Every day, tens of thousands of initiatives around the world are working to transform food systems. We call them “Beacons of Hope,” and each of them contributes inspiring, creative, and necessary solutions to urgent global issues such as climate change, migration, urbanisation, and the need for healthier communities and more sustainable diets. By amplifying their stories and understanding their impact, we can connect diverse initiatives seeking food system transformation and strengthen our understanding of the transformation process. The Beacons of Hope (BoH) project applies an inclusive evaluation framework to analyse 10 innovative organisations across the four economic capitals − produced, natural, human, and social − and identify their contribution to food system transformation. The objective is to identify the positive impacts generated by the BoH organisations, in order to gain a better understanding of the enabling factors for designing impactful alternative food systems that nourish current and future generation, while supporting social equality and keeping the planets, its ecosystem and biodiversity intact.

The project team will develop an interview guide to enable the BoH to identify major areas of impacts and their pathways, in combination with relevant data, where available, that demonstrates how True Cost Accounting can serve as both an analytical lens, and a tool for change.

By disseminating the findings, the project aims to contribute to broader understanding of the positive impacts, and cumulative benefits of food systems that are managed for health, sustainability and equity. By elevating the transformative work of Beacons of Hope, we further aim to counter the dominant narratives of the industrial food system - such as technocracy, privatization, and productivism - and marshall concrete evidence in favour of the urgent need for food system transformation.