Lecture Hans Haring on local food

This year's first Hans Haring Lecture will take place on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. The theme is Local Food - a topic that brings together health, sustainability, social cohesion and local economy. Starting at 7 p.m. in the Zoetermeer Library, the lecture will kick off a food movement that should eventually lead to a widely supported Food Vision 2040 for Zoetermeer.

A new perspective on local food

Our current food system is under pressure. It is insufficiently sustainable and contributes to ecological, economic, health and social problems. This is precisely why there is a need for a new vision - a transition - in which local food plays a key role. A vision of local food can connect multiple societal challenges: health, social cohesion, sustainability and local economy. Developing that vision requires a broad food movement in which farmers, residents, organizations and government work together. This movement can lay the foundation for a Zoetermeer Food Vision 2040.

The interactive lecture

This year's Hans Haring Lecture on the Sustainable City focuses on local food and marks the start of the Food Movement Zoetermeer. Miriam Offermans (National Food Council) talks about the national food movement and the role of municipalities in it, a representative from Rotterdam or Leiden shares practical experiences with local food policy, and a local speaker from Zoetermeer outlines how we can take the first steps here. These perspectives make for an enthusiastic and inspiring start to a broader movement in Zoetermeer.

About the Hans Haring Lectures

The Hans Haring Lecture honors Hans Haring (former Zoetermeer alderman and former board member of Stichting DuurSamen Zoetermeer). Haring closely followed developments around sustainability and had numerous ideas to make society greener and more future-proof. An annual lecture is organized in his memory; in 2025 there will be a triptych in collaboration with local partners:

  • Sept. 18 - Sustainable City: Local Food
  • Sept. 23 - Healthy City: Working together on health toward 2040
  • Oct. 1 - Social City: subtopic to follow.

Prelude to MoreZoeterMore - Oct. 11, 2025

The lectures are the public warm-up for MeerZoeterMeer (City Hall-Forum/Library). There everything comes together: inspiration market, workshops and activities around Social, Healthy and Sustainable - with the aim of enthusing residents and enabling practical steps at home, in the street, in the neighborhood or city.

Invitation

Everyone is welcome to attend the lecture and help think about the future of local food in Zoetermeer. Participation is free, registration is desirable.

  • Date: Thursday, September 18, 2025
  • Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
  • Location: Zoetermeer Library

More information and registration via the website of MZM DuursamenZoetermeer. 

Source: MZM DuursamenZoetermeer.