Natascha Kooiman

Natascha Kooiman is a ‘new economy rebel lady’ with a foodish mission. She sees food as a leverage to achieve a more sustainable world and to combat the great challenges we face, like climate change and feeding the world. Thus she founded Smaackmakers; with this start-up social enterprise she aims on accelerating a more sustainable food system and food pattern, by inspiring people, companies and government and stresses the urgency of radical change. Her activities brought her to be one of the Sustainable Young 100 in the Netherlands, and she is awarded two times with the title Viva400 young influential woman.

With Smaackmakers she works on various projects, like lobbying for new rules and a new approach around sustainable food at government and companies; research into and advise towards caterers and restaurants; striving to more sustainable canteens and restaurants with advise, practical steps and workshops; inspiring presentations to groups and companies to show the need and possibility for change (e.g. Ted-x talk). Smaackmakers developed a practical tool with 8 ‘sustainable food’ principles which they use to help every sort of company, caterer, restaurant or consumer to more sustainable food choices. On the short run Smaackmakers is running pilots with several ministries and big caterers to change to catering. For the long term Smaackmakers aims at policy change and change of perception of our food system.

As a MultiStakeholder Advisory Committee Member of the Sustainable Food System Program of the United Nations, Smaackmakers emphasizes the importance of a blanced consumption of animal based proteins. As a partner of the International Corporate Social Responsibility Covenant on Sustainable Proteins, Smaackmakers works on a leap forg in developing countries and emerging markets towards sustainable protein consumption. Currently Smaackmakers also prepares a project of Sustainable Gastronomy in Western and Central American countries, and works on ongoing pilots in The Netherlands with i.a. the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, several provinces and caterers on more sustainable catering. Next to this Natascha is member of the Advisory Committee of the Expertise centre for Sustainable Business of AVANS and member of the Dutch Footprint Network.

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Lees de blog van Natascha tot stand gekomen in het kader van de Dialoog op Dinsdag op 9 juni 2020 over SDG’s 2 en 12 Beyond Corona.