Food Sharing Calculator is an innovative online tool designed to support decision-making, which serves to comprehensively assess the costs, benefits and impacts of food sharing initiatives. This tool is a key part of a broader ecosystem called Food Sharing Compass, which was created within the framework of a European project CULTIVATE.

Its main goal is to help build a resilient food future through a better understanding of how food sharing works in practice.

Who is the tool intended for?

The calculator was developed in close collaboration with CULTIVATE project partners, including municipalities, researchers and knowledge transfer experts. It is designed for a wide range of users:

• Food Sharing Initiatives (FSIs): To measure their real impact and effectiveness.
• Investors: The public, private and philanthropic sectors can better identify investment opportunities thanks to the tool.
• Citizens: Who want to actively engage in sustainable food systems.

Three key areas of focus

The tool focuses on three fundamental aspects that help define the success and sustainability of an initiative:

1. Cost estimate: It includes not only direct financial expenses, but also time, effort, and other material or intangible inputs needed to launch and maintain the activity.
2. Understanding the benefits: It focuses on positive social, environmental and economic outcomes, which are often presented in qualitative terms.
3. Impact assessment: These are specific sustainability impacts, which can be positive or negative. These impacts are tailored to the specific initiative and are usually expressed quantitatively.

Supported sharing activities

The Food Sharing Calculator recognizes the diversity of food initiatives and distinguishes between three main categories of activities: collaborative food production, cooking and eating together a redistribution of food surpluses. Many organizations carry out several of these activities simultaneously.

Want to know more?

If you are looking for more in-depth information on sustainability or practical examples, the CULTIVATE project also offers other resources:

• Sharing Solutions Toolshed: A tool to assess the impacts of your own initiative.
• Sharing Solutions Talent Garden: A gallery of examples where you can see how other initiatives measure their impacts.
• CULTIVATE reports: Detailed studies on the costs and benefits of food sharing in European cities.

Are you interested in specific instructions on how to get started with this calculator, or are you interested in specific impact metrics for your organization? Perhaps you are curious about how exactly quantitative impact measurement works compared to qualitative benefits. Just ask! JRI&CO2AI