Fair Food for a Smart Life Erasmus Project

Project Title

Fair Food for a Smart Life

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Creativity and culture; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

There is wide evidence that a correct diet is a source of health and longevity, although socioeconomic changes have led many people to eat poorly with serious risks and long-term costs. Hence, the convenience of returning to traditional food, simpler and healthier, but in danger of being lost due to the change in nutritional habits fostered by globalisation, is paramount.
The purpose of Fair Food for a Smart Life project is to contribute to the improvement of health through a nutritional education inspired by the way our ancestors ate, with natural products, typical of the territory, treated in a simple way and consumed in its season, while contributing to preserve a European culinary cultural heritage and to stop climate change. The rich European gastronomic culture counts on the Mediterranean diet, an intangible heritage of Humanity.
Disseminating these guidelines is a benefit for the entire population as well as for the environment. The consortium of this project, formed by 6 partners from 4 countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal and Belgium) among which are the maximum exponents of the Mediterranean diet, brings together universities, experts in the agro-food sector, consultants and educators, for a triple objective:
– Identify and preserve ancestral knowledge about products and traditional modalities of production, conservation and consumption of food at risk of disappearing, in the regions of the project, as a way to preserve this cultural legacy.
– Disseminate this knowledge among the population in general and especially among the youngest, through face-to-face and online training programs, and being present in social networks, with the collaboration of opinion leaders and influencers.
– Encourage entrepreneurship and business continuity of this type in rural areas, respectful of the environment, to improve their appeal and competitiveness, attract and fix population.
The consortium, led by the University of Malaga, which has a powerful faculty of Tourism very advanced in gastronomic studies, and with a prestigious Faculty of Medicine and a Faculty of Health Sciences, has 5 other partners:
– IWS, ES, technological partner that will be responsible for the coordination, development and deployment of ICT resources.
– University of Aveiro, PT, with experience in tourism teaching, will provide contents and also a powerful networking with the regional agro-food and hostelry sector in its country.
– IDP SAS, IT, with experience in business training, will provide contents, dissemination support and training.
– IHF asbl, BE, will provide contents, lead the quality assurance tasks and help in dissemination.
– IES Almina, SP, high and VET school with training in fine cuisine, hospitality, tourism, nutrition and services, will contribute with contents and expertise in food management.
The intellectual products that the project plans to develop form 4 blocks:
– IO1. FairFood OER online platform for knowledge and training on traditional healthy food, with 3 sections, available in 5 languages (Spanish, English, Italian, French and Portuguese).
– IO2. FOODPEDIA, a repository of ancestral knowledge about native foods, crops, techniques of treatment and conservation, consumption, etc., respectful of their nature and health, including culinary recipes and traditional preparations, delivered in 100 fiches to make them easily accessible.
– IO3. FAIRFOOD TOOLKIT, a set of 10 courses at two levels (basic and advanced) on healthy eating based on natural and nearby foods, targeted at students of high schools (basic) and professional and university training in gastronomy and nutrition (advanced).
– IO4. TEST & VALIDATION, with the training of 250 students face-to-face and the testing of materials and levels in both the online and offline modes.
In addition, the platform will have an area called FAIRFOOD SUSTAINABILITY, a virtual community where successful experiences and cases of entrepreneurship, business, tourism, significant places and cultural and recreational activities, linked to the agro-food sector and based on traditional nutrition, will be collected to contribute to the visibility and strengthening of the sector, and pointing out its attractiveness for new ventures in rural areas.
The desired results point to an improvement in food education of the population, especially among young people, and to a greater awareness of the value of this cultural heritage. For the rural world, recovering and maintaining these activities is fundamental for the survival of many towns and populations, creating competitive and sustainable businesses and decreasing depopulation. For the environment, going back to less aggressive modes of production means reducing environmental impact.
FairFood can be expanded in future editions to other countries, Southern and Eastern, especially those with greater problems linked to unhealthy diet, as well as other healthy and traditional food models different from the Mediterranean diet.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 174134 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• IES ALMINA
• INSTITUT DE HAUTE FORMATION AUX POLITIQUES COMMUNAUTAIRES
• UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO
• IDP SAS DI GIANCARLO COSTANTINO (ITALIAN DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS)
• INTERNET WEB SOLUTIONS SL
• Instituto Educación Secundaria La Rosaleda