European food production is held to high standards and its food is generally considered to be safe, nutritious and of high quality. However, the current pace of the transition to a more sustainable food system is not fast enough to feed the fast-growing population by 2030. Moreover, current production processes result in air, water and soil pollution, threatening biodiversity and contributing to climate change. Besides this, food waste is still a major problem and excessive consumption leads to obesity and diseases such as cancer.

In addition to the aforementioned problems, food production systems are also responsible for approximately 29% of total GHG emissions. Furthermore, as the current situation demonstrates, sustainable and resilient food systems are imperative during pandemics. To battle these problems, the European Commission (EC) introduced the Farm to Fork strategy under the Green Deal call with a crystal clear strategy:

“Addressing the challenges and accelerating the transition to sustainable food systems, to ensure that the economic, social and environmental foundations of food and nutrition security are not compromised for current and future generations.”

H2020 – Green Deall call theme 6: Farm to Fork

Projects are required to test, pilot and demonstrate innovative systemic solutions (TRL 5-8) to one of the following challenges:

• Achieving climate neutral farms.
• Achieving climate neutral food business.
• Reducing the dependence on contentious pesticides and antibiotics.
• Reducing food losses and waste.
• Shifting to sustainable healthy diets, including among the most deprived and vulnerable groups.

Projects must go beyond technological solutions and should focus on systemic innovations whilst delivering on sustainability, increasing the resilience of food systems, and the production of safe, nutritious and affordable food produced in a safe space.

Expected impact

Test, pilot and demonstrate, across different geographical and sectoral contexts, innovative systemic solutions that lead to sustainable solutions for the above mentioned challenges.

It is also expected that there will be an improved understanding of:

• The potential to scale up and out these solutions by 2030 on an EU level.
• The enablers and barriers, including the behaviour and motivations of actors.
• The impact of these solutions on the three dimensions of sustainability (social/health, climate/environmental and economic).
• The impact on the capacity and resilience of food systems.
• The solutions’ impact on the objective of providing sufficient, safe, nutritious, and affordable food for all.
• Explain and quantify, using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), how the solutions will deliver on the expected impacts.

For whom and when?

Project proposals can be submitted by consortia consisting of SMEs, large companies and research institutes. A consortium must contain at least three legal entities, of which each must be established in a different European Union (EU) Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other.

As of yet, there is no exact deadline determined for submitting proposals. However, most likely the call will open in September 2020 and close by the end of January 2021.

Hezelburcht supports

Would you like to stay informed about the topics within the Green Deal call or about the Farm to Fork area in particular? Do you or your organisation have the ambition and desire to contribute to sustainable, safe and healthy food systems? Contact us and our specialists will examine whether your project will be eligible for subsidy.

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