This proof of concept (PoC) designed, tested and validated SHARE IT SOLUTIONS (SIS); the first sustainability impact assessment (SIA) platform and consultancy service for the food sharing economy. By improving and simplifying data collection processes, developing novel methods for aggregating and predicting impacts, and creating impact dissemination pathways, the PoC provided evidence-based accounts of the contribution Food Sharing Initiatives (FSIs) and key supporting organisations - local governments and food retailers - are making to the achievement of the global Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). SIS will drive awareness, policy innovation and business inventiveness, supporting transitions towards a more sustainable food system.
The ERC project SHARECITY (Grant no: 646883) has demonstrated that FSIs, from community growing and cooking to surplus food redistribution, have the potential to help transform food systems onto more sustainable pathways and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by: reducing hunger (SDG 2); reducing food waste (SDG 12); supporting biodiversity, and making cities and communities more sustainable (SDG 11), as well as bolstering food resilience. Governments, both national and sub-national, are facing increasing pressures to deliver the SDGs by 2030, with a recent FAO report (2021) making an urgent call for more and better data if targets related to food are to be met. Customers and governments are also demanding that food retailers be more sustainable, particularly in terms of reducing their food waste through donating surplus food. In particular, FSIs, local governments and food retailers all suffer from limited data collection and reporting on the impacts of food sharing activities they support:
• FSIs struggle to compete for grants, advocate for their needs and raise awareness about their value among local governments and food retailers without SIA data;
• Local governments struggle to understand and demonstrate the local progress towards sustainability commitments achieved by FSIs in their jurisdiction and how to make informed, effective policy and funding decisions to increase this progress;
• Food retailers struggle to improve their sustainability and corporate social responsibility activities in the face of increasing government and market demand for sustainable business practices without SIA data
