Food Boost Challenge

Young people in the Netherlands are too often tempted to make unhealthy food choices. On the road, but also at school or in the sports canteen. We want to change this in a smart way: with young people themselves.

Healthy eating and drinking – water, plenty of fruit and vegetables, wholemeal products – is important for a healthy body. It lowers the risk of all kinds of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. And it reduces the risk of being overweight and obese. Of 12- to 17-year-olds, over 12% are overweight, of 17- to 20-year-olds about 19% (source: CBS). In addition, only 1% of 14- to 18-year-olds eat enough vegetables daily and most young people eat no more than 1 piece of fruit a day (source: RIVM). So there is room for improvement!

Most prevention programmes focus on primary school children and are based on traditional scientific research. Programmes based on participatory action research and aimed at adolescents, such as high school students, students in secondary or higher vocational education and university students are rare. With the Food Boost Challenge, we are changing that!

Together with educational institutes and partners from the business and social field, we challenge young people to come up with their own ideas to make healthier eating more attractive. In five phases – from research to ideation and from concept development to prototype and implementation phase – they give a boost to a healthier diet of their own, and of future generations.

Phase 1, Research Phase: in this phase, students participate in research among young people about healthier food choices. What do they think about, and how do they think about it? But also what makes healthy eating easier or more difficult for them?

Phase 2, Ideas phase: in this phase, young people can submit their own ideas and concepts for the Food Boost Challenge, with the assignment of how to entice young people to make healthier choices.

From all submissions, around 10 teams will be selected for the next phases in this Food Boost Challenge.

Phase 3, Co-creation phase: in this phase, the selected teams will further develop their concept into a prototype, together with partners from the entire food system surrounding young people. These include companies (from start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs to multinationals), but also governmental organisations (such as GGD and Jong Leren Eten), and non-governmental organisations (such as Unicef) and educational institutions.

Phase 4, The final event where all teams compete against each other. Teams present their prototypes so that judges and other visitors can experience it in the best possible way (smelling, tasting, testing, seeing, experiencing, etc). Which team will give healthier food for young people the biggest Boost? They will be the winners of the expert jury. During the final, it will also be announced which team wins the audience prize!

Phase 5, Implementation phase: a few promising prototypes will be offered (if interested and given the opportunity) to take the prototype further with their own team, with guidance from partners and/or knowledge institutions, and turn it into a pilot. Here, the prize can partly serve as seed capital.