From: VIMOSZ
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge is a global competition that helps cities create bold, innovative solutions to improve public services and residents’ lives. It has selected 50 finalist cities worldwide from over 630 applicants for their ambitious and scalable ideas to enhance urban living. These 50 cities will receive $50,000 in funding to develop and test their proposed solution. The initiative also includes an „Ideas Camp”, where cities can receive expert guidance and peer feedback, with the chance to win $1 million for full implementation in 2026. Among the best cities is also Budapest, whose initiative presents a promising approach.
The Hungarian capital’s proposal focuses on tackling food waste and improving public nutrition through the creation of a municipally operated food processing facility. This centre would collect unsold but still edible fruits and vegetables from local markets and turn them into nutritious semi-prepared or ready-to-eat products such as frozen vegetable mixes, jams or pickled goods. These products would then be integrated into the city’s public catering system – particularly in school canteens and elderly care homes – ensuring that surplus food supports society.
The initiative combines environmental, social and economic goals: reducing food waste, enhancing the nutritional quality of public meals, strengthening the circular economy and creating a new revenue stream for local farmers by giving market value to produce that would otherwise go to waste.
Further information can be found on this page.