CropCat: Upscaling minor crops with institutional catering
Transforming the food system requires both a diversification of farming practices toward more agroecological approaches and the further development of downstream value chains, business models, and consumption patterns. In this context, institutional food service is considered a major driver of this transformation. The CropCat project therefore aims to further develop the cultivation of new and underutilized crops, as well as approaches to increase the consumption of these crops in institutional food service.

CiceRegio - Kichererbsen aus regionaler Erzeugung in Wertschöpfungsketten für Lebensmittel – das Beispiel der Modellregion Berlin/Brandenburg
The aim of the CiceRegio project is to use new value chains in the Berlin/Brandenburg metropolitan region as examples to show how regionally produced chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) can contribute to human nutrition in the future. Stakeholders from production, processing, consulting, research, education and other multipliers are working together in a continuous, co-creative exchange to develop viable solutions for establishing chickpeas in the region. The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research approach generates systemic and application-oriented knowledge about the cultivation, processing, quality requirements and market potential of regional chickpeas.

NahWertVoll: Bio-regionale Wertschöpfung und gesunde Ernährung in der Gemeinschaftsverpflegung - nachhaltige Ernährungswende am Beispiel der studentischen Verpflegung in Ostbrandenburg
As part of the “NahWertVoll” project—Bio-regional Value Creation and Healthy Eating in Institutional Catering: A Sustainable Food Transition Using Student Catering in East Brandenburg as a Case Study—the Studierendenwerk Ost:Brandenburg and the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development are working to make food service in university cafeterias healthier and more sustainable. The goal of the project is to identify ways to promote healthy eating among students, while the Studentenwerk acts as a catalyst for establishing regional organic value chains.

The focus is on implementing the project’s objectives in the cafeterias of the model region. This includes optimizing the menu according to the standards of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), increasing the proportion of organic foods, using regional products, and preventing food waste. In addition, the Studierendenwerk will establish cooperative structures with various stakeholders in the region and set up a regional forum for sustainable food in institutional catering in Brandenburg.

The NahWertVoll project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) to drive a sustainable food transition in the region.