensively to make arable agriculture more sustainable. From assessing subsidies to enhance food security and create jobs using satellite data in developing countries to exploring biobased building materials from Dutch soils to lower carbon emissions, his work has consistently prioritized collaboration. At AMS Institute, Bart seeks to engage partners to co-create solutions for the benefit of Amsterdam’s residents.
Bart enjoys gardening with organic native plants, using compost, and harvesting rainwater, while also being fascinated by high-tech solutions like vertical farming. These innovations enable year-round crop cultivation in spaces like basements without natural light.
The agricultural system, the food it produces, and its importance to the communities it serves have always intrigued Bart. What foods do people want, why do they want them, and how do they prefer them to be produced? Finding ways to make food healthy, affordable, and sustainable with less environmental impact in a city like Amsterdam motivates him to work at AMS Institute.
“Even during holidays in other countries I get very excited by seeing new foodsystems”