Across eight impact categories, the food initiative calculation model works out the societal value of an initiative in euros per year. Those categories run from savings in the wallet, income security, rescued food and CO₂ reduction to activation and development, safety-net function, health, and the reduction of societal costs.
Each category carries a fixed value per unit, drawn from the MKBA food initiatives Amsterdam-Noord and from public sources. An initiative enters only its own core figures, after which the model adds up the eight categories automatically into an indicative annual value. This produces a comparable picture of the broad returns of a food initiative, including the part of that value that normally stays off the books. Source: Rekenmodel voedselinitiatief (MKBA