The necessary rethinking and mindset shift to strengthen the sustainable decentralised “farm-to-fork” food value chains, respectively to shorten the food value chains (physically and socially), were to be strongly supported by an innovative interdisciplinary toolbox of relevant teaching/learning courses, offering students the opportunity for applied knowledge self-creation, which has been the core of the SafeFood4EU project idea. Another crucial project objective, considering the current challenging developments, has been preparing the highly needed transdisciplinary knowledge transfer platform, as close as possible in its principles and contents to practice and policy-making, considering fundamental issues such as food authenticity, fair production, food toxicology, agri-food basics, and supply chain management. However, another objective for the project team has been rethinking of consumption needs regarding regionality, quality, and the required daily amount of food, often based on subconscious perception factors and respective product quality and overall sustainability. The project team pursued this objective by elaborating and testing a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary English language workshop learning format and content.
Foods are complex products consisting of multiple ingredients of diverse origins. Along the food supply chains, food products are prone to spoilage and safety issues, which could give rise to different health-related concerns and outcomes. Furthermore, the existing highly centralised food systems generate substantial greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. In order to strengthen the sustainable decentralised "farm-to-fork" food chains, a mindset shift supported by relevant education and policy initiatives is highly required. The ERASMUS+ KA220 project SafeFood4EU was conceived with a crucial mission - to develop an interdisciplinary and innovative toolbox of higher education and lifelong learning courses that reflect various aspects of sustainable agri-food systems. The thematic areas covered within the SafeFood4EU project have included food safety and supply chain management, sustainable food systems and design, food production and quality of raw materials, food authenticity and analysis, and digital and soft skills. The main objectives have been to develop a distinctive content package and make it available to the students via an e-learning management system, as this highly interdisciplinary field needs online learning content