Under the guidance of EIT Food, a group of innovators aged 18-24 – dubbed the ‘FutureFoodMakers’ – have developed a ‘Menu for Change’ to spearhead radical transformation of the food system.
The Menu for Change manifesto was presented to policymakers during the Future of Food Conference, featuring six priority demands for a more sustainable, regenerative, affordable, inclusive system which improves public access to healthy food.
In order for the next generation to ‘inherit a future-fit food system’, the Menu for Change challenges food sector stakeholders to:
- Target 25% of EU agricultural land to be managed under regenerative practices by 2030
- Define uniform EU nutrition and labelling guidelines which are accessible and include the environmental impact of food
- Develop an inclusion policy which considers the effects of regulations on food costs among vulnerable populations
- Develop an EU-wide ‘true cost of food’ policy, mandating the calculation of the true cost of foods produced by medium-large corporations/multinationals through life cycle analysis and impact assessments
- Tackle food waste in supermarkets and through the development of the Bioeconomy strategy
- Include the nutritional, health and environmental implications of food in school curriculums, as well as provide support and resources for parents and teachers on healthy, sustainable diets.
The manifesto comes off the back of EIT research spanning 2,000 18-24-year-olds which shows that 78% of young people believe urgent steps must be taken towards a more sustainable food system; 66% feel that our current food system is ‘destroying the planet’; and 65% believe Gen Z cares more than older generations.
Júlia Montoliu Boneu, FutureFoodMaker, comments: “We – the next generation of leaders, decision makers and consumers – deserve a voice about these changes and what our future food system should look like. It is time for young people to be heard.
“The Menu for Change puts forward our views on how the agrifood decision makers of today should be working to secure our food, our food system and our future. Underpinning this is the universal need for social justice and inclusion. Transitioning to a … more resilient European food system requires urgent change and innovation across the food value chain. We must ensure no one is left behind and everyone’s voice is heard.”
