Louis De Jaeger
22 Feb 2025
Children spend at least 12 years of their lives in school, but their breaks are often spent on a bare, concrete playground.
Children spend at least 12 years of their lives in school, but their breaks are often spent on a bare, concrete playground. Landscape architect and entrepreneur Louis De Jaeger wants to change that and advocates for free food forests in every school.
A playground full of edible surprises
Imagine: children picking berries, fruits, nuts, and edible leaves as a healthy snack during playtime. Not a utopia, but a perfectly feasible concept. A food forest offers not only a fun and natural play environment but also an invaluable educational experience. Even a few square meters can foster a surprisingly diverse and productive ecosystem.
Why a food forest?
A food forest operates on the same principles as a forest edge, but with one crucial difference: everything is edible. Just like in a natural forest, different layers of vegetation grow, ensuring there's something to harvest throughout the growing season. "I recently gave a tour of the Royal Palace, and an entire class of children didn't know what a nettle was, let alone that it was edible. That shouldn't be allowed," says De Jaeger.
Schools have no budget, entrepreneurs can help
The initiator launched a video contest. The winning school, GBS De Zonnebloem in Ardooie, received a free food forest on Saturday, February 22, 2025. With this campaign, he hopes to inspire entrepreneurs and sponsors to create food forests in their own communities. "It's not expensive, it's not difficult, you just have to do it. The problem is that schools don't have a cent to spare. That's why we need enterprising people."
Planting together, enjoying together
By creating the food forest together with students and parents, a sense of ownership is created. De Jaeger recalls his own childhood:
My fondest memories of primary school are of growing under and around the only bush in the playground. My dream is that every child in Belgium can experience the bounty of picking and enjoying raspberries, chestnuts, strawberries, figs, and much more.
Register your own school
We've created an online platform where you can register your own school. Already have a food forest? Fantastic! You can inspire others. Want one? Be sure to register it, and you can use this page to share with others interested in realizing your food forest dream.