Greengrocer Food Chain Modelling: Nutrition, Processing and Food Waste as Cornerstones of an Enhanced Model for Food System Networks

Greengrocer connects European research to establish a consistent, transparent and scientifically grounded understanding of environmental impacts, nutritional properties, production processes and losses across the entire food chain. The project consolidates existing data, harmonises methodologies and advances modelling approaches to support informed decision-making in policy, industry and society.

ZHAW contributes by expanding and technologically upgrading the existing Food Chain Model (FCM) both structurally and conceptually. Three core components guide this work:

• first, the integration of nutritional information to enable direct comparison between environmental and dietary assessments;
• second, the representation of processing steps and their influence on environmental impacts and, where possible, nutrient composition; and
• third, the consistent incorporation of food losses and waste across all stages of the value chain.

In parallel, the FCM is being further developed to support not only scientific analyses but also advisory processes and AI-driven applications. Through clear data interfaces, harmonised formats and model extensions, the FCM will enable both direct and indirect use—such as serving as a foundation for AI models that can generate differentiated assessments or decision-support outputs tailored to specific user groups.

Together with other institutions in the Greengrocer project, ZHAW thus provides a key contribution: an enhanced, practical and future-ready food chain model that brings together environmental, nutritional and systemic dimensions in a coherent framework.