The tourists who visit Texel are not picky about the food they eat. The citizens of Texel are the ones who basically pick the types of food that they want. Referring to the article posted under the ‘Food and More’ sub-system – ‘Data on population of Texel’ we can gather that the population distribution of Texel is almost the same as that of the entirety of Netherlands. Given this, we can now assume that the people of Texel would like to consume the similar foods as that of the mainland.
Referring to the article ‘Food consumption of Dutch person per day’ we can see that non-alcoholic beverages are the maximum consumed, almost 1660g per person per day. Dairy Products is 2nd with, almost 380g per person per day. While legumes is the least consumed, almost 3g per person per day.
After referring to this data it makes sense to shift Texel’s primary focus into improving these areas. ‘Non-alcoholic beverages’ is a large group, which comprises of Tea, Coffee, soft drinks, juices etc. Producing these in Texel is not feasible as there are constraints with the weather and area. However, ‘Dairy Products’ which ranks 2nd is a feasible sector to improve. Since, Texel has a lot of sheep introduction of sheep’s milk, cheese etc. into the diet of locals should be implemented. The potatoes which are growing in salty water conditions by ‘Marc Van Rijsselberghe’ can be shown as a success story to motivate individuals.
Growing Cash Crop
Even the addition of cash crops to Texel’s farm lands will be a way to shift mind-set to a more agro based economy. Possible crops are potatoes and sesame seeds. There is a high demand for potatoes in Eastern Europe and sesame seeds in Asia. However this is ambitious, because producing to export a crop will require a lot of land area and support from the government with subsidies and protective policies.
Using Media
Success stories can be shown to people on a local Texel news channel. Programs depicting healthy eating should be emphasised and negative effects of unhealthy foods should be highlighted. Mentioning of people who opted for a change in lifestyle on media/social media can also be done, to inspire others.
Annual Texel Fair
Workshops & competitions must be conducted in “The annual Texel Fair”, a fair where successful sustainable experts can give their opinions and answer queries that individuals have. Here, benefits of working as a unit and a self-sustaining island must be stressed upon. Multiple fun competitions can also be a part of this fair. Different competitions must be present to let people showcase their new innovations on farming or cooking. The best of the lot can be chosen as the winner.
The ideas mentioned above may sound silly, but if they are improved the people of Texel might accept these ideas and make the switch to local eating. Another tip could be to make these locally grown crops/meat cost lesser (government subsidy) than the ones available in the supermarket. This would spark a new interest in trying out these foods.
REFERENCES
- http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216189/icode/
- http://www.being-here.net/page/6242/saline-argiculture-by-marc-van-rijsselberghe
- http://www.being-here.net/page/6691/data-on-population-of-texel
