Environment minister launches plan for more vegetable gardens

Flanders’ environment and agriculture minister, Joke Schauvliege, has launched a healthy eating campaign aimed at encouraging people to cultivate vegetables in their own gardens. Healthy in Your Own Garden campaign provides advice on the right soil to grow vegetables, as well as tips on raising chickens.

Schauvliege said that the campaign responded to a growing awareness of the need for sustainable living and healthy eating, as well as a shift towards vegetable gardens, allotments and communal gardens. “Those who grow their own vegetables and fruit tend to eat more vegetables and fruit,” she said. Moreover, they tend to get more daily exercise by looking after vegetable plots.

The aim of the initiative is to ensure that the crops are grown in healthy soil by alerting people to areas where the soil or groundwater is polluted. The website provides people with information on the state of the local soil before they start planting.

It also provides advice on where to plant vegetables and fruit trees and what to feed chickens, as well as hints on preventing traffic pollution from harming home-grown food.