Food for Good brings together policymakers, academics, businesses, civil society, and local communities to redesign how food is produced, sourced, served, and reused in tourism. It tackles both development imperatives and the urgent humanitarian challenge of food insecurity by promoting policy change and solutions that minimize food loss and waste, enhance the redistribution of surpluses, and give greater value to by-products within circular value chains.
UN Tourism Executive Director Zoritsa Urosevic says: "Tourism holds a unique power to drive systemic change across its vast value chains. The Food for Good Initiative harnesses this potential and its goal is ambitious - to reduce tourism's food-related carbon footprint while advancing global food security. With an estimate of 20 to 40% of food waste in the sector we must embrace a circular model and act now. We invite governments, businesses, and civil society to join us, from the inception and pilot phase, in making food a true force for good."
Stronger supply chains, less waste
The initiative will develop the 2040 Impact Roadmap for Sustainable Food Systems in Tourism, a framework to identify leverage points for transformation. Food for Good builds on UN Tourism's Global Roadmap for Food Waste Reduction in Tourism, developed with UNEP within the framework of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme. It is also supported through the TUI Care Foundation's global Field to Fork programme, which connects farmers, hotels and travellers to strengthen local supply chains and reduce waste.
Thomas Ellerbeck, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TUI Care Foundation, says: "Tourism connects people and places - and food is a key element of this connection. With our Tourism Food for Good initiative, we want to unlock the sector's potential to promote local agriculture, reduce food waste and support circular food systems. We're working to reduce food waste to a minimum. Food management is the future: intelligent planning, efficient, data driven and sustainable. The initiative will not only create a roadmap for the future but also test real solutions on the ground."
The first pilot will take place in Cabo Verde, with the results to be adapted and scaled to other destinations. The initiative applies CRSD Cambridge's Impact Roadmapping and Cambridge Policy Boot Camp (CPBC) methodologies, which combine systems thinking, collective intelligence and participatory research. This approach ensures that scientific evidence and local experience jointly inform the transformation of food systems in tourism.
Professor Nazia M Habib, Founding Director of the Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD) at the University of Cambridge, says: "We turn innovative action research into real-world impact by teaming up with diverse voices to reimagine tourism food systems. Together, we create bold, practical pathways-like transforming waste into valuable resources, building circular economies and unlocking opportunities that fuel resilience and sustainability. It's about shaping a future where Tourism nourishes communities, regenerates ecosystems and sparks lasting change."
The announcement took place during a high-level event organized within the framework of the Tourism for Development Fund, a platform led by TUI Care Foundation with support from UN Tourism that mobilizes strategic partnerships and investments to unlock tourism's potential as a driver of inclusive and sustainable development.
Join the movement
Governments, businesses and civil-society organizations are invited to partner in Tourism Food for Good to co-design the 2040 Impact Roadmap for Sustainable Food Systems in Tourism and host pilots at destination or business level.
