About
In REFRAME, ten committed partners from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden are working together to create better conditions for food related SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).Short food supply chains strengthen local communities
Many food products which you can find in the supermarkets have travelled thousands of miles before ending up on your plate. They have been imported from distant countries, causing carbon emissions. The quality is often compromised by the long-distance transport from farmers to slaughterhouses, processors and distributors. For each step that is added in the food value chain, there is a risk of reducing the quality.
By choosing local products, you can help reduce the carbon footprint of your food and get high-quality produce. Products made by small and medium sized producers can skip several steps in the food value chain and have not travelled over great distances. As the journey from field to fork is shorter, the products are fresher when they reach your plate. And by choosing local food, you even support a positive development in your own community by creating local employment.
What we do
By recovering and setting up regional food chains REFRAME is taking steps towards creating better conditions for food related SMEs, social enterprises and initiatives. The project promotes greater diversity in the supply of food, supports innovation and sustainability, and creates local employment, thereby strengthening the local communities. This involves developing new skills for food related SMEs, fostering regional cooperation, supporting transnational learning and stimulating innovation. REFRAME also supports food-related SMEs by raising awareness of regional food supply and demand as well as nudging local governments and large-scale consumers to buy food regionally, and mostly regional food.
How to implement short food supply chains
In the Online Resource Centre we have gathered all the best practices from the project partners so that you can benefit from their experiences and get inspiration for how to implement short food supply chains in your own region.
Changing consumer and citizen demands add to the existing pressure on rural employment. All food chain related SMEs are affected by these demands towards the sourcing and the environment, climate and health impact of food. Since 2016 Reframe has stimulated these SMEs to innovate and specialize within a Regional Food Framework (re-)creating short food supply chains.
Reframe has realized the co-creation of short food supply chains, connections between consumers and SMEs, the development of specialization strategies and cooperation structures. Involved SMEs are very aware of the challenges and opportunities of the changing consumer and citizen and ask Reframe for more, specific support measures.
Reframe takes up these challenges and supports SMEs to use the opportunities in short food supply chains for a better environment, climate and health impact. Continuing the living lab of 5 regional pilots, Reframe strengthens the support infrastructure for food related SMEs, develops new smart specialization strategies focusing on a changing demand. New data will reveal more regional possibilities. Partners will continue to demonstrate how to scale up and accommodate urban food demands and regional supplies. The transnational learning lab for all stakeholders focusses on health, climate and environment impact of new solutions. Reframe pools the know-how needed to set up these Regional Food Frames in a transnational network of experts, each closely linked and footed in its own pilot region.