A visit to the Urban Farm of Delhaize Boondael
A week ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the rooftop of Delhaize Boondael, a place often visited by private individuals, architects, real estate developers, schools, and more. I was curious about what was on this rooftop, so I set off to explore and discovered a 250m² vegetable garden. The project was initiated by Delhaizeheadquarters eight years ago and is maintained by Vestaculture as a subcontractor.
Raising awareness over KPIs
Their goal? To raise awareness among both adults and young people about local, healthy, sustainable, and pesticide-free food. They aim to help people fall in love with vegetables through education, visits, workshops, and tastings, which are frequently organized.
The garden showcases a wide variety of crops, essentially anything that can grow in Belgium: sweet potatoes, melons, aromatic herbs, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and more.
Technically, if profitability were the priority, the space would be used for optimized crop selection. However, the aim of this project is not double-digit growth or centrally imposed KPIs. The idea is to maintain an urban, educational farm that produces high-quality food in a sustainable way, to have a positive impact on Belgians’ health, promote human well-being, and create local jobs.
Raising awareness, but also encouraging action
Vestaculture follows the principles of permaculture, which means mimicking nature as closely as possible. For instance, in nature the soil is never bare and always diverse, just like in this garden. They also use natural pest control methods, such as releasing ladybug larvae to combat aphids for example.
Everything comes from heirloom seeds, meaning that if consumers collect the seeds from the produce, they can regrow the same vegetables and fruits at home. In this spirit, a plant sale featuring over 600 seedlings from the urban farm will be held on May 23, 24, and 25 in front of Delhaize Boondael, encouraging consumers to recreate a mini-garden at home and to eat healthy, Belgian-grown food.
A few figures and fun facts
Here are some interesting numbers about the project:
- 8 years of existence
- 360m² total space, with 250m² cultivated
- Continuous soil-based cultivation, without raised beds, to promote natural soil fertility
- Controlled use of rainwater
- 3 years of harvesting at 2 tons/year
- Produce stocked on shelves 3 times a week
For Anne Lefebvre, manager of Delhaize Boondael, this is a real asset for her store:
“Even if it may seem anecdotal compared to the volume of fruits and vegetables we sell, and even if it’s just a pilot project, it brings super high-quality produce to our shelves. As soon as we stock the shelves, they’re quickly emptied because customers rush to grab everything.
The educational aspect is also crucial, and Vestaculture manages that very well. The project is unique, and it helps people understand volume constraints, seasonal availability… I find it very important that we’re raising awareness among our customers about these issues.”
My Giorgi*
I’m completely impressed by this vegetable garden. It’s an initiative that’s ecological, educational, and incredibly local. It’s reassuring to see a supermarket so deeply invested in a sustainable and responsible approach. The fact that everything is grown without pesticides, with rainwater harvesting and permaculture techniques, adds even more charm to the fruit and vegetable section.
Author: Giorgi Sabanadze, under the watchful eye of 20/CENT
* My internship Cent/, My 20/Gio…? 20/CENT allowed me to say it: “you can say My Giorgi”
Photos : 20/CENT Retail et Vestaculture
Urban FarmingUrban Farm DelhaizeDelhaize Boondael