'Using historic CPAS land for local food production'

Fien Vansevenant - Master of Urban and Spatial Planning, Ghent University (2020-2023) Urban designer, Arcadis (2024-)

With her master's thesis at Ghent University's Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Fien Vansevenant won the Flemish Future Proef Award last year. In her master's thesis, she examined how farmland belonging to the Public Center for Social Welfare (OCMW) could play a role in providing food for care facilities. The jury rewarded her for the holistic approach and strong points of view.

The Future Trial Award rewards final trials that are committed to sustainability. "Ghent's OCMW agricultural heritage has grown since the Middle Ages through the many gifts and donations for poor and elderly care. I investigated what role the historical lands of Ghent's OCMW could now play in providing food for nearby care facilities. That connection had been lost over the years."

Crucial role

"For hundreds of years, OCMW lands have been an important buffer for cities like Ghent in times of crisis, a crucial reserve of food or other raw materials, such as wood. But in recent years, public lands have been sold in an upward trend. Ghent also sold land, using the money to achieve social objectives. In the meantime, however, the city government has pushed the pause button for this. Because the sale means that the possibility of local food production disappears from view. The contemporary market value of the land seems to blind various authorities to the future value and the need for local and ecological food cultivation."

Future scenarios

"To find out what these pieces of farmland can mean for the future, I came up with some sustainable future scenarios in social and ecological terms. Thus, I offer reasons to preserve the lands. One of those future scenarios could be the development of a 'Care Farm,' a farm that serves elderly care."

Local food production

"Despite the fact that the elderly are more susceptible to malnutrition, figures show that this target group is often deficient in the provision of healthy food. On top of that comes the massive food waste that residential care facilities face today, due to strict food restrictions. This unfortunate confluence was the motive for care provider Zorgband Leie & Schelde (L&S) to participate in the exploration of a sustainable solution. Such as a community-forming food strategy, in which local farmers produce food for the elderly near care centers. AZ Zeno in Knokke is already showing that it can be done. This hospital has a standing arrangement with a local agroecological farmer. When I asked chief catering officer Pieter De Smet if such a collaboration would work on a larger scale, he enthusiastically said 'yes.'"

Complex situation

"The care landscape of Lys & Scheldt is very diverse, both in terms of infrastructure and community building. This offers numerous opportunities for the reinterpretation of the care landscape. Outsourcing care in a green environment, as an addition to regular care tasks, for example, can already open new doors. Urban centers and communities can help keep social connections within the neighborhood. In addition, the multitude of kitchen infrastructure offers opportunities to be creative with the distribution and processing of locally grown food. We also do not forget the importance of farmers, who manage the land. We want to encourage them to engage in agroecological farming."

"The construction of healthcare campuses implies the partial destruction of the surrounding landscape. Anchoring food production can help restore it. The fact that the umbrella organization for caregiving simultaneously owns the lands facilitates this. Remember that most of the lands were once donated to the organization precisely to support caregiving. Concrete agreements between farmers, care facilities and other stakeholders can create long-term, stable bulk production. The multitude of kitchen infrastructure offers several possibilities, such as a 'food library' of pre-packaged, frozen ingredients, along the lines of AZ Zeno."

Barriers

"I want to find out whether a different view of the land can spark a debate not to sell it and to consider alternative futures. There are a lot of barriers to overcome before Caregiving can become a success story, especially barriers on which L&S itself has little impact. That is why collaborations are crucial. AZ Zeno already made it clear that an enthusiastic cook and a motivated management and staff can bring about a lot of change."