The Food Systems Game Changers Lab is a global program to build a better food future, together.

EAT, IDEO, Thought For Food, The Rockefeller Foundation, Forum for the Future, Meridian Institute, SecondMuse and Intention 2 Impact have joined forces to support ideas, enterprises and initiatives that have the potential to transform our world’s food systems. The Food Systems Game Changers Lab is in support of the UN Food Systems Summit.

We worked with game changers from every part of the world who have the ideas, initiatives, and innovations that can bring positive change to global food systems—and the passion, grit, collaborative spirit, and determination required to take their solutions forward in partnership with others.

In this report you will find 24 bespoke Action Agendas co-developed by over 850 game changers from 127 countries as part of the 12-week Solutions Accelerator Program. In addition, you can read more about the program’s motivation, and post-program support options to further support scaling these collective food systems solutions.

At the heart of the Food Systems Game Changers Lab was the journey taken by 24 Solution Cohorts to co-create an Action Agenda that offers a vision for future food systems that are sustainable, equitable, healthy, and diverse as well as a transformative pathway to actualize that vision through a particular collective solution set. 

1. Empowering women & youth

Cohort 1 empowers innovative women and youth-led agri-food-tech MSMEs through a locally-led Climate Smart Agro Hub.

2. Elevating indigenous and native food systems

Cohort 2 connects a global community of Indigenous peoples and allies using localized solutions labs and toolkits.

3. Feeding children nutritiously

Cohort 3 provides communities and children with a digital library of shared best practices on nutrition.

4. Upcycling food & materials

Cohort 4 raises awareness of the hidden value in food waste.

5. Reducing food loss & waste

Cohort 5 aims to minimize post-harvest food loss and minimize food waste at the retail level.

6. Developing food systems leaders

Cohort 6 develops new ways to empower and promote food systems leaders.

7. Innovating protein

Cohort 7 recommends key actionable steps for stakeholders in the alternative protein value chain.

8. Innovating packaging

Cohort 8 offers innovative packaging solutions for the complete farm-to-fork supply chain.

9. Innovating at the ag-energy nexus

Cohort 9 provides a packaged-solution of renewable technologies and a carbon credit exchange platform.

10. Building soil health

Cohort 10 proposes three levers to transform soil health by 2030.

11. Mainstreaming regenerative & agroecological approaches

Cohort 11 presents a catalytic connector that will mainstream Regenerative Agriculture and Agroecology (RAA).

12. Scaling agroforestry

Cohort 12 connects farmers worldwide to an agroforestry user’s guide.

13. Unlocking data for food systems governance

Cohort 13 enables global stakeholders in the food system to share data, products or services.

14. Upskilling farmers through education

Cohort 14 leverages technology to provide farmers and partners easy-to-access training.

15. Democratizing food systems technology

Cohort 15 helps farmers in vulnerable communities with crowd-sourced research data.

16. Scaling controlled-environment agriculture

Cohort 16 aims to raise awareness of the benefits of controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

17. Empowering community farming

Cohort 17 uses the power of storytelling to unlock systems leadership.

18. Building resilient local food systems

Cohort 18 proposes a Biodistrict Center of Excellence (BCE).

19. Enabling affordable & accessible nutrition

Cohort 19 leverages policy, communities, and the private sector to reduce malnutrition.

20. Incentivizing dietary shifts

Cohort 20 encourages the global adoption of sustainable plant-forward diets.

21. Building food literacy through education

Cohort 21 empowers a generation of highly literate food citizens.

22. Mainstreaming true cost accounting

Cohort 22 creates an education program for procurement specialists.

23. Making markets for farmers

Cohort 23 provides agricultural and market services to farmers through a digital platform.

24. Promoting food safety & traceability

Cohort 24 reduces foodborne diseases through a food safety and tracing platform.

The Food Systems Game Changers Lab partners have programs available to Solutions Cohorts to grow impact:

Thought For Food serves as a communal meeting place for food systems innovators – join the Discord community and engage with food systems content on the TFF Digital Labs.

Meridian Institute is offering small catalytic Planning Grants to assist successfully-matched Cohorts and their associated Scaling Partners as they embark on the post-matchmaking stage of their journey. Email them for more information on how to apply.

EAT and University of Cambridge have formed a partnership to apply the tried and tested Cambridge Policy Boot Camp methodology to relevant Solutions Cohorts and corresponding food system policy challenges governments want to tackle, with the purpose of stimulating policy improvements and implementation of collective solutions.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) runs an Innovation Accelerator to source, support, and scale innovations like those put forward by the Solution Cohorts.

The Transformation Leaders Network convenes systems leaders from across the world in a peer-to-peer network to help individuals troubleshoot their unique systems change journeys. This opportunity could be a natural next step for teams who want to connect with other leading game-changing efforts.