FoodRUs: DEUSTO is coordinating a new Horizon 2020 project to prevent and reduce food loss and waste

The University of Deusto is coordinating a new Horizon 2020 project aiming to develop an innovative collaborative circular food system to reduce food waste and losses in the agri-food chain: FoodRUs. The project counts with the participation of 29 partners coming from 10 different EU countries and involves different types of organisation such as business, academia and research institutions.

In the project kick-off meeting, on 19 November 2020, Ainhoa Alonso (FoodRUs Principal Investigator of the University of Deusto) highlighted the high degree of interdisciplinarity both within the consortium team and at the University of Deusto. The project involves researchers from different research teams and Faculties of the University (Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Psychology and Education).

FoodRUs is fully aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular with SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production, as it seeks to create resilient local food systems in Europe, through circular solutions that prevent food losses and valorise waste. FoodRUs will test 23 circular solutions analysing agri-food value chains in three pilot regions: in Spain (vegetables and prepared salads chain), Denmark (meat and fish chain) and Slovakia (bread chain).

The project is expected to heavily impact not only on the food loss and waste system but also on the related socio-economic environment, through new regional strategies, business creation and poverty reduction. As outlined by Ainhoa Alonso “the proposed solutions will empower and engage all actors in the local food systems (from farm to end-consumers as well as public administration, waste managers, SMEs and financial bodies), creating community sense and building a multi-actor alliance to tackle the challenge of food loss and waste”.

For more information about FoodRUs, please consult this page or the project's social media (Linkedin and Twitter).

The FoodRUs project has received funding form the European's Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement nº101000617