On World Food Day, UN Tourism, TUI Care Foundation and the Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD) of the University of Cambridge, have launched Tourism Food for Good, a new global initiative to co-create sustainable and circular food systems across the tourism value chain.
Food for Good brings
together policymakers, academics, businesses, civil society, and local
communities to redesign how food is produced, sourced, served, and reused in
tourism. It tackles both development imperatives and the urgent humanitarian
challenge of food insecurity by promoting policy change and solutions that
minimise food loss and waste, enhance the redistribution of surpluses, and give
greater value to by-products within circular value chains.
Zoritsa Urosevic, UN
Tourism Executive Director, says: “Tourism holds a unique power to drive
systemic change across its vast value chains. The Food for Good Initiative
harnesses this potential and its goal is ambitious - to reduce tourism’s
food-related carbon footprint while advancing global food security. With an
estimate of 20 to 40% of food waste in the sector we must embrace a circular
model and act now. We invite governments, businesses, and civil society to join
us, from the inception and pilot phase, in making food a true force for good.”
Stronger supply
chains, less waste
The initiative will
develop the 2040 Impact Roadmap for Sustainable Food Systems in Tourism, a
framework to identify leverage points for transformation. Food for Good builds
on UN Tourism’s Global Roadmap for Food Waste Reduction in Tourism, developed
with UNEP within the framework of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme.
It is also supported through the TUI Care Foundation’s global Field to Fork
programme, which connects farmers, hotels and travellers to strengthen local
supply chains and reduce waste.
Thomas Ellerbeck,
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TUI Care Foundation, says: “Tourism
connects people and places – and food is a key element of this connection. With
our Tourism Food for Good initiative, we want to unlock the sector’s potential
to promote local agriculture, reduce food waste and support circular food
systems. We’re working to reduce food waste to a minimum. Food management is
the future: intelligent planning, efficient, data driven and sustainable. The
initiative will not only create a roadmap for the future but also test real
solutions on the ground.”
The first pilot will
take place in Cabo Verde, with the results to be adapted and scaled to other
destinations. The initiative applies CRSD Cambridge’s Impact Roadmapping and
Cambridge Policy Boot Camp (CPBC) methodologies, which combine systems thinking,
collective intelligence and participatory research. This approach ensures that
scientific evidence and local experience jointly inform the transformation of
food systems in tourism.
Nazia Habib, Founding Director of the Centre for Resilience and Sustainable
Development (CRSD) at the University of Cambridge, says: "We turn
innovative action research into real-world impact by teaming up with diverse
voices to reimagine tourism food systems. Together, we create bold, practical
pathways-like transforming waste into valuable resources, building circular
economies and unlocking opportunities that fuel resilience and sustainability.
It's about shaping a future where Tourism nourishes communities, regenerates
ecosystems and sparks lasting change."
The announcement took place during a high-level event organised within the framework of the Tourism for Development Fund, a platform led by TUI Care Foundation with support from UN Tourism that mobilises strategic partnerships and investments to unlock tourism’s potential as a driver of inclusive and sustainable development. -TradeArabia News Service