City Practitioners Handbook: Circular Food Systems

“Applying circular economy principles to the food system will ensure that food actively supports natural systems, production is brought closer to where food is eaten, and the concept of waste is eliminated. Through these actions, cities can generate significant environmental, economic, and health benefits worth an estimated USD 2.7 trillion annually by 2050, within and beyond their boundaries. City governments play a key role in transforming the food system but often don’t know where to start. The Practitioners Handbook fills this gap, providing tools and resources to support city officers in transforming their city food system to one that is low-carbon, resilient, and circular.”

– Sarah O’Carroll, Cities Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

“Perhaps still counterintuitive, but cities have an important role in driving circularity through urban food policies. Taking a systems approach, connecting stakeholders and using their procurement power and jurisdiction over place-making for urban farming and prevention and management of food waste’. The Handbook fills a gap by providing practical guidance”.

– Martina Otto, Head, Cities Unit & Head of Secretariat, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction Economy Division, United Nations Environment Programme

“The food sector is a substantial contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. Both challenges can be addressed through circular economy solutions, where we work with and learn from each other, rethink value and make better use of what we already have. Cities have a pivotal role to play in this transition. It is great to see so many concrete examples of what the circular food system transition can look like at the local level and best practices from cities worldwide compiled in one handbook.”.

– Tim Forslund, Circular Economy Specialist, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

“There is much more to the circular economy than recycling of wastes by city governments and large businesses. The Circular City Actions Framework presented in this handbook is useful to identify a fuller range of opportunities for stimulating a circular economy, and when applied to each stage of the food value chain can help each actor to recognise the unique role they can play in changing the system.”.

– Blake Robinson, Senior Strategist Cities, Circle Economy

“Transitioning our linear food systems towards a more circular model is critical for reducing our climate footprint, biodiversity loss and improving water quality, while also delivering enhanced food security and health benefits. This guidebook sets out the key steps urban regions can take to start their journey, offering clear and practical tools for practitioners to apply.”.

– Brian James Shaw, Agrifood Team Lead, Metabolic