Herenboeren Lingezegen Grootstal

Herenboeren Lingezegen-Grootstal is a cooperative farm owned by about 300 households from around Arnhem and Nijmegen, which grows vegetables, potatoes, grain, fruit and herbs on two sites, one on the Grootstal estate in Malden and the other in Elst.

Farmers employed by the cooperative grow the crops without artificial fertiliser or chemical pesticides, with attention to soil health, biodiversity and the restoration of nature, and their website treats the organic rules as one starting point among several. The farm holds no organic certificate; what qualifies it here is that practice. At Grootstal it works about five hectares of the estate. There are no animals yet, so eggs and meat are planned for later.

There is nothing to buy here, because the members own the farm. Joining means paying a one-off contribution per household towards starting the farm, half for single-person households, and then a weekly contribution per person for running costs. In return members collect a weekly share of the harvest at the farm in season, mostly vegetables and fruit, with herbs, grain or potatoes as they come. The employed farmers do the basic work, and many members help on the land or in a working group.

Everything the farm produces is divided among the members rather than sold, and the farmers are salaried, with a fixed income.