Through participative governance models, including a food policy council, Ghent’s food policy has evolved from a range of small-scale initiatives to enable widespread structural change to the city’s food system. The policy called “Ghent en Garde” aims to strengthen short food supply chains, increase sustainable production and consumption, while also allowing for better access to food and decreasing food waste. 

Our current food system faces complex challenges. While 800 million people worldwide are left without enough food, it is estimated that around 30% of food globally is wasted. At the same time, agriculture and food systems are responsible for up to one third of total greenhouse gas emissions.

It is in this context that cities become increasingly important in reducing the emissions associated with food production, while making sure their population has secure access to sustainable, healthy, and affordable food.

Ghent en Garde tackles different challenges through tailor-made responses. Local food is booming through the establishment of suburban farmers markets and a new logistics platform for professional buyers. The city also launched a new distribution platform that redistributed over 1,000 tonnes of surplus food over the past two years to over 57,000 people in need, while the city has connected 120 stakeholders to improve access to sustainable and healthy food.

Since 2014, over 42 schools have received training in how to develop community garden beds on their campuses, with over 240 parents and teachers having participated in these workshops.

Another initiative, the introduction of “Thursday Veggie Day,” has significantly changed the eating habits of local residents – now, around 7% of residents in Ghent are vegetarian, compared with the Belgian average of 2.3%. Ghent was the first city in the world to introduce a vegetarian day.

Over a two-year period, Ghent en Garde’s programs provided products or food baskets to 57,000 people in need. Ghent has also become the city with the most vegetarian restaurants per capita in all of Europe.

Ghent is also a strategic partner of the RUAF Foundation, which is a global partnership on sustainable urban agriculture and food systems. Through the RUAF partnership, Ghent has exchanged in-depth information about their food policy with other cities and countries including Toronto, Nairobi, Quito, Milan, Lisbon, China, and Sri Lanka.

The city’s local version of a doggy bag has been widely replicated in the Brussels and Walloon region and in the cities of Kortrijk, Roeselare, and Overijse, which cover more than half of Belgium. Ghent en Garde has shown how one city can make a big impact when it comes to fostering a more sustainable lifestyle.

Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash