FOODRUS, circular solutions for resilient food systems
FOODRUS is working to address food waste by building resilient food systems in nine European regions. To achieve this, the project will test 23 circular solutions through various forms of collaborative innovation, including: technological (blockchain solutions to manage food losses and waste), social (educational materials and citizen science activities to promote sustainable consumption habits), organizational (last mile networks to encourage local consumption and donation), and fiscal (new ‘Pay As You Throw’ schemes).
These innovative solutions will empower and engage all stakeholders in local food systems, from farmers to end consumers and everyone else, to build a multi-stakeholder partnership to address the challenge of food loss and waste.
FOODRUS will test these solutions at three demonstration sites: a Danish pilot focusing on meat and fish, a Slovak pilot analysing the bread value chain and an interregional Spanish pilot focusing on vegetables and prepared salads.
In Spain (the seventh country in the EU that wastes the most food), 80% of food waste is fresh fruit and vegetables. Almost a third of this food waste is generated in primary production, while households are responsible for almost a fifth.
This shows that there are many inefficiencies along the whole food value chain of fruit and vegetables. The Spanish pilot consists of an interregional demonstration covering the flow of food from the farms of Navarre to the waste containers of the Basque Country in the municipalities of Zamudio for subsequent composting. The pilot is based on working on the processing and consumption patterns of prepared salads in order to reduce food waste and loss along the value chain.The FOODRUS project has 27 partners from 10 different European countries and is coordinated by the University of Deusto
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