Pilot Regions

The Organic Model Region (Bio-Musterregion) Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart is a project of the Ludwigsburg district in cooperation with the state capital Stuttgart and the Agricultural Training Association (Verein Landwirtschaftliche Fachbildung e. V. ), which is affiliated with the agriculture department of the Ludwigsburg administrative district office. The Organic Model Region has been operating since February 2020 and is funded by the Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection until January 2026. One of the main tasks of the Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart Organic Model Region is to establish new marketing channels and networks. The regional management team has links to various parts of the value chain, from agriculture to communal catering. It also aims to establish interfaces between consumers and producers. The organic model region of Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart is pursuing both of these goals in collaboration with the Mittlerer Neckar Nutrition Centre, which is dedicated to educating consumers, educators, teachers and multipliers about nutrition.

In North Hesse, the Centre for Organic Farming (ZÖL) has taken on the management of the Organic Model Region (Ökomodell-Region) North Hesse project for the Kassel and Werra-Meissner districts since September 2015. The city of Kassel also joined the first Organic Model Region in Hesse in 2020. Almost all neighbouring districts are also Organic Model Regions and are cooperating. Funding will be provided by the state of Hesse until the end of 2025. The project, which networks agricultural businesses in the region with partners in processing and marketing, is also supported by the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences (Fachbereich Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften) at the University of Kassel. One important goal is to establish organic regional food in communal catering. Several projects have already been carried out and contacts established to this end. In both districts, directories named ‘Regionale Entdeckungen’ (Regional Discoveries) are regularly updated, listing both producers (organic and conventional) and some processors. In the district of Kassel, it is mostly cropland that is farmed organically. At the end of 2021, 10.3 % of agricultural land was under organic management. In the Werra-Meissner district, which is characterised more by pastoral land, the share of organic land was 14.3 %. Particularly noteworthy is the large number of collectives in northern Hesse that practice community-based agriculture.