The European Research Council (ERC) has published a report entitled ‘Mapping ERC Frontier Research: Sustainable food production and consumption’.
The report indicates that more than 100 ERC projects have been funded since 2007 in the area of sustainable and future-proof food production and consumption.
The projects covered issues such as sustainable and healthy diets, climate-smart food systems, resource efficiency, the microbiome world, and food safety.
The report is a result of collaboration between the ERC and the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) and is the first of a series of publications showing the wider societal impact of ERC-funded projects.
ERC president Maria Leptin said: “This is evidence that the ERC’s commitment to frontier research has yielded remarkable outcomes that directly support the goals of the EU’s Food 2030 policy. The report gives examples of how curiosity-driven research, without any imposed policy priorities, can drive positive change and address pressing societal challenges.”
For the report, the ERC used an internal classification system to identify a pool of 270 projects relevant to the Farm2Fork strategy. Further analysis revealed that 103 projects directly align with one or more of the 10 pathways outlined in the Food 2023 policy.