Dutch town bids to be food research Mecca

Date: 26/02/04

THE Netherlands hopes to host a 'Silicon Valley' of food research and innovation clustered around the town of Wageningen and its university, renowned as a leading institution in the area of agrifood and life sciences research.

The adjacent city of Ede and the Gelderland Valley "boast a remarkable density of high tech food and agricultural businesses", the university stresses, making the area a logical choice for the fledgling Food Valley project to which more than a dozen companies have already signed up.

The university, businesses and local officials hope Food Valley will revitalize the region and acquire cutting-edge research in the sector, by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, creating spin-off companies, developing facilities such as 'incubators' and science parks and setting up networks of science and business.

The project will be given a head-start by the Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences, an alliance of major Dutch-based transnational food producers, including Unilever, DSM, Campina Dairy and Avebe and leading research institutions in the area of food-related sciences.

Meanwhile, funding for food-connected research is on the rise in Europe, with the Commission touting a 'fork-to-farm' approach that seeks to turn the traditional 'farm-to-fork' axiom on its head by using the consumer as the starting point to explore health and safety issues. Such research over the last framework programme (FP5) spanning the period 1999-2002 comprised 45 projects on food safety with an EU contribution of €57.7 million and 56 projects on nutrition with a contribution of €110.5 million.

While the original budget for food safety and nutrition research in the subsequent Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), which runs through 2006, was €685 million, it will probably reach €800 million, according to Commission estimates.

The Dutch towns of Wageningen and Ede, and the Gelderland Valley have a 'remarkable density of high tech food and agricultural businesses'. The area was the natural choice for the Food Valley project which will provide research into the sector and foster entrepreneurship and innovation.