The EU-funded CULTIVATE project launches a tool enabling food-sharing initiatives across Europe to assess costs, benefits and sustainability impacts.
The Food Sharing Calculator is a new online decision-support tool that makes the value of food sharing visible and measurable. By supporting the assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts, it helps users make smarter decisions and guide strategic investments toward more resilient and sustainable food systems.
Accessible at
https://cultivatecalculator.eu/, the tool is designed for policy makers, food sharing initiatives (FSIs), food supply actors and researchers. It also supports public, private and philanthropic investors, as well as citizens seeking clearer evidence of the value created by food sharing.
Developed within the EU-funded
CULTIVATE project, the Food Sharing Calculator is part of the
Food Sharing Compass, a suite of tools aimed at strengthening food sharing ecosystems across Europe. The tool has been co-created with CULTIVATE partners and a wide network of collaborators, including food sharing initiatives, municipalities, researchers, and communication and knowledge brokerage actors, ensuring its relevance to real-world contexts.
The Calculator is structured around three focus areas:
- Estimating the costs of food sharing activities, including financial expenditures as well as time, effort and other material and non-material inputs required to start, operate and maintain activities
- Understanding the benefits of food sharing activities, such as social, environmental and economic outcomes, described through qualitative insights with real world examples
- Assessing sustainability impacts, which are tailored to individual initiatives and can be positive or negative, and are frequently expressed in quantitative terms
By bringing together cost estimation, benefit identification, and impact assessment, the Food Sharing Calculator provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating food sharing initiatives and supporting evidence-based decision-making.
Start exploring the Food Sharing Calculator and see the difference you make!