Dutch Families Join 'people's Farm' To Counter Climate Change

Boxtel, Netherlands, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Aug, 2019 ) :Chickens roam the orchards, cows chew the cud and pigs roll in the mud on a warm day on a Dutch farm -- but the pastoral scene is not as traditional as it seems.

The farm is owned and run by a cooperative of hundreds of local consumers and aims to change habits in a low-lying country engaged in an existential fight against climate change.

Some 200 families decide what the farm will produce -- and they will eventually eat -- and employ a farmer to tend to the animals for meat and eggs and grow the dozen kinds of fruits and vegetables.

"The main aim of the members is to eat natural products, produced near to where they live, in a more sustainable way," said Douwe Korting, co-leader of the Boxtel cooperative, in the southern Netherlands.

"People are really starting to see that a change towards a different way of eating is essential," he added.

It costs 2,000 Euros ($2,200) to join the collective farm, which is 10 minutes by bicycle from the town, and then a weekly fee of around 10 euros per person.

In return, members receive the food they want and stress the importance of knowing what they eat is local and seasonal.