ARC2020’s Rural Resilience project works to support the building of resilience in Europe’s countryside. Because policy can be slow to catch up with fast-changing rural realities and needs, we valorise and support existing initiatives that are already making change happen on the ground.
In 2026, the right to food will be a core theme of our work. And what better to whet our appetites than a Menu of Food Voices? Spotlighting seven place-based approaches from very diverse territories across Europe, every voice in this report brings a unique recipe for transforming food systems from the bottom up.
Op-ed by Julianne van Pelt of Foodrise.
Decisions about our food system cannot be made without involving the people who are most affected by its failures.
We are told that healthy and sustainable diets are individual choices, but what if our current food system actually decides for us what’s on our plate? Nobody wants ultra-processed, unhealthy, and unsustainable food, yet this is what fills supermarket shelves. Only those with sufficient financial resources have access to organic and sustainable food, if there is even a shop nearby that offers this option.
A coalition for food justice
The Food Voices Coalition shows that food insecurity and unsustainable diets are not the result of individual decisions, but of structural power imbalances in the food system. We should move away from letting retailers and supermarkets decide what we eat and bring local experiences to regional, national, and European decision-making tables.
The Food Voices Coalition project, funded by Healthy Food Healthy Planet, brought together seven organisations in six European countries, working in different ways to influence the food retail sector: from workshops to research and campaigns, through food policy councils, networking, and mobilisation. The common thread in all our work is a bottom-up approach, giving a voice to citizens, marginalised communities, students, and farmers.
The coalition consisted of Réseau Action Climat (Climate Action Network France), ALTAA in France, CECU in Spain, Terra! in Italy, Green REV Institute in Poland, and Foodrise based in the UK and in the Netherlands. Through diverse workshops, focus groups, and surveys, we collected the experiences of citizens and their food environments across Europe.
Giving everyone a say
For example, in the Netherlands, Foodrise worked together with residents in the deprived neighbourhood of Moerwijk, where there is no direct access to healthy and sustainable food. The residents developed the idea of a democratic supermarket, where they would have a say in what food is offered and which also provides a space for social interaction and work opportunities for young people. Interviews with residents highlighted the severe consequences of the lack of access to affordable, healthy food, particularly for health outcomes and the overall condition of the neighbourhood.
In Poland, Green REV Institute organised focus group interviews with young people aged 15–18 in different cities, exploring their views, habits, and motivations around food. The results showed a striking gap: young people rarely connect food with climate or justice, and their choices are shaped far more by price, taste, and marketing than by values or sustainability.
Green REV learned that ownership matters: when young people design, moderate, and conduct research themselves, they feel more confident speaking up about existing power structures. They gave youth space to engage in advocacy by writing to national policymakers and undertaking bold actions, such as filing a complaint to the European Ombudsman regarding the European Commission’s unfulfilled commitments on sustainable food systems.
Learnings
Across Europe, the projects gathered important insights into the gaps in our current food system and how different communities are affected, but also showed how local approaches offer opportunities for solutions. By exchanging learnings and experiences, the coalition identified cross-cutting conclusions and developed concrete policy recommendations.
One key conclusion is that food insecurity and unsustainable diets are not consumer “choices” but structural outcomes. Solutions must shift from blaming individuals to rebalancing power in the food chain.
Another key lesson is the importance of building alliances across divides. By bringing together farmers, environmental activists, youth, consumers, and local governments, we can build stronger and more resilient movements that include perspectives usually lost in the system.
This was clearly demonstrated in the work of CECU in the region around As Conchas (Galicia). There, the environment became heavily polluted by waste from intensive chicken and potato production, creating a real conflict between environmental protection and the economic survival of local farming families. Through dialogue at the Nos Plantamos meeting, stakeholders realised that the pollution was not caused by small farmers, but by a regional food system dominated by two large companies and enabled by weak government regulation. By fostering dialogue, a joint action between environmental groups and residents was organised in the form of a court case against government inaction, which was won.
It is time to change the narrative and continue exploring how bottom-up and top-down approaches can be connected. Through listening and collaboration, we can create a food system that benefits everyone, not just large corporations.
For more learnings and recommendations from the Food Voices Coalition, read the Menu of Food Voices report.
More
Rural Resilience Gathering | Knowledge is the Power to Shape our Rural Futures Together
Ireland | Feeding Ourselves, breaking new ground for the local food movement
The Rise of a New Grain Alliance – Germany’s Free Bakers Sow the Seeds of Change
The EU’s Public Plate – An Opportunity for Food System Transformation
Rural Europe Takes Action – Food System Lessons from Marburg
Passing the Pitchfork – Inside the EU’s new plan to get young farmers in our fields
