Vantaa’s mayor, as the newly elected Vice-Chair of the Eurocities Working Group on Food, has a clear message for European cities: start doing. A decade after launching Shared Table, the Finnish city has built a city-wide system that rescues surplus food and gets it safely to people who need it, while opening doors to circular economy pilots and fresh collaboration across departments and sectors.
“It began with a very simple idea: make sure no food is wasted in our city,” Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Vantaa, explains. “We brought together those who can distribute food with those who have food to share.”
From idea to infrastructure
Shared Table started by mapping two sides of the challenge:
- Supply – surplus from supermarkets, restaurants, school canteens and other providers.
- Distribution – NGOs and community organisations able to deliver food to households.
Vantaa then built the infrastructure to connect the two: a dedicated terminal, logistics, and a clear operating model. Today, the system:
- Feeds approximately 10,000 people every week;
- Redistributes up to 20,000 kilogrammes of food weekly, giving it a better purpose instead of becoming waste.
Crucially, the city’s involvement ensured the whole chain meets professional food-industry standards, from storage to transport, giving retailers, NGOs and recipients confidence that “everything goes by the book.”
“We’re not doing this differently to any professional player in the food distribution system,” says Timonen. “That reliability motivates everyone to take part.”
It began with a very simple idea: make sure no food is wasted in our city
Built on partnership
Shared Table works because everyone knows their role:
- Retailers and caterers have a trusted, streamlined way to donate surplus;
- NGOs benefit from predictable supply and organised logistics;
- Residents receive safe, good-quality food.
In a metropolitan area of over 250,000 people, that clarity has helped the model scale without losing quality.
More than redistribution: a platform for innovation
Beyond social impact, Vantaa treats the Shared Table ecosystem as a platform for innovation. Current pilots include:
- Bioenergy from unavoidable waste: the city is testing a bioreactor to turn food that cannot be consumed into biogas. Early estimates suggest meaningful energy yields from relatively small inputs, indicating real potential for scaling within circular economy strategies.
And the city’s wider innovation landscape shows how food links to future-facing tech.
Food, inclusion and learning
For Vantaa, food policy is also social policy. The city’s long tradition of free school meals remains a pillar of wellbeing and inclusion. Monitoring mealtime patterns helps the city spot signals of deprivation. For example, some schools now offer a small breakfast on Mondays after noticing pupils arriving hungry following the weekend.
It’s difficult to ask people to be active in changing their lives if they’re not getting enough good food
“Food is a great integrator,” the mayor says. “It’s difficult to ask people to be active in changing their lives if they’re not getting enough good food.”
Whole-of-city governance
Vantaa is embedding food in its upcoming city strategy, with departments working together on logistics, school catering, city planning and sustainability. The takeaway: food systems are cross-cutting. They touch mobility (delivery routes), built environment (kitchens and storage), education (nutrition for learning), public health, climate and social cohesion.
Learning with – not from – one city
While the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact has helped rally a network of cities, Vantaa’s view is that every city has distinct assets:
- Cities with strong food industries can co-innovate with producers;
- Cities nearer primary producers and markets can shorten supply chains;
- Cities with renowned gastronomy can leverage culinary culture to drive participation and pride.
“There isn’t one ‘model city’ to copy,” the mayor notes. “It’s about networks where cities learn from each other.”
A call to action for Europe
The mayor argues that it is time for urban food to feature more prominently on the European agenda, with local implementers at the table:
“Food is a very local question, and a European one. Cities, national governments and the EU should shape food policy together, because cities are where it all happens.”
Getting started: Vantaa’s advice to cities
Food is a very local question, and a European one. Cities, national governments and the EU should shape food policy together, because cities are where it all happens
- Start now. A good plan helps, but action builds momentum.
- Map your partners. Bring NGOs, retailers, caterers, schools and logistics providers around one table.
- Set high standards. Operate to professional food-industry requirements to build trust.
- Design for scale. Create simple processes and physical infrastructure (collection points, terminals) from the outset.
- Use the platform. Treat your redistribution system as a springboard for circular and social innovations.
- Tell the story. Celebrate milestones, share evidence of social, cultural and economic impact, and keep your community involved.
Ten years, and counting
Vantaa recently marked Shared Table’s tenth anniversary – with coffee, cake, a soup made from the day’s rescued ingredients, and new research on the cultural, social and economic value of sharing food. The celebration reflects what the initiative has become: practical, dignified support for residents, a trusted partnership platform, and a living testbed for the next generation of urban food solutions.
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This interview was conducted during the Milan Global Forum where Vantaa was presented with an Award for its laudable work to promote urban food systems.
Interested in city-led food systems, anti-waste programmes and circular economy? Get in touch with Eurocities’ teams to connect with peers working on procurement, school meals, redistribution models and food innovation across Europe.
