Funding topic 2: Sustainable nutrition and sustainable food handling

The basis of sustainable nutrition is resource-conserving and animal-friendly methods of production, processing and provision of food, as well as increased consumer awareness of the environmental and climate protection effectiveness of food choices. Crop production and animal husbandry are still often associated with negative impacts, especially on soil, biodiversity, water and air quality.

The funding aims to reduce environmental impacts at the various stages of the food value chain (e.g. processing, trade), including primary agricultural production. Another urgent problem is avoidable food losses, which occur on a significant scale along the food value chain and especially during consumption. In reducing these losses, all parties involved in the process, but especially consumers, have a great responsibility. Better knowledge of sustainable food production, manufacturing, marketing, storage and preparation is needed. The competencies of all those involved in the process must be strengthened in terms of sustainable nutrition and behavioral alternatives must be created. Product- and process-related information on sustainability that is made accessible to consumers in an understandable form can make an important contribution to this.

Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to:

• resource-conserving and animal-friendly concepts for environmentally sound food production;
• energy-saving and loss-reducing processes along the food value chain (e.g. production, manufacturing, marketing, processing, storage, transport);
• Projects to prevent food loss and waste in food retailing and among private and bulk consumers (purchasing, handling of shelf-life information, storage and processing);
• Approaches to process- and product-specific sustainability assessment in the food industry and communication of sustainability information along the value chain to the consumer;
• Teaching decision-making and action skills in nutrition and the sustainable use of food, with a special focus on children and young people;
• Research, development and practical introduction of processes and products for environmentally compatible plant protection, especially in organic farming.

Project examples from this funding topic:

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