The project Food4Inclusion/Healthy Meal aims to create a network of restaurants that will offer to the poorest segments of the population Healthy Meals at reduced prices on a given day of the week and to promote this practice throughout Europe.
Food4Inclusion / Healthy Meal
1 in 4 Europeans suffers from at least one form of poverty and 43 million Europeans cannot afford a quality meal every second day.
Current crises are leading many countries to face growing levels of severe food insecurity. With global poverty on the rise and inequalities exacerbated, notably by the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable households with reduced incomes across Europe are considered as primary victims. They are not able to cope with such surging retail prices and that leads to a reduction in the quality and quantity of the food purchased.
Disadvantaged groups should be able to access affordable and quality food. SAFE ‘s Food4Inclusion Project strives to make healthy diets accessible through ground projects such as food redistribution or healthy accessible meals in restaurants for people in need. SAFE is also advocating for better affordability of food products across Europe and for the social inclusion of at-risk and disadvantaged population groups.
The Food4Inclusion Project aims to generate a positive impact on European citizens, especially disadvantaged ones, by providing independent information, developing relevant training, and encouraging the adoption of a new legislation that will lead to a more inclusive food system.
Mains objectives of the Food4Inclusion Project:
1. EMPOWERING VULNERABLE CHILDREN THROUGH FOOD LITERACY
With the Food4Inclusion Project we aim to prevent exclusionary effects that can be anticipated, by constituting several best practises:
• promotion of an inclusive and well-adapted food system;
• children-destined nutrition education;
• the fostering of better access to healthy food.
Access to healthy diets is notably hampered by the lack of awareness and by the aggressive marketing of High Food Sugar or Salt (HFSS) products, especially children marketed products.
Increasing consumers’ understanding of nutrition, promoting healthier food and diets, and developing better access to information regarding food are key levers to foster sustainable and healthy food habits in consumers. It will pave the way to more social integration, decrease healthcare needs, and diminish direct effects of poverty for disadvantaged populations.
2. IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY TO FOOD FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE
Food loss and waste are reducing food access and availability across the EU and thus are critically undermining food security for disadvantaged people. The reduction of food waste along the supply chain, from production to consumption, is crucial to improve food security, while reducing pressure on natural resources.
Through its partnership with Happy Hours Market, SAFE works to promote redistribution of food surpluses to people in need, to improve food accessibility for the poorer. We also advocate for sustainable ways of producing, to reduce food loss and promote better processes of production in order to improve food security and accessibility.
Through Healthy Meal, SAFE wants to facilitate access and visibility of healthy food in restaurants, considering the importance that pricing plays in influencing the behaviour and choices of consumers. The goal of the project is to reduce the price of selected healthy products in partner restaurants to allow access to healthy meals for all. To develop Healthy Meals we call on actors of the food scene to offer healthy food at reduced prices on a given day of the week to the poorest segments of the population and to promote these practices across Europe.
For more information, you can visit the project website
