Reshaping food systems: value change transformation through reconnection (RESHAPE) of landscape ecologist Mario Torralba
Urbanization, specialization and the industrialization of telecoupled* food systems have disconnected people from their food, obscuring society’s recognition of humans as part of the natural world and eroding relational values. Social values shape the configuration of food systems at all levels, from farm to table: widespread disconnection from the social-ecological dynamics behind food is a critical barrier to transformative change towards sustainable and resilient food systems. Despite globalization, certain products and their value chains significantly shape territories, either exacerbating disconnection or offering opportunities for reconnection. RESHAPE aims to characterize the value chains of five food products in Europe –economically, socio-culturally, and from a governance perspective– to co-design and test innovative strategies that bridge the disconnection and thereby support transformational changes for sustainable and resilient future food systems. These food products will act as entry points into their associated food systems through five Living Labs (LLs) across Europe: berries and wild greens in Spain, Gouda cheese in the Netherlands, grass-fed meat in Denmark, and fish from artisanal fisheries in Turkey. These cases represent a diverse range of food systems: from localised to globalised value chains, across varied socio-economic, political and ecological contexts in western, southern, northern, and eastern Europe; with transformation approaches spanning from top-down policies to bottom-up fisher/farmer-led initiatives.
* the description of socio-economic and environmental interactions between geographically separated human and natural systems.
FutureFoodS Call 2024
This Call supports the development of sustainable, healthy, and safe diets and promotes the sustainable consumption and management of food systems in Europe. By providing new knowledge and insights, the Call helps governments, businesses, and citizens make significant changes to the food system. The vision of the FutureFoodS partnership is to collectively achieve environmentally friendly, socially safe and fair, economically viable, healthy, and secure food systems. The Call is expected to open for pre-submissions on November 6.
The goal of the FutureFoodS Call 2024 is to fund transnational research and innovation projects focused on the following Call topics:
1 The pathway to sustainable and resilient food systems.
2 New food – fostering innovations in food design, processing, and supply, driven by both demand and supply orientation.
3 Enabling sustainable food choices through environments and dietary changes.
About NWO and European partnerships
NWO participates in several European co-funded partnerships which are part of Horizon Europe (2021-2027), the European Commission’s program for research and innovation. The partnerships focus on complex societal challenges and aim at real impact. FutureFoodS is one of these partnerships.