The DIVINFOOD project was presented at the first European symposium on cultivated biodiversity, held in Granollers (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) on 29 and 30 April 2025.

The event brought together committed stakeholders from across Europe — local authorities, researchers, farmers, NGOs and European projects — with the aim of creating political and communicative momentum at European level to strengthen the integration of cultivated biodiversity in municipal actions as a tool for building sustainable, healthy and biodiverse local food systems, and to establish the necessary alliances to support this effort.

Jérémy Camus, Vice-President of the Lyon Metropolitan Area, spoke about the experience of the Lyon region and its ‘from seed to plate’ policy, which includes the creation of a metropolitan seed farm in Charly, in partnership with the CRBA – Centre de Ressources de Botanique Appliquée, member of DIVINFOOD. 
The discussions highlighted a striking fact: in a century, between 75% and 90% of cultivated varieties have disappeared, replaced by a small number of standardised crops. Today, 30 plant species provide 95% of our food, and three of these — rice, wheat and maize — account for more than 50% of the plant calories consumed worldwide.

Cultivated biodiversity is one of the keys to our resilience to climate change and can strengthen our food sovereignty and the cultural richness of our territories.

For more information: https://foodpolicies4biodiversity.com