Food System Transformation Circle

The Food System Transformation Circle (FST Circle) is part of the activities at Impact Hub Basel in regards to the Swiss-wide Circular Economy Transition program of Impact Hub Switzerland.

The Food System Transformation Circle aims to bring the local community together, strive towards a more regenerative food system and make a positive impact on the environment and human health. We want to showcase successful circular and sustainable case studies that serve as inspiration to others and provide relevant know-how, analyze challenges of circular strategies, and offer solutions.

The Problem

The increasing global demand for food, feed, linear management of food by-products has led to increased pressure on natural resources, endangering biodiversity, human health and leading to future trade-off conflicts. It has become clear that the linear food system we are witnessing now is no longer fit for the 21^st century and that a new circular model is required. Since 80% of food will be consumed in cities by 2050, cities play a big role in shaping the future food system, by influencing the way food is grown, moving beyond simply reducing avoidable food waste toward full usage of food by-products up to designing and marketing healthy and easy accessible food products.

The Goal

Achieving the vision of circular economy requires a great level of collaboration across the entire value-chain in making the food sector more resilient and sustainable. The goal of the FST Circle is to build up a local network around the topic of Circular Economy for Food and inspire different stakeholders to think and act more sustainably. Achieving the vision of circular economy requires a great level of collaboration across the entire value-chain in making our agriculture and food sector more resilient and sustainable.

The focus areas

• Source food grown regeneratively and locally where appropriate: regenerative practices refers to any production techniques that improve the overall health of the local ecosystem (shifting from synthetic to organic fertilizers, employing crop rotation, using greater crop variation to promote biodiversity, different farming types such as agroecology, rotational grazing, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and permaculture)
• Make the most of the food: moving beyond simple reducing avoidable food waste to transforming the food by-products into valuable materials or new products (from organic fertilizers and biomaterials to medicine and bioenergy)
• Design and market healthier food products: food organizations, designers and marketing play their part in re-shaping people’s food preferences and habits towards more healthier, easy and accessible choices

FST Circle events

The first 3 events in 2020/2021 had the objectives to:

• bring the local community together and provide space for networking
• showcase successful circular and sustainable case studies, ideas and solutions (share know-how, analyze challenges of such circular strategies)
• encourage cross-collaboration within the value chain
• engage the audience into co-creating the FST Circle (share critical opinion, ideas, get involved as a partner, activist, changemaker, expert, researcher, etc.)

This circle is for you

• Experts in the field
• Food companies/industries/ retailers
• Local farmers (urban, regenerative, aquaponic, etc.)

• Gastronomes/suppliers/food producers
• Regulatory and governmental department/policy makers
• Engineers/innovators 

• Technological and digital sector
• Students
• Researchers/lecturers
• NGOs/initiatives/platforms

If you are interested in getting involved in any way, fill in the form above. You could be a speaker at one of our events, or get your story or circular solution to be issued in our next newsletter, or apply for a FST Circle profile on this website (your organization profile will be published when evaluated to implement circular and sustainable practices within business or service).