Gent en Garde - Sustainable Food Strategy of Ghent
About this good practice
Gent En Garde is the food strategy of the city of Ghent. It focuses on a short and sustainable food chain, for everyone, without losses or waste. The Food Council (30 representatives from the agricultural sector, distribution and trade, restaurants, civil society and knowledge institutions) has different ways to achieve these goals; one of them is a set of grants that are being allocated to innovative projects that make the food system more sustainable. The Food Council has an annual budget of 60.000 euros; every project that answers to the criteria, gets a piece of the cake. So far, 27 projects have been funded by Gent en Garde.
All of these projects funded by the Food Council contribute to the SDGs in different ways ànd make sure that the goals of the strategy (Gent En Garde) are achieved: examples are a B2B short chain distribution platform, guidance for consumers to grow their own vegetable garden, project on the protein shift, sustainable and healthy school lunches, food waste reduction...
All the organisations receiving funding by the Food Council are united within a network. Because they all start from the same principle, it is a very high-quality network. The Food Council organises inspiration and networking events for them, tackling relevant topics to seek possible collaborations between those organisations.
Resources needed
For all Gent En Garde activities:
4 fte – 5 people (staff costs)
€60,000 subsidies for companies and SMEs
€45,000 euros operational budget (communication, events, venue rental, outsourced research, etc.)
Evidence of success
To date, 27 projects have received a subsidy (amounts between 1,000 and 60,000 euros). These are all Ghent projects that specifically work on sustainability in the food sector.
Potential for learning or transfer
To start with, it is important that cities (and by extension also regions) recognize the importance of a food strategy. This can start small, by bringing together everyone who is involved in nutrition in a certain way. It is not necessary to reinvent what already exists, so you can better work together in this.
Moreover, it is interesting to see the food strategy from a sustainability perspective (be careful that this effect is not absorbed by pure sustainability themes such as alternative energy sources, etc.).
When consumers think about sustainability, they do not immediately make the link with food. The impact of a sustainable food strategy is not (yet) clearly defined, which means that it is not yet clear to consumers, but also often to professionals, how they can contribute to sustainability in the field of nutrition. So there is still a lot of awareness work to be done.
