Fostering the transition towards sustainable food

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This element of the Feed the City programme aims to informer the population about the types of diet recommended for both the environment and our health, while calling consumers’ habits in question. It also aims to apply the Sustainable Food Charter in the City of Geneva by limiting the environmental impact of the catering services under the aegis of the City. Finally, it wants to support agricultural production, distribution and processing initiatives promoting food that is more ecologically and socially sustainable across the territory.

Towards increasing consumer involvement

In recent decades, the agrifood industry has drastically changed the population’s dietary habits. On the one hand, the complexity of the food value chains has made production and processing conditions highly opaque, resulting in a growing lack of knowledge concerning the composition and origin of the food we eat. On the other hand, food know-how has been reduced while the time devoted to eating has restricted or, at the very least, altered the way we eat.

Against this backdrop and beyond the ecological and economic issues, health problems (pesticides, GMOs, food quality, etc.) and the question of the supply of nutrients necessary to ensuring the body functions correctly are once again in the spotlight. These concerns mark the return of increasing involvement of consumers, who advocate a new regulatory and ethical framework for food.

Focus on projects conducted or support by the Agenda 21 - Sustainable city department

• Geneva «Ville du Goût 2021»: an entire year dedicated to health eating and sustainable food;
• Sustainable food forum: meetings and events focussing on sustainable food and local agriculture, bringing together the local population, elected representatives and stakeholders of the food sector in Geneva;
• Vegetarian recipe book, distributed to all primary school children in the City of Geneva;
• «Beelong» environmental impact diagnostic in school canteens and nurseries;
• «Nourrir la Ville» Facebook page: page promoting projects linked to sustainable food in the City of Geneva and elsewhere.