Theme one: Technology for Sustainability: Smart Solutions with Real Impact
Many of the initiatives we featured demonstrate how technology can be a powerful enabler of sustainability—when applied thoughtfully and with a clear purpose.
A great example is Dyson Farming in the UK, where vertical growing systems, proprietary sensors and renewable energy are combined to grow strawberries year-round on British soil. By integrating an anaerobic digester that produces both heat and organic fertiliser, Dyson significantly reduces food miles and resource use while increasing national self-sufficiency. This is not technology for technology’s sake, but innovation focused on concrete sustainability outcomes.
Another compelling example is Saveggy, a bio-based, edible protective coating for fruit and vegetables. Saveggy extends shelf life by three to four times, reduces food waste and eliminates the need for plastic packaging—all while being made entirely from plant-based ingredients. As single-use plastic packaging for fresh produce is phased out in the EU, solutions like Saveggy show how technology can simultaneously address waste reduction, regulation and consumer convenience.
What this theme tells us: sustainability gains do not always require radical behaviour change from consumers. When smart technologies are embedded seamlessly into production and distribution systems, the sustainable option becomes the logical option.
Theme two: Making Healthy Food More Accessible (and Appealing)
A second recurring theme is the effort to make healthier food choices easier, tastier and more intuitive—without sacrificing enjoyment or familiarity.
A powerful illustration is the Baby Groente Tas, a Dutch non-profit initiative that helps parents introduce babies to vegetables in a fun, simple and accessible way. Parents receive the package for free, including fresh vegetables, easy-to-follow recipes and storage tools. The initiative is explicitly designed to counter food neophobia: early exposure to a variety of tastes and textures increases the likelihood that children will enjoy vegetables later in life.
Importantly, the Baby Groente Tas removes multiple barriers at once—cost, knowledge and confidence—particularly for families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. By intervening at a crucial developmental stage, it lays the foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits rather than trying to correct behaviour later on.
A very different, but equally powerful approach comes from Activia and its Inside Your Digestion pop-up exhibition in Brussels. Rather than relying on abstract health claims, Activia turned gut health into a tangible, sensory experience. Visitors literally walked through the digestive process, making fibres and probiotics understandable, memorable and engaging.
What this theme tells us: accessibility is not only about price or availability. Healthy eating initiatives succeed when fitted seamlessly into people’s lives—and start early.
Theme Three: Policies and Collective Action That Actually Work
Several Stuff We Love editions show that when policy ambition is combined with smart design and local engagement, food systems can change at scale.
An amazing example is the Swedish school meals initiative, piloted by Vinnova – Sweden’s Innovation Agency. Sweden already provides around two million free, warm school meals every day, but participation is not guaranteed: students often choose less healthy food options outside their school, undermining both health and sustainability goals. This pilot tackles that gap by redesigning the school canteen experience itself.
Vegetable-rich meals are prepared using donated supermarket surplus, directly reducing food waste, while students actively help transform canteens into welcoming, restaurant-like spaces. Developed in collaboration with multiple government bodies, including the Swedish Food Agency, the initiative shows how policy infrastructure can be activated through behavioural insight, co-creation and system-level coordination.
Alongside this, Bite Back 2030 demonstrates how civil society can accelerate policy goals. Its privately funded Fuel Us, Don’t Fool Us campaign reshapes the food environment by reducing children’s exposure to junk food marketing.
What this theme tells us: effective policy is not just about regulation and taxation. It is about designing environments in which the healthier, more sustainable choice is also the most attractive and socially supported one.
Theme Four: Community-Based Initiatives: Reconnecting People with Food
Many Stuff We Love initiatives remind us that food is not just a system of production and consumption, but a social connector between people, places and values.
A strong example is Broodje Nijmegen, part of MVO Nederland’s Broodje Natuurlijk series. This plant-based sandwich uses regeneratively farmed grains and locally sourced vegetables to make sustainability tangible through one of the most familiar lunch formats in the Netherlands, the sandwich. By embedding sustainable ingredients into an everyday product, the initiative lowers the threshold for participation while giving regional farmers visibility and a fair price.
Alongside this, La Ruche qui dit Oui! (known in the Netherlands as Boeren & Buren) connects more than 10,000 farmers with over 1.5 million consumers across Europe through short supply chains. Both initiatives show that community-based food systems do not have to be niche. When rooted in everyday behaviors, they can scale while retaining trust and proximity.
What this theme tells us: community impact is strongest when sustainability is woven into daily routines. By meeting people where they already are, abstract transitions become lived experiences.
One Initiative That Ticks All the Boxes: Nilus
If there is one Stuff We Love initiative that brings all four themes together, it is Nilus.
Nilus tackles food insecurity in low-income neighbourhoods In Mexico and Argentina by redesigning how food flows through the system. Using technology as an enabler, it connects producers directly to consumers, combines food rescue with community group buying, and removes inefficiencies that make healthy food disproportionately expensive in so-called food deserts.
Nilus reflects technology for sustainability by shortening supply chains and reducing waste. It advances accessible healthy food by addressing structural price inequalities. It aligns closely with public policy goals around health and social equity, while remaining highly operational. And it is deeply community-based, working through local networks that prioritise dignity over charity.
Why we love it: Nilus shows that impact is greatest when sustainability, health, policy ambition and community action reinforce one another.
A Personal Note
When we started Future of Food Institute seven years ago, we did so with a simple but ambitious goal: to contribute to a better food system—and ultimately to better lives. At times, working in food can feel overwhelming. The challenges are systemic, persistent and consumer behavior is difficult to change.
That is precisely why Stuff We Love has become so important to me personally. Keeping track of these initiatives, week after week, is a reminder that meaningful change is already happening. These initiatives show that I am not the only one who believes food can be a force for good—and not the only one trying. Seeing so many others take action reinforces why we do this work in the first place.
A Final Reflection: Proof That Change Is Already Happening
Looking across nearly 100 Stuff We Love editions, the message is unmistakably positive. These initiatives are not distant future visions; they are real-world examples already making a difference today. They show that sustainability, health and fairness are not mutually exclusive—and that progress often emerges where consumer understanding, technology, policy and community intersect.
At Future of Food Institute, we will continue to highlight Stuff We Love not because these initiatives are perfect, but because they are possible. And possibility, when grounded in how people really live, think and choose, has the power to accelerate lasting change. We hope to offer you a weekly spark of inspiration.
Durk Bosma, December 15 2025
