Bioregional food for Kassel daycare centers and schools

"The future of sustainable community catering lies in greater cooperation between regionally based organic farms and local caterers, as well as schools and daycare centers," emphasizes Silke Flörke, project manager of RegioWoche and coordinator of the North Hesse eco-model region.

Together with the initiators of the RegioWoche and in cooperation with the city of Kassel, she wants to show: "It's possible! If the Corona pandemic has shown us that there can be no more of the same, then now, with the resumption of classroom teaching in schools, is exactly the right time: to take a step towards a sustainable agriculture and society. The products of the North Hessian organic farms are sustainable and climate-friendly, produced in an environmentally friendly manner and in accordance with animal welfare standards. However, there is often still a lack of regional value chains and direct and reliable demand from community catering.

"A healthy, bioregional lunch in daycare centers and schools is important on so many levels: For the health of the children, their learning success, but also for climate and environmental protection. We will also support the project pedagogically in the sense of education for sustainable development. And last but not least, it is a relevant economic factor for our region," explains Ulrike Gote, head of the youth and education department of the city of Kassel.

This is precisely where RegioWeek comes in: In a practical and stress test, the project team around Silke Flörke does not just want to talk about things having to be different, but rather to show that they can already be started today.

The RegioWeek in practice

During the campaign week from October 4 to 7, the catering companies "Kantine Lohmann", "Iss was", "Gourmet Kids" and "biond" will be offering a freshly prepared daily menu made from bioregional ingredients in a total of 17 municipal schools and nine daycare centers. The same applies to those educational institutions in the Kassel district that are supplied by the four community caterers.

The organically produced products come from seven organic farms in the North Hesse eco-model region. Directly ready-to-cook products are processed by Hofgut Rocklinghausen in Korbach and Hephata in Schwalmstadt-Treysa, both social farming facilities. Other agricultural products that will be on the table in Kassel come from the Theisinger organic butchery in Habichtswald Ehlen, the whole-grain bakery Brotgarten in Kassel and the Upländer farm dairy.

"We are also already in contact with the participating daycare centers and schools" confirms Martina Keller from the RegioWoche project team. Information materials for teaching staff, parents and children will be available in the weeks before and during RegioWeek. Interested teachers can contact the project team now for more information and educational offers.

In order to draw a summary afterwards, the department "Ecological Agricultural Sciences" of the University of Kassel under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christian Herzig accompanies the RegioWeek scientifically. Questions such as "What worked well?", "Where is there still room for improvement?", and "What does it take for schools and daycare centers to be able to offer such a menu more often?" are what the project team led by Silke Flörke wants to answer. The results will be used to organize another campaign week in February 2022. Beyond that they are to make schools and Kitas, community caterers, agricultural enterprises and local governments of other regions courage to make themselves likewise on the way into a lasting future.

The project team of the RegioWoche consists of Silke Flörke Projektkoordinatorin of the eco model region north Hessen, Martina cellar, of the project forge for lastingness & transformation cellar & Gruber, Stefani Ross, cook of the community catering with practical experience in the bio regional fresh food preparation and Dr. Andrea Fink Keßler of the land researchers/office for agrarian and regional development.

In the north of Hesse, the district of Kassel and the Werra-Meißner district have joined forces: since September 2015, they have formed the "Organic Agriculture Model Region NORDHESSEN". This created the first Hessian eco-model region in the north of Hesse, which the city of Kassel also joined in 2020. The University of Kassel, with its "Organic Agricultural Sciences" department in Witzenhausen and with its teaching and experimental farm on the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen in Grebenstein, links both districts and the city.

More information at: https://www.oekomodellregionen-hessen.de/region/nordhessen/projekte/regiowoche-kassel

Contact:

Silke Flörke
Ecomodel-Region NORDHESSEN
Tel. 0172 5676428
E-mail: floerke.modellregion[at]uni-kassel[dot]de