Costs and benefits of food sharing in Utrecht

This report presents findings from a case study on food sharing in Utrecht conducted within the CULTIVATE project (Co-designing Food Sharing Innovation for Resilience, https:// cultivate-project.eu/), funded by the EU Horizon Research and Innovation Programme (GA#101083377). It contributes to Task 3.1 in Work Package (WP) 3, examining the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of food sharing initiatives (FSIs) in European cities. The study, spanning December 2024 to June 2025, defines food sharing as collective acts across the food system, including growing or composting together, cooking and eating together, redistributing surplus food, and sharing seeds, tools, spaces, and knowledge. Utrecht serves as one of three hub cities in the project, alongside Milan (https://doi. org/10.5281/zenodo.17101884) and Barcelona (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15873345), highlighting its potential for resilient UPU food systems amid challenges like food waste, insecurity, and climate vulnerability.