NewTools - Developing tools for food system transformation, including food summary scores for nutrition and sustainability
Alternative title: NewTools, et prosjekt som skal utvikle verktøy for bedre kunnskap om ernæringskvaliteten, klima- og miljøpåvirkningen til maten vår.
In the NewTools project, actors in the Norwegian food system are collaborating to develop new knowledge on how to make food production and diets in Norway more sustainable. To become more sustainable, both production systems and food habits must change.
The overall goal of the project is to develop tools through broad cooperation that can contribute to transforming the food system in a sustainable direction, with a focus on systemic changes that can lead to lower environmental impact and improved public health.
NewTools will develop two scoring systems – one system indicating the nutritional value of food products and another for the environmental and social impact of food products. In addition, the project will explore possible uses of the scoring systems within the food system. Scoring systems for food have great potential to move the food system forward; for instance, they can be used as a basis for labelling schemes, product development, and policymaking. Another goal is to establish a platform for sharing data, methods, and knowledge.
The project will build on existing frameworks and algorithms to further develop the knowledge that has already been generated both nationally and internationally in this area. The scoring systems being developed are primarily intended to work well in a Norwegian and Nordic context, but there is also an aim to make them relevant within the EU/EEA. NewTools employs a systems approach and places great emphasis on addressing the entire value chain, from Norwegian primary production conditions to consumers, while striving for flexible results that can also be utilized by other countries. The project seeks to contribute knowledge, for instance, to the EU’s policymaking in the food sector, incorporating Norwegian perspectives and conditions.
To define indicators and develop food scoring systems, the various actors involved in the food system must work together. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health leads the NewTools project and is joined by six other institutions as research partners. The project has a total of 28 partners, including organizations from various positions in the food system, such as the food industry, authorities, independent interest organizations, and the research sector.
The NewTools project aims to facilitate transformation of the Norwegian food system by involving stakeholders representing all key parts of the food chain and providing tools for development and communication supporting the actual transdisciplinary workflow. It is a collaborative project aiming at 1) creating an efficient platform for sharing data, methods and knowledge; 2) collaborate to develop key indicators to be used as tools for transformating the food system. Main indicators will be summary scores for foods, one for nutritional value and one for sustainability, which can be used in a number of ways besides food labelling, guiding consumers to choose healthy and sustainable foods. Along with the indicators, the processes of working with and applying the scores can function as new tools e.g. for new food product development, improvement of existing products, public food procurement and political decisions. The project will build on, and facilitate the establishment of, a common understanding among a range of actors involved in desirable food system transformations, enabling processes of the type “farm to fork to farm”. It will provide reliable data and use quality-assured methodology to create a solid and lasting foundation for transformation work. An immediate application is as part of the Norwegian response to EU’s Farm to fork (F2F) initiative. F2F proposals include a food labelling framework that covers the nutritional, environmental and social aspects of food products. Constituting a consortium with broad representation, including research institutions, governmental agencies, production-, processing- and distribution actors, consumer representatives such as the Norwegian Consumer Council, retailers, labelling experts and NGOs, the knowledge created and shared will contribute to the tools needed for significant transformations towards a more resilient and sustainable food system.