Adema succeeded Henk Staghouwer as Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in October this year. A task that he did not want to take on right away. “I thought this was a question I should never have asked myself. I once said that Segers (party president of ChristenUnie, ed) was the most horrible man walking around in Holland because he had asked me to become a minister. But now that I have this position and work with farmers, and given the trust in the agricultural agreement, it is also a gift.’
Faith
The fact that he succeeded Staghouwer seemed to Adema an “assignment and a task”, and this also has to do with his faith. “That plays a big part in my life and it’s also given it an extra dimension.”
According to Adema, he faces an important task. ‘Our fishermen and farmers are committed to our food system, they produce a sustainable food product and this is extremely important for the Netherlands, Europe and the world. I am proud to be able to do my job for these manufacturers.’ But a lot is needed to be able to fulfill this task, thinks de Fries (1964). “It is important that we sit down together again to look into the future together.” The agriculture agreement should help in this, he thinks, to “give farmers and fishermen a sustainable future”.
Solutions
After a year of stagnation in the agricultural sector, 2023 should be the year of solutions for Adema. ‘For PAS notifiers who are now insecure about permits, for companies who want to quit with a good regime and for the agricultural pact which should give the agricultural sector a future’.
That future must start now, or rather after the Christmas break. There will be no meeting in the House of Representatives for the next three weeks. During that break, Adema will mainly want to “relax, be able to reflect”. This includes a visit to the church, not with Segers but with his wife. ‘Together we are members of a local church where we are surrounded by loving people who support us, pray for us. We’re here every Sunday morning, that is, going home with a capital T and we’ll do the same for Christmas.’