Foods from organic, fair trade and natural food sectors – contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and good momentum from the UN programmes for the sectors

The project aims to support the organic sector, the fair trade and the natural food sector to increase their orientation towards sustainability. It intends to intensify the consumer demand for sustainable foods. The potential of the involved sectors to achieve the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) will be systematically clarified to pass on these arguments to consumers in a targeted manner. Beyond organic foods, further relevant actions towards sustainability such as “fair trade products”, “preference of plant-based foods”, “preference of minimally processed foods” and “regional/seasonal products” will be considered to outline the connections comprehensively. The current UN programmes on sustainable consumption and sustainable production provide a good momentum for the development of the sectors and are included in the project. Furthermore, the project aims to contribute to an intensified networking between science, economy, education, politics, NGOs, media and practice, especially with diverse fields of education. Target groups of the project are on the one hand employees and customers in the organic sector, the fair trade and the natural food sector, on the other hand professionals in the educational fields as well as actors in science, politics, NGOs, media and practice. The following sub-areas are planned for the successful implementation of the project: - Strengthening the orientation of the organic, fair trade and natural food sector towards sustainability: internal training process and external communication with the aim of sharpening the argumentation - UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Contributions by the organic, fair trade and natural food sector to achieving these goals, systematic development of sector potentials and consumer messages (one matrix each) - UN programmes on sustainable consumption and production: Clarification of the input for the organic, fair trade and organic food sector - More widespread use of the concept of "sustainable nutrition": Lectures, training courses, interviews and publications - Strengthening networking between professional actors from science, economy, education, politics, NGOs, media and practice: with the intention of winning the target group of consumers as far-reaching and efficient as possible for sustainable consumption. Matrices of contributions by the organic, fair trade and natural food sector to achieving SDGs and corresponding consumer messages have been developed. Two meetings with foundations, associations and companies took place in South Germany to discuss results of the matrices and developed consumer messages. Three foundations, two associations, and three companies of the three sectors are participating in the project so far (Jan 2019). It is intended to involve more. Next step is the process of disseminating the consumer messages in a systematic way in diverse channels. Moreover, further associations, foundations and companies shall be encouraged to participate. On the one hand, organic farming and the organic sector as well as fair trade and the natural food sector can make a significant contribution to achieving the SDGs and to the desired transformation of society. On the other hand, the above-mentioned sectors can benefit from the worldwide tailwind of the current UN programmes in their further development. Hence, we would like to involve relevant stakeholders and bring the messages also in different fields of education. The target groups of our project are: - employees of companies and associations in the sectors mentioned above, so that they can reach end consumers more efficiently - education sector: e.g. teachers, educators and environmental educators, so that they can pass on the benefits of the relevant products to consumers in a more targeted way - various actors in science, business, education, politics, NGOs and the media - ultimately: customers and new customers of the organic sector, fair trade and the natural food sector