Solawi Crowdsalat: Rethinking agriculture together

The Solawi Crowdsalat logo
© Solawi Crowdsalat

How can we ensure that food is produced locally and organised collectively? This question had been on Sophie Löbbering’s mind ever since she was studying food and nutrition. Together with her husband Sebastian, they turned the idea into reality and founded the Solawi Crowdsalat in the Münsterland region in August 2021. Today, the Welterhof is far more than just a vegetable farm – it is a place for community, education and new ideas. Their founder’s story explains how this vision evolved into a thriving community project.

  • Sustainable agriculture
  • 85 households
  • Dülmen
Sophie and Sebastian Löbbering growing vegetables.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
Welcome to the Welterhof.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
Sebastian Löbbering doing fieldwork.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
Fresh vegetables at the Welterhof.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
The founders of Solawi Crowdsalat with the team from the ‘Grünes Gründen Münsterland’ project
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
Working together in the vegetable patch.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
The Solawi Crowdsalat group enjoying a meal together.
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
1
AN IDEA BECOMES A SOLAWI

Sophie first learnt about the concept of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) whilst she was still a student. She was particularly impressed by the combination of community-based organisation, regional vegetable growing and a mindful approach to food. Sebastian contributed his experience as a civil engineer. They were both united by a desire not just to consider environmental issues in theory, but to put them into practice in their own project.

Together with other committed individuals from the climate protection initiatives in Dülmen and Coesfeld, the idea eventually emerged to set up their own community-supported agriculture scheme in the Münsterland region. Whilst searching for a suitable location, they found the Welterhof in Dülmen, which is now home to the Crowdsalat community-supported agriculture scheme.

2
RETHINKING AGRICULTURE TOGETHER

Community-supported agriculture works differently from traditional farming. Members collectively fund vegetable cultivation for an entire season and then share the harvest. In this way, both the returns and the risks are borne collectively.

For Sebastian, the community-supported agriculture scheme is therefore far more than just a vegetable farm: “We’re rethinking economics and ecology in agriculture. At the same time, we want to bring people together, provide educational support and play an active role in environmental and nature conservation. That’s important to us.”

Today, the community-supported agriculture scheme supplies 85 households with regional organic vegetables. At the same time, around 280 families are involved in the charitable association. Alongside vegetable growing , educational programmes, workshops, events and environmental and nature conservation projects are an integral part of the concept. Furthermore, the Solawi collaborates with other farms in the region – for example, on potato cultivation or egg marketing – thereby building a regional network centred on agriculture and food.

3
MORE THAN JUST A VEGETABLE FARM

The Welterhof has long since become a meeting place. Every Friday, members get together to collect their vegetables and chat. Through workshops, hands-on activities and events centred on food, nature, agriculture and community, experiences are shared and knowledge is passed on.
Sophie describes this special moment as follows: “It’s not just a case of popping into the supermarket and popping back out again, but rather ‘I come here to see you’.” It is precisely this sense of togetherness that defines the Solawi Crowdsalat for so many people.

4
STARTING A BUSINESS TOGETHER MEANS OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Setting up a new farming business is anything but straightforward. Finding land, securing funding, recruiting skilled staff and overcoming bureaucratic hurdles – all of these were part of the initial steps. On top of that, the concept of community-supported agriculture was still largely unknown in many places and had to be explained at the outset.

Whilst Sophie and Sebastian were able to draw on their experience in community building, marketing and organisational development, they had to work together with others to develop the skills required for professional vegetable growing. This was precisely where one of their greatest strengths lay: within the co-operative, everyone contributed their own skills – ranging from horticulture and craftsmanship to communication, event organisation and sustainability.

5
SUPPORT FROM THE REGION AND BEYOND

Along the way, Sophie and Sebastian made use of various support schemes. They consulted with the business development agency and regional funding partners such as the Sparkasse, found out about the start-up grant and initially received LEADER funding, which was followed by further programmes. However, they had to actively seek out many of these opportunities themselves, as there were initially few suitable points of contact for their specific concept.

Networking with other community-supported agriculture schemes across Germany was particularly important. Even before setting up their business, Sophie and Sebastian were part of this network and benefited from advice, personal contacts and the experiences of other community-supported agriculture schemes. Rather than competition, they encountered an open culture of sharing, in which knowledge, documents and practical solutions were passed on as a matter of course – an approach they themselves continue to practise to this day.

6
WHAT YOU WOULD ADVISE OTHER FEMALE AND MALE FOUNDERS

Looking back on setting up their business, Sophie and Sebastian therefore offer a piece of advice that has stayed with them to this day: “Network.” They say that open dialogue with others has opened many doors for them and, for example, helped them to adopt start-up documents, draw on others’ experiences and utilise practical solutions for setting up the Solawi, rather than having to develop everything from scratch.

And what if things do get difficult? Then Sophie’s most important lesson applies: “Stay calm – many challenges seem bigger at the start than they actually turn out to be.”

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Photo shoot at Urbanhive
© Münsterland e.V. / Philipp Fölting
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