FoodTrails

This four-year EU-funded Horizon 2020 project aims to compile valuable evidence that policymakers can leverage to shape urban food policies. The initiative will pave the way for the establishment of a network of pilot projects across Europe, accompanied by Living Labs in each city, which drive transformative changes in our food systems.

Slow Food participates in the project, which involves 11 European cities, aiming to reimagine, develop, and implement sustainable, healthy, and inclusive food policies. Slow Food’s role is to support cities in ensuring inclusive participatory processes and community empowerment.

The Context

Europe is starting to realize the profound impact of food on all aspects of life — social, economic and environmental. In response to this, Food Trails seeks to put cities front and center cities in the transformation of our food systems.

Food Trails will empower cities to reimagine, develop and implement sustainable, healthy and inclusive food policies. It aims to translate the shared vision and collective commitment to integrated urban food policies outlined in the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.

Each partner city runs a pilot project, a “Living Lab“, a space for work, dialogue and collaboration to foster innovation, connect local key stakeholders and collect evidence to support urban policy change in food.

Living Labs seek to co-design and co-implement food actions integrated with other local sectoral work and aligned with the Farm to Fork EU Strategy and the priorities of EU-FOOD 2030 Policy: nutrition, climate, circularity and innovation.
Main Goals
The main goals of the project are:
- Carry out a comprehensive mapping of our exisisting knowledge on urban food systems;
- Launch 11 food policies in as many European cities, through participatory Living labs, specific pilots and policy making processes;
- Develop solid advocacy action towards European, national and local institutions on the role of cities in the transformation of urban food systems;
- Create space for debate among impact financing actors and cities on the economic sustainability of food policies;
- Share the results and learning process of FOOD TRAILS partner cities among the Eurocities Working Group Food throughout the four years of the project;
- Promote the systemic framework of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact among cities committed to improving their food systems
The Partnership
The project is rooted in the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), an international mayoral committment. The consortium of partners is as follows:
- Municipality of Bergamo
- Municipality of Birmingham
- Municipality of Bordeaux
- Municipality of Copenhagen
- Municipality of Funchal
- Municipality of Grenoble
- Municipality of Groningen
- Municipality of Milan
- Municipality of Thessaloniki
- Municipality of Tirana
- Municipality of Warsaw
- Fondazione Milano Politecnico
- Eurocities
- Slow Food
- EAT Fondation
- Cardiff Univeristy
- Wageningen Economic Research
- Roskilde University
- Cariplo Factory