Tasty, healthy, balanced and nutritious. Fuel for fit people as well as frying ones. In short, our food. We eat several times a day, but we don’t always think about what we’re exactly eating. Where it comes from, what is actually in it, how it grows and blooms, how it is prepared and what is wasted. The system of our food supply ‘from farm to fork’ is starting to crackle, forcing us to make more conscious choices. Choices about the effects of our diet on us and our living environment.
On November 3 and 4, 2023, Stadslab Eindhoven will become a vibrant pressure cooker for developing new and surprising solutions for challenges in the world of food.
Challenge 1
How can we motivate residents of Eindhoven, especially low-income households, to eat healthier?
People tend to choose unhealthy food, especially low-income households. It is often cheaper and easier to serve, and the importance of responsible nutrition is not always known.
Challenge 2
How can we ensure that sports canteens in Eindhoven offer a healthier range of food and drinks?
The range of food and drinks in sports canteens is dominated by sweets, biscuits, soft drinks, snacks, and beer. This means that visiting the canteen eliminates active exercise and makes exercise less effective. It appears to be very difficult to change this.
Challenge 3
How can food manufacturers adapt their products to be healthier?
Due to prosperity, the number of people with obesity and diabetes is increasing sharply. The government, therefore, sets requirements for food manufacturers to reduce sugar and fats, for example, or add proteins. This requires guidance and regulation whereby producers and consumers should not become entangled in a web of certifications. Due to an aging population, the pressure on healthcare is already increasing considerably, so diseases caused by unhealthy nutrition create a very undesirable situation. This requires healthy food and healthcare prevention.
Challenge 4
How do we make young people resilient to the food hypes from nutritional gurus and food influencers?
The Internet is full of information about nutrition, weight loss, and diets. Influencers swear by particular juice cleanses, clay drinks, nutritional supplements, and power food. Many young people take this for granted. But what is true, what works, and what doesn’t? A healthy diet consists of a varied diet of sufficient vegetables, fruit, and fibre, where you do not eat more than you need. This advice is often seen as boring and standard. When influencers make something catchy, everyone tries it at home. Nowadays, young people accept nutritional hypes at face value, while advice from nutritional science is much less accepted.
The best ideas can win €10,000 to develop their proof-of-concept for Eindhoven. More info and registration here.
