FUSIONS project examines the entire food chain

Up to now there has been insufficient specific data on food wastage in Europe both on a national as well as international level. Although the players in the food sector have many good approaches and concepts for increased sustainability, they hardly come together to form networks. The FUSIONS project is now set to change this.

The European Union is making available around 4 million Euro for the FUSIONS project in order to learn more about the background to food waste in Europe. FUSIONS is designed to bring together all the European players of relevance in the commitment to fighting food wastage. The project aims to offer a platform for all stakeholders along the food chain. On this platform innovative strategies for a more sustainable and efficient approach to food will then be discussed. FUSIONS is directed both at non-governmental organizations, consumer associations and scientists as well as manufacturers, retailers and service-providers from the food sector. The project managers in charge call it a “Multi-Stakeholder platform”.

Research association distributed across the whole of Europe
And they are located at the University of Wageningen. “A more efficient use of resources and a clear reduction in food waste in the food chain. These are the aims of the project”, is how the researchers at the Dutch University of Applied Science sum up the FUSIONS approach. The project manager in Wageningen is Toine Timmermanns. He and his team are coordinating the work of diverse research and funding organizations from all over Europe, which are tackling specific key areas within the framework of FUSIONS – ranging from the University of Bologna, through to the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) up to the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).

Collecting data, informing stakeholders
FUSIONS is aimed at networking – and collecting data, because there is still too little data on the theme of food wastage. For Germany and central Europe this task is being taken on by the German University of Hohenheim. The research institutes participating in FUSIONS are aiming “to gather among other things reliable data and sources of information”, according to the statement from Hohenheim. Klaus Hadwiger from the Hohenheimer FUSIONS Team goes on to add: “An initial step in the project will be to contact stakeholders, speak to them and inform them about FUSIONS.” The aim is also to draw attention to those initiatives already in place on the theme, according to Hadwiger.