Open Food Lab

How can we co-create a collaborative ecosystem that accelerates the transition to a regenerative and equitable food future, one that nourishes people, communities, and the planet?

#foodsystems #sustainability #innovation #collaboration

Open Food Lab is an incubator for people, projects, and organizations dedicated to shaping the future of food. We provide a nurturing environment for forward-thinking initiatives committed to making significant, sustainable, and equitable changes in our global and local food landscapes.

openfoodlab.com

Overview
Challenge
Intervention
Evolution
Resources
Team & Partners
Get Involved
Contact

Overview

In an era of unprecedented challenges, the global food system is at a critical crossroads. Open Food Lab offers a decentralized platform for collaboration and innovation, moving beyond isolated efforts to foster collective action.

Our mission is to support visionary projects and organizations aiming to revolutionize food's future. By connecting diverse stakeholders and providing essential resources, we dismantle the barriers of fragmentation and inaction that hinder progress.

A dynamic incubator and collaborative platform that provides infrastructure, resources, and networks to kickstart transformative food innovation projects.

Challenge

Fragmented Systems & Hidden Costs

The journey of food from farm to table is complex, opaque, and fraught with systemic inefficiencies. While the global food system has achieved incredible feats of production, it has done so at a significant environmental and social cost. The core challenge is the deep fragmentation between producers, consumers, policymakers, and innovators, which prevents holistic, system-level solutions from taking root.

This analysis of the interconnected barriers facing our food system forms the essential foundation upon which Open Food Lab is designed.

Key Challenge Areas

Unsustainable Production at Scale

The dominant models of food production are leading to critical issues like land degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and high greenhouse gas emissions, creating a system that is fundamentally at odds with planetary health.

Widespread and Systemic Food Waste

From farm to fork, an enormous percentage of edible food is lost or disposed of. This represents not only a moral failure but also a squandering of the land, water, energy, and labor used to produce it.

Gaps in Public Food Knowledge

A growing disconnect between people and their food sources makes it difficult for individuals to make informed, ethical, and health-conscious choices. This lack of food education undermines public health and the demand for sustainable alternatives.

Barriers to Healthy and Equitable Diets

Access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food remains a major challenge for billions. Market forces and logistical hurdles often make unhealthy diets the default, rather than the exception.

Systemic Nature

This is not simply a series of individual problems; it is a systemic issue born from misaligned incentives and a lack of shared infrastructure. To understand the root causes, we analyzed the problem across three interconnected levels.

This reveals a top-down cascade of friction. Global economic and policy structures (Macro) dictate the rules for national industries and supply chains (Meso). These industrial systems, in turn, shape the choices and behaviors available at the Micro level—for both consumers and producers.

The result is a fundamental mismatch where farmers are pressured into unsustainable practices to remain competitive, and consumers are presented with choices that obscure the true cost of their food. This reinforces a harmful cycle of degradation and inefficiency, where the incentive for transformative change is stifled.

Below is a detailed breakdown of these drivers at each level.

Micro ^{(Individual & Community)}

Consumer Choice Limitation Individual purchasing decisions are heavily constrained by local availability, affordability, and marketing, making sustainable or ethical choices a privilege rather than a norm.

Producer Economic Pressure Farmers and small-scale producers often face immense financial pressure to maximize yield through conventional methods, even if they are aware of the long-term environmental consequences.

Loss of Food Literacy A decline in practical knowledge about food cultivation, preparation, and preservation at the community level leads to greater reliance on industrialized food products.
Information Asymmetry Consumers lack transparent information about where their food comes from, how it was produced, and its true nutritional and environmental impact.

Meso ^{(Industry & Institutions)}

Optimized-for-Efficiency Supply Chains Modern supply chains are built for scale and low cost, not for resilience, nutritional value, or sustainability, leading to long-distance transport and high levels of waste.
Market Dominance of Processed Foods The food industry's marketing and distribution power heavily favors calorie-dense, nutrient-poor processed foods over fresh, whole foods.
Lack of Local Food Infrastructure Insufficient investment in local and regional processing, storage, and distribution facilities makes it difficult for small-scale, sustainable producers to compete with industrial agriculture.
Siloed Research and Development Academic, corporate, and independent research often occurs in isolation, slowing down the cross-pollination of ideas and the implementation of innovative solutions.

Macro ^{(Global & Policy Systems)}

Misaligned Agricultural Subsidies Government policies often subsidize the production of commodity crops used in processed foods or intensive livestock farming, while providing little support for diversified, regenerative agriculture.
Global Trade Policies International trade agreements can prioritize the movement of cheap goods over the development of local, resilient food systems, sometimes undermining food sovereignty.
Climate Change Impacts The entire food system is under threat from the destabilizing effects of climate change, which disrupts growing seasons, reduces yields, and creates volatility.
Cultural Shifts Toward Convenience A global cultural trend valuing speed and convenience has devalued the labor and time involved in producing and preparing nutritious food, further fueling the industrial model.

Conclusion

This analysis confirms that a successful intervention cannot be a single product or policy. It must be a collaborative and systemic approach. The pathway must be open and holistic with a networked approach that reduces the friction of innovation and empowers diverse actors to co-create tangible, project-based interventions.

Intervention

The intervention is a purpose-built incubator designed to systematically dismantle the barriers to food system transformation. The strategy is grounded in providing the infrastructure, network, and focus needed to catalyze tangible, project-driven change.

