Our last day in Rotterdam was definitely a busy one! We started by visiting the world’s first-ever Floating Farm. This farm floats on the Merwe harbor, and houses cows, plants, and many practices used to create the cow’s food, water, and cheeses. During an introductory presentation, I learned that its owners are from New York and saw how Hurricane Sandy impacted the fresh food available in supermarkets. Many foods have a long supply chain from their production to their consumption by customers, meaning that when disasters like flooding occur, there are food shortages. The concept of the floating farm combats this by creating a food source in cities that don’t necessarily have the space for large farms on land. This means that the farm produces their goods near their customers and therefore, emit less carbon dioxide.
We got to hear a lot about the sustainable practices that the Floating Farm follows to ensure they are as environmentally friendly as possible. The farm has just under 30 cows and feeds them excess food from the city and filtered rainwater that is collected on their roof. I was most surprised to hear that in 2018, the Netherlands had 927 million kilograms of food that was wasted in 2018. This is such a large amount of waste, especially for a country that is considered to be very sustainable. It made me curious about how much food goes wasted in the United States annually. These are just a few of the ways that the farm practices sustainability.
After we learned a bit about how the farm works, we got to take a peek at some of the baby cows which are kept in a separate enclosure on land. We were initially supposed to enter the enclosure with all of their cows, but a machine was not working and something seemed to be going on, so we were unable to. We ended our time at the farm by taste-testing some goods in their gift shop. Some of my favorites I tried were the aged cheeses and the raspberry buttermilk.
Following our trip to the Floating Farm, we headed over to RDM, an old port harbor that was revamped into an innovative center for students and entrepreneurs. We had the opportunity to walk around their warehouse, which is now home to 2 universities that use it for their workshops, labs, projects, prototypes, and more. Not only do the students use RDM, but also many businesses can rent space to work on their projects. While we were there, we got to look at several companies that use the warehouse for their prototypes, projects, and manufacturing.
One company we saw that stood out to me was called Coastruction, which is a company using 3D printing to create artificial coral reefs using local materials. Their goal is to help restore damaged reefs and protect coastlines all over the world, and it was so neat to see what they were doing first-hand! We even got to see some of their employees working on the reefs as we walked by. What I found to be the best about RDM was the community that it creates. Both the businesses as well as the students can work with one another and share their knowledge and experience, and this can lead to more innovation, internships, and jobs!
Our busy day ended with our farewell dinner on a boat in Rotterdam! Here, we were able to reflect on our experiences and enjoy one last meal together before packing up and heading home tomorrow. I am so grateful for this trip, as it has given me so many incredible memories and friendships! I can say with certainty that this may have been my first time abroad, but it certainly won’t be my last. I am sad about leaving the Netherlands but am looking forward to seeing friends and family at home. Thank you for following along on my blog!