Policy: Policy Action Plan

Food-related innovation and R&D, education, food safety and nutrition measurements

Reykjavík Food Policy 2018-2022 2018
City of Reykjavík

• City region is made up of six different municipalities that do not communicate or synchronize their work in the area of food– need for dialogue
• Apart from Reykjavík City, other five municipalities don’t have a dedicated food policy, but mostly mention reducing food waste and improving access to healthy food
• Lack of mainstreaming food into different areas of city’s policy: city planning, public health, education, culture, tourism
• Encouraging citizens to shift to more sustainable (and healthy) diets – not clear how this is done
• Lack of planning for food security – contingency plans needed for ensuring food security in different scenarios, food security policy on a national/regional/city levels
• Not a lot of information on how socio-economic status affects food security and access to healthy and sustainable food – research on this is needed
• Increasing the accessibility of grocery stores without using private transport – not clear how this could be done
• Decreasing the level of reliance on imported food – incentivising local food production and consumption, urban farming, including aquaculture, e.g., through financial support mechanisms, public procurement of locally produced food - not being done
• Lack of funding behind policy actions - a major issue
• Experimental and neighbourhood vegetable gardens in Reykjavík – need funding for that, which is currently not present
• Improving food culture by increasing number of vegetable/organic markets in the city – Need funding for that: organization, advertising, space
• Reducing food waste by 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2050 – the municipalities do not have concrete actions listed and lack funding
• Shorter and more visible path from farmer to stomach – product labelling, city-supported vegetable gardens, public information campaigns are mentioned but have not been implemented in practice
• Lack of knowledge and information about sustainable food systems, where food comes from, what its health and environmental impacts are, etc. – need for research, systemising  knowledge, education
• The role of consumers/citizens is not clear – lack of initiative and agency from civic society, with the exception of the movement against food waste
• Lack of diversity in local food production – need for initiatives to increase this diversity, e.g., by increasing local and urban food production, supporting small retailers, farmers,  and citizen groups to develop innovative solutions for enhancing food system diversity
• Adaptation to climate change – no information how the CRFS can cope with changing climate and how is ability could be increased
• Finding out how much food is actually produced, processed and sold in the capital area, how much is imported, and what is the potential for increasing local food production.
• Statistics Iceland is working on preparing information disaggregated on regional/city level.

Most types of food are produced in the Reykjavík capital area, but with over 60% of the population concentrated here it is inevitable that its food system depends on food and feed brought in from other parts of Iceland and from abroad. Around half of the daily caloric intake of Icelanders comes from imported food. Food is first imported to the capital area and then distributed to the rest of the country. It has been estimated that if food production became entirely local without changing the cur-rent mix of crops grown, there would be a 50% reduction in diversity (from 50 to 25 items in eight out of ten food categories). Iceland is a major exporter of fish, and is almost self- sufficient in meat and dairy production, but imports close to close to 100% of current cereals, oils, and fruits. A large share of vegetables (61%), beans and nuts (50%), and beverages (39%) is also imported (2015 data).

Food and drink accounted for about 12.5% of people's consumption in the capital area in the years 2013-2016 . The rate of obesity is higher in the countryside than in the capital area where almost 24% of children are under ideal weight, and 5.5% are obese. In rural
areas, the percentage of overweight children is around 33%, and children with obesity – around 10%. The obesity rate is the highest in Iceland among the Nordic countries .
According to Bailes and Jóhannsson, the concept of food security in Iceland was not used until the financial crisis of 2008, and to this date it is not well-developed, even though it has been more frequently discussed recently in relation to climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Natural disasters disrupted trade flows, global crises, such as the cur-rent war in Ukraine, and extreme climate events affecting global harvests are among the biggest threats to food security in Iceland. The country’s food and fuel reserves are lower than in other Nordic countries, contingency plans for food security on the regional and mu-nicipal level seem to be missing.

The land surface in the capital area is in many areas sparsely populated, and land reclamation is undertaken in many places. There are lava fields with vegetation and patches of wetlands in the capital in good condition. The coastline is long and much of it is man-made. Arable land is scarce and mostly found in Mosfellsdalur, Kjalarnes and Kjós. In the northern part of the capital area, there are rivers and lakes, and in the southern – forests and protected areas that are important for recreational activities .

Iceland, including the capital region, is generally considered to be an affluent society with low levels of poverty. However, relative poverty is acute among low-income individuals and families. For instance, 37.5% of single parents are below the low-income threshold in Ice-land, 13.7% of childless single people, and 8.4% of couples with children. In 2015, around 9.6% of individuals were below the low- income limit, while around 5% of individuals lived with a lack of material quality. Around 12.7% of children in Iceland are at risk of living in poverty and social isolation.

• is rather decentralized and governed by different actors
• depends on imports for half of its food
• wastes around 1⁄3 of its food
• does not fully utilize its natural and human resources for making the food system more resilient
• does not have a food security policy
• has relatively low diversity in terms of food production and retail

• facilitating communication between different actors involved in the governance of CRFS
• increasing local food production
• significantly reducing food waste in the capital area - 30% by 2025
• facilitating innovative projects in the field of food production, education, better utilization, etc.
• creating food security policy for the capital area
• increasing diversity in food production, catering and retail by facilitating food-related innovation projects

The strategy for achieving these goals could include:

• arranging a meeting or a workshop with representative of different municipalities in the Reykjavik Capital Area
• creating a plan on how local food production could could be increased, including review of existing policies and action plans
• signing the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, communicating and collaborating with other cities in Europe, learning from their good practices
• creating, facilitating and actively participating in projects aimed at reducing food waste
• creating and facilitating collaborations and projects aimed at enhancing food production, e.g. urban gardens in schools, reducing food waste, etc.
• collecting and systemising information on food production, processing, catering, distribution, and waste in the capital area to get a fuller view of CRFS
• encouraging food innovation in the CRFS through projet support, participation, and funding

The key characteristics of the Reykjavik Capital Area CRFS are large reliance on imported food, while also exporting large amounts of fish; limited possibilities for agriculture due to harsh weather conditions, which is somewhat remediated by abundance of local non-fossil fuel energy; large and underutilized waste streams from food sector; lack of coordination of food- related policies between different actors and municipalities; sporadic food innovation and public participation projects; absence of food security and climate change adaptation policies in the food sector; long food supply chains; reliance on private transport for household grocery shopping; lack of education and information on sustainable and healthy food options.

• synchronized food policy for the capital region
• significantly increased sustainable local food production and consumption
• improved food culture in the city for locals and visitors - Reykjavik as a culinary destination
• improved access to information about healthy and sustainable food options, especially in schools and kindergartens
• food waste reduced to a minimum, and the organic waste fully utilized - not landfilled
• cooperation with cities in Europe increased, MUFPP signed and good CRFS practices shared and adapted

all themes

Contact municipality responsible for food
policy and ask them if they would be
interested in a meeting, discussion,
workshop on food related issues in the
capital area

Organize a meeting with the representatives

November 2022 - December 2022

December 2022 - March 2023

Connect Reykjavik City to other interested
municipalities to Cities 2030 consortium
members to share experience and good
practices

Facilitate signature of MUFPP by Reykjavík
and disseminate information about it

January - May 2023

by May 2023

Map out food related projects in Reykjavik
area

Collect information about food waste and
possible solutions on a CRFS level