Core Strategic Intent

The core strategic intent is to act as a catalyst for change by lowering the barrier to collaborative innovation. By providing a shared space for research, development, and dialogue, Open Food Lab empowers a diverse community to build the solutions that a fragmented system cannot create on its own.

Guiding Principles

Collaboration Over Silos

We believe that the most powerful solutions emerge when diverse stakeholders—from farmers to scientists to policymakers—work together. We actively break down institutional and disciplinary walls.

Action Through Projects

We are project-driven. Our focus is on fostering concrete, solution-oriented initiatives that produce tangible, positive impacts on the food system, moving beyond talk to create change.

Openness and Transparency

We champion the sharing of knowledge, data, and insights. Our "Open Sandboxes" and collaborative approach ensure that discoveries and progress benefit the entire community.

Systemic Impact

We support projects that have the potential for systemic change, addressing root causes rather than just symptoms and aiming for scalable, replicable models.

Intervention Model

Focused Challenge Areas

Open Food Lab concentrates its resources on vital challenges like Food Waste, Sustainable Production, and Food Education. This focus helps to outline the scope of issues and foster targeted innovation.

Project-Driven Incubation

We function as a nurturing environment for new ideas, offering infrastructure, mentoring, and network access to help visionary projects move from concept to reality.

Open Sandboxes for Co-Creation

We provide public, collaborative digital spaces (like open Miro boards) that serve as playgrounds for research and co-creation, allowing anyone to explore emerging themes and contribute their ideas.

A Networked Community Approach

We facilitate forums for meaningful discussion and collaborative projects, building a powerful ecosystem of shared vision and collective action that supports all stakeholders.

Resources

Explore our expanding resource library with articles, books, documentaries, and scientific papers related to sustainable food systems, food innovation, and policy.

Books

The Third Plate

By Dan Barber

A Small Farm Future

By Chris Smaje

The Omnivore's Dilemma

By Michael Pollan

Whole Food Cooking Every Day

By Amy Chaplin

The Whole Foods Cookbook

By John Mackey

Videos

Universal Basic Nutrient Income

Source: UBN

Knepp Rewilded

Source: Kneppflix

Farms of the Future

Source: Freethink

WASTED! The Story of Food Waste

Source: Super

Processed Foods vs Whole Foods

Source: RWJBarnabas Health

Papers & Articles

Navigating Complexity in Food Systems

Tags: Food Systems, Agriculture, United Nations Authors: Charles O’Malley, Henriette Friling Source: United Nations Development Programme, 2024

The EAT-Lancet Commission Summary Report

Tags: Sustainable Food Systems, Healthy Diets, EAT Authors: The EAT–Lancet Commission Source: EAT-Lancet, 2019

A Systems Approach to Research and Innovation for Food System Transformation

Tags: Food Systems, Systems Thinking, Innovation Authors: M. Gill, A.C.L. Den Boer, K.P. Kok, Jean Cahill, C. Callenius, P. Caron, Z. Damianova, M.A. Gurinovic, L. Lahteenmaki, T. Lang, A. Lappiere, C. Mango, J. Ryder, R. Sonnino, H. Westhoek, B.J. Regeer, and J.E.W. Broerse Source: FIT4FOOD2030, 2018

Urban Food Systems Thinking

Tags: Urban Food Systems, Systems Thinking Authors: Ralph Hamann, Tatjana von Bormann, Scott Drimie Source: WWF, 2021

Defining Food Literacy and its Components

Tags: Food Literacy, Urban Food Systems Authors: Helen Anna Vidgen, Danielle Gallegos Source: Appetite Journal, 2014

Growing Our Future

Tags: Agriculture, Authors: Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Rich, Samuel Smith, Lesley Mitchell, Sally Uren Source: Forum For the Future, 2020

Complexity Principles for Food Systems

Tags: Food System Innovation, Systems Thinking, Network Authors: Sayyeda Asra, Adrian Reid, Jill Bouscarat, Joss Colchester, Anya Low Source: Systems Innovation Network, 2023

Food as Industry, Food Tech or Culture, or even Food Forgotten?

Tags: Food Industry, Food Tech, Sweden Authors: Line Gordon, Klara Eitrem Holmgren, Jan Bengtsson, Martin Persson, Garry Peterson, Elin Röös, Amanda Wood, Rakel Alvstad, Shyam Basnet, Anne Charlotte Bunge, Malin Jonell, Ingo Fetzer Source: Mistra Food Future Report #1, 2022

Towards a Common Understanding of Sustainable Food Systems

Tags: Food Systems, Food Waste, Dietary Guidelines Authors: Marina Bortoletti, Christine Campeau, Sandro Dernini, Elise Golan, David Gould, Chavanne Hanson, Nicola Jenkin, Allison Loconto, James Lomax, Divine Njie, Charlotte Pavageau Source: One Planet network Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Programme, 2020

Team & Partners

This project is guided by a core team and a network of partners committed to food system transformation.

Team

Kim Sellberg

^{Project Lead & Designer}

Partners

Lumeon

^{Project Incubator & Funder}

Easymeals

^{Project Partner}

Contact

Get Involved

Open Food Lab is a community-driven project that thrives on engagement and collective intelligence.

Propose a Project

If you are working on a solution to one of our strategic challenges, apply to become an incubated project.

Explore Our Sandboxes

Wander through our open Miro boards to see emerging research, contribute your insights, or find inspiration for a new idea.

Become a Partner

We are always seeking organizations to collaborate with on research, project development, and community engagement.

Contact

For all inquiries regarding collaboration, partnerships, or joining our community, please reach out.

Email Us