Nestled high in the Alps and bringing together 450,000 inhabitants in 49 urban, rural and alpine municipalities, Grenoble-Alpes Metropole has a unique food system linked to its geography. Around 15% of its mountainous territory is covered by farmable land, and the local government wants to capitalise on it to improve diets, sustainability and create short food chains.
How can a metropolitan area with limited agricultural land and low food self-sufficiency
boost local, quality food production? Widening the area of scope. Since 2015, GAM has been working with the neighbouring territories on building a cooperation network on agriculture and leveraging the national PAT label to add the food dimension to this agricultural basis.
To this end, the Food Trails project has provided a means to fulfill the Metropole’s commitment, establishing a Living Lab 3 innovative pilot actions aligned with the EU “Food 2030” Policy were implemented.
Pilot 1 – Food Literacy. A month of events across the city on the topic of food transition towards healthier diets
To promote local production the Metrople had to work on local consumption and therefore on behavioral change. As part of Food Trails, since 2020, the Metropole organised a yearly event aimed at engaging beyond the usual suspects, the ‘Month of Food Transition’, encompassing numerous food-related activities. This initiative encouraged citizens to embrace more sustainable and healthy diets, mobilising local actors to promote eco-friendly ways of producing, consuming, and obtaining food.
Pilot 2 – Sustainable Diets in School Canteens. A support program for municipalities at the metropolitan level
The Metropole launched a volunteer initiative to support municipalities in enhancing food procurement
practices, aiming for healthier, sustainable diets in schools. This action focused on improving the quality,
type, and sourcing of food, and waste reduction through tailored training, ensuring professionals integrate food transition challenges into daily practices.
Pilot 3 – Inter-territorial Food Council. Establishing a council at a level that is between the metropolitan area and the department
In 2022, also thanks to Food Trails, GAM launched a foresight study to envision a desirable inter-territorial agricultural and food system by 2050. The outcomes were integrated into the Inter-Territorial Food Project. By late 2023, GAM established an Interterritorial Food Council, providing governance for implementing the shared vision. In 2024, the GAM Metropolitan Council also adopted these guidelines, launching its inaugural agriculture and food policy, which is now being implemented.
Living Lab numbers
50
events organised each year as part
of the Month of Food transition since 2020
120
active stakeholders in the latest session
of the Inter-Territorial Food Council
7
municipalities engaged for the 2022- 2023 school year, serving almost 54% of daily public primary school meals on the area of Grenoble-Alpes Metropole
Grenoble-Alpes Metropole Food Policy is available in the report Official Municipal Acts for Urban Food Policy Approval.
The description of the city’s living labs is available in all the project languages in the Food Trails Final Publication. Go to the resource!
