Krijn Poppe. Photo: Harmen de Jong The mayor of Zuidplas, Poppe’s city of residence, bestowed the distinction on him this afternoon after the online farewell speech Krijn Poppe delivered. He noted that Poppe was a figurehead for WUR, and had a considerable influence on the development of agricultural policy for the Netherlands and Europe.
WUR organised farewell symposia on food policy in honour of Poppe and his colleague Ruerd Ruben, who have both retired. During the online symposia, key topics were the world food supply -Ruben’s speciality –and European food policy, an issue on which Poppe has advised regularly.
Poppe worked for the Agro-Economic Institute (Landbouw-Economisch Instituut – LEI) in The Hague for forty years. The institute’s current name is Wageningen Economic Research. He will continue as an active member of the Council for living environment and infrastructure after his retirement from WUR.
Open mind
Policymakers and NGOs commend his open mind. Poppe stated during his farewell symposium that the leftist and protest groups’ desire to increase the share of organic food to 25% is unwise if no additional measures are taken. ‘By simply increasing organic production without creating additional demand, the prices will drop, and you blow up the market. This is only an option if government regulations demand that all food produce contains 25% organic substances, similar to the bio-diesel that is added to our fuel.’
Read the interview with Krijn Poppe in Resource here.