Ede's integrated food policy

The city of Ede in the Netherlands developed an integrated food policy that sought to tackle interconnected challenges in the city. Its six focal areas include: health, environment, sustainable consumption, shorter food chains, the agri-food sector and food systems governance.

The city dedicated staffing and resources to the realization of the policy, and in 2012 a vision document, Visie Ede 2025, was adopted; in 2015, the city created "Visie Food!", an outline of its strategy and goals in the food domain. The city's food team actively strives to work across municipal departments, including those related to economics, labour, education and health, to achieve its integrated food system goals. Activities conducted under the policy include capacity development for existing food businesses, awareness-raising, education projects and promotion of knowledge exchange among civil society, businesses, citizens and the municipality.