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Eat4Climate: the European cities changing citizen diet to cut carbon emissions (Network artice #1)

 “In Mouans-Sartoux, people are surrounded by sustainable food”

In the French Riviera town of Mouans-Sartoux, schoolchildren eat organic vegetables harvested a few kilometres away, disadvantaged families pick up subsidised produce from a municipal grocery, and cooking workshops are as common as sports clubs. Sustainable food is not hidden in specialist stores or reserved for environmental enthusiasts. It is woven into everyday life.

“For people here, sustainable food is everywhere,” says Gilles Pérole, deputy mayor for food policy. “People are surrounded by it.”

That deceptively simple idea has become the foundation of Eat4Climate, a new URBACT Transfer Network bringing together six European territories determined to cut their climate impact by changing how people eat.

E4C Toolbox - Sustainable Food Policy Cards

How can partner cities grasp, in a quick and operational way, what represents more than 25 years of accumulated food transition policies in Mouans-Sartoux? And how can this dense experience become a lever for strategic discussion rather than an overwhelming catalogue?

The challenge is not to replicate a model, but to support city stakeholders in identifying what could realistically be transferred, adapted or reinvented in their own local context.

E4C Toolbox - Eat4Climate Compass, an orientation tool for action

The challenge

Cities cannot launch a PhD thesis or a full assessment study every time they design a new food policy action, adjust an existing one, or arbitrate budget priorities. Yet decisions must be taken, often quickly, in complex and uncertain contexts.

E4C Tool Box - Eat4Climate Stakeholders Inspiring Mapping

A mapping of the Mouans-Sartoux’s stakeholders provides an interesting way to read its food transition strategy. The actionability of the transfer for city partners depends on their official competences and network outreach and is differentiated according:

Eat4Climate – The First Steps of the Journey

Launched in November 2025 and led by City of Mouans-Sartoux as Lead Partner, and François Jegou as Lead Expert, the Eat4Climate Transfer network brings together six cities committed to changin eating habits in order to reduce the carbon footprint of food systems. Through the adaptation and the transfer of Mouans-Sartoux’s Good Practice, partners are working to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable and climate friendly food systems.