We live in a world where our plates are filled with convenience and our choices are influenced by an environment full of temptation. The current food system places immense pressure on planetary boundaries and affects people’s health. A large portion of the Dutch population does not stick to healthy diet guidelines, including the citizens of Rotterdam. This city has the highest national rates of overweight and obesity among adults and children. In recent years, major changes have occurred in the city’s food landscape. The number of fresh food providers has decreased by 38 percent, while the number of fast-food locations has increased by 46 percent, especially noticeable in low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods (Mölenberg, 2021). This, coupled with rising food prices and limited financial resources, leads to less healthy lifestyles and increased health risks among citizens of low SES neighbourhoods. The municipality of Rotterdam has the responsibility to secure the health of the city and its citizens. Among initiatives undertaken, the municipality takes part in the City Deal ‘Healthy and sustainable food environment’, to improve the food landscape in collaboration with other municipalities. Within this framework, and in partnership with the municipality of Rotterdam, this project has been initiated with the research question: “How can the municipality of Rotterdam stimulate VMBO students toward adopting a healthier and more sustainable diet?” Literature and field research findings reveal that VMBO students’ dietary choices are influenced by individual factors, their social environment, and the physical environment. VMBO students are in the midst of their development, in which their friend group and social status are important. Consequently, a design statement addressing these aspects has been created using the Social Implication Design (SID) method (Tromp & Hekkert, 2014): “To ensure VMBO students will make healthy dietary choices, I want them to feel cool among their friends by making healthy choices tempting.” The final concept, developed in co-creation with the target group and in line with the design statement, includes two design interventions to promote healthier dietary choices among VMBO students. The first intervention is the ‘Eat to your Beat’ food festival at school. Through a variety of festive activities, VMBO students gain knowledge and skills related to healthy eating. The first intervention aims to actively engage students to experience and discover that healthy food can be tasty and fun. The second intervention, ‘Eat smart, Play hard’, uses street art to draw the attention of VMBO students to healthy food choices. The art is linked to an online challenge complemented by a social media campaign. This intervention aims to seductively showcase healthy foods and engage with the target group in their online world. Lastly, a roadmap presents the required steps for the municipality of Rotterdam to implement the design interventions. The first horizon of the roadmap focuses on laying the foundation, the second one is on expanding the concept, and the last horizon is on optimising the performance. The concept aims to activate the municipality and improve the health of VMBO students in Rotterdam South by making healthy food cool!

The current food system stimulates unhealthy food choices and is a major contributor to environmental pressures. To improve this situation, an integrated approach is necessary, where we take into account the different actors in the food environment and how each of these can contribute to a more healthy and sustainable society. Although change needs to happen on a world-wide scale, this project contributes by case studying a small piece of it: Hillesluis, a low SES neighbourhood in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is one of the most unhealthy cities in the Netherlands, and low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods have the highest priority for change as these low-income groups are more often exposed to and vulnerable to the conditions that are associated with poorer dietary outcomes. With more than 55% of the adults, and more than one in three kids being overweight, we can also see this trend in Hillesluis. The poor dietary intake of low-income groups can be presented as an outcome of a complex adaptive system that sustains a food environment that increases accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability of unhealthy foods. In order to reshape system dynamics, simultaneous, diverse and innovative strategies are needed to facilitate improvement of availability, affordability, accessibility and acceptability of healthier food (Sawyer et al., 2021). To determine a suitable strategy, I studied the local food system in Hillesluis and discovered opportunities and barriers for progress. I did this through literature as well as field research. In the field, I met residents, food retailers and other stakeholders who were eager to contribute to a healthier neighbourhood. The design goal I derived from analysing the gained insights is as follows: “Design an experience that introduces families in Hillesluis to healthier cooking”. To pursue this design goal, I designed a combination of two interventions that together contribute to a healthier food environment in Hillesluis. The core of the concept is ‘De Familiekeuken’, a workshop series where parents and their children learn to cook healthier meals in a social setting, guided by a specialised chef. The goal is that acquired knowledge and skills are eventually implemented in their daily life and their cooking activities at home, so that a healthier diet is established. Besides the workshops, I also propose to increase the amount of physical stimuli of healthy food in the neighbourhood. Through the application of street art, people passing by can get inspired to open up the conversation about healthy food or to make a healthier choice today. Together, these interventions touch upon the different layers of the food environment and in that way increase the availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability of healthy food. A first validation of the concept confirmed a positive intention towards implementation on the stakeholders’ side as well as enthusiasm for participation on the residents’ side. It is expected that this project and implementation of the concept will inspire actions towards a healthier food environment in Hillesluis. With the gained insights and solution I hope to inspire action in other low SES neighbourhoods as well.