A grassroots journey toward change

What happens when you bring together artists, activists, food banks, and creative minds to rethink how we eat, live, and govern food? In Stockholm, the SHARED GREEN DEAL experiment did just that, via Reformaten’s bold social experiment: a grassroots journey that turned the abstract, academic idea of “food environment” into something tangible, local, and deeply human.

This wasn’t your typical policy workshop. It was a series of assemblies that felt more like community potlucks with a purpose. The goal was to interpret the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy at the street level in Stockholm, and to define what “food environment” really means for day-to-day life in the city’s diverse communities.

“Who says transforming the food system can’t be fun?” asked Olga Grönvall Lund, founder and secretary general of Reformaten. “With the right ingredients — a mix of inclusion, creativity, and care — it can be downright delicious. That’s what we tried to prove through this experiment.”

Starting where the challenges are most pressing

Reformaten kicked off the experiment in Järva, a socioeconomically challenged area north of Stockholm. The choice was deliberate: start where the food environment is most unfair. The invite list was expanded beyond the usual suspects of NGOs, academics, and government reps. Instead, Reformaten sought out youth groups, different communities, and diversity across neighbourhoods was a priority. This approach helped surface unexpected voices who don’t usually get asked about policy, but live its consequences every day.

The first assembly, held in an art center, used DRIFT’s x-curve model to map transition dynamics. It wasn’t just theory; it was lived experience, shared stories, and exploring how food can enable dignity, opportunity, and inclusion. Participants were treated to a meal cooked by Yalla, a female-led cooperative helping foreign-born women enter the workforce through organic food. 

Next stop: an old church in the south of the city, now functioning as a food bank. Here, the team asked participants to imagine a future where food is both healthy and sustainable. The setting was symbolic: a place offering hot meals for two euros, socially sustainable but environmentally problematic. 

Using the “headline method,” participants envisioned a future that balanced affordability with ecological responsibility. This isn’t an easy challenge: it’s a complex, messy issue, involving trade-offs and tensions. But through tough, honest conversations, the workshop became the perfect launchpad for hopeful conversations about coming together to find workable compromises for all.

The third assembly turned vision into action. Reformaten created a one-day community kitchen where participants co-prepared meals that embodied their imagined future. It wasn’t just symbolic, it was delicious too. The session used a world café format to back-cast pathways toward that future. What would it take to get there? Who needs to be involved? What policies need to shift?

The answers weren’t perfect, but they were real. And they came from ordinary people, living and thriving in Stockholm’s real food environment every day. As Pelle Bengtsberg, Reformaten project manager, recalled, “We really wanted to seize this opportunity to work with the city and its fantastic diversity of changemakers. I still remember the thrill when assembly participants realized that they were, in fact, stakeholders in the city’s food environment.”

A final feast

Originally planned as a February conference, the final assembly morphed into something more powerful: an open conversation attended by 200 guests, including representatives from all eight Swedish parliamentary parties, launching a bold new report that mapped political will around food policy. The brief set out nine concrete recommendations for the city of Stockholm, based on the shared understanding of what a healthy and sustainable food environment could look like that had emerged through the assemblies.

This wasn’t just a handover. It was a challenge to politicians: here’s our vision, now what will you do with it?

And it didn’t stop there. Reformaten’s work earned them a speaking slot at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and helped them build a strong relationship with Stockholm’s newly appointed food coordinator. They were even selected by Sweden’s innovation agency to co-lead a national platform on food environment for the next five years.

Lessons learned (and surprises along the way)

One of the biggest surprises was how open and creative local changemakers were. People who didn’t see themselves as part of the food system stepped up, shared ideas, and helped shape the vision. It proved that when you give people space, they’ll fill it with ideas that matter. 

Reformaten found that a flexible approach empowered them to stay responsive to the needs of the moment. When the February conference didn’t feel right, they pivoted. Instead of a formal event, they launched a report that sparked real political dialogue. That kind of responsiveness made the whole experiment feel alive, more like a movement than a project.

And while the assemblies were rich in insight, the team acknowledged some gaps. The network of changemakers could’ve been more diverse. They asked themselves, “Who’s not in the room?” - a question that should echo through every future initiative. They also wished they’d gathered more voices beyond the core network to truly capture the pulse of Stockholm.

Still, the decision to keep local government out of the early assemblies turned out to be a strategic win. It allowed the vision and recommendations to emerge organically, without political influence. Only once the ideas were fully formed did they invite policymakers to the table. That shift in power dynamics made the final handover more impactful.

What’s next?

As the experiment wraps up, its legacy is already taking root. The concept of “food environment” is gaining traction in Stockholm, not just as a policy term but as a framework for action. The network formed through the assemblies is still active, keeping a close eye on the city’s new food policy. There’s a sense of momentum, of expectation. And Reformaten isn’t done. They’re building a “recipe for change” toolkit so other cities can replicate the process. It’s not a one-size-fits-all manual, but a flexible guide grounded in lived experience. 

Reformaten’s SHARED GREEN DEAL experiment wasn’t about ticking boxes or delivering a polished report. It was about listening, imagining, cooking, and connecting. It turned policy into conversation, and conversation into action.