Project summary

The Alps have a rich food heritage, diverse local producers and valuable natural resources. Yet fragmented value chains, food waste, globalised supply chains and unsustainable consumption prevent Alpine food systems from reaching their full potential.

Food4Alps addresses these challenges by connecting actors across the food system and supporting cooperation between public authorities, producers, institutional food providers, researchers and other practitioners.

The project develops and tests practical solutions in real-life settings, with a particular focus on institutional food providers such as schools, hospitals and care facilities. Activities include approaches to reduce food waste, strengthen sustainable public food procurement, improve cooperation between producers and public buyers, and support healthier and more sustainable food choices. The project also explores how environmental impact monitoring can help institutions make more informed decisions about their food services and procurement.

Through cross-border cooperation, capacity building and knowledge exchange, Food4Alps aims to turn local experience into solutions that can be applied and scaled across the Alpine region.

Results and impact

Food4Alps will deliver five key outputs:

• Whole Alpine Food Approach (WAFA): the WAFA approach will be developed and piloted in 30 institutional food providers (IFPs) across six Alpine countries, demonstrating how institutions can apply healthier and more sustainable food systems.
• WAFA Framework: a common framework for healthier and more sustainable food consumption in IFPs, providing a structured basis for applying the Whole Alpine Food Approach, will be developed.
• Food Waste Reduction & Food Surplus Redistribution Pilot: a pilot action implemented in 30 IFPs to test practical approaches for reducing food waste and increasing the redistribution of food surplus will be implemented.
• Reduce & Reuse Toolkit: a practical toolkit for IFPs, translating the experience and lessons from the food waste and surplus redistribution pilot into tools and guidance that can be applied beyond the pilot institutions will be drafted.
• Alpine Governance Recommendation Package: recommendations for decision-makers at different governance levels, including EUSALP, supporting resource-efficient and protein-diverse food systems will be issued.

Through these outputs, Food4Alps aims to contribute to more resource-efficient and resilient food systems, stronger regional food value chains, healthier and more sustainable food environments, and reduced food waste. The transnational approach enables partners to share knowledge and experience across the Alpine region, while targeted dissemination and policy work will connect the project results with stakeholders and decision-makers across sectors and governance levels. This will support the transfer and uptake of tested solutions beyond the 30 pilot institutions and contribute to wider systemic change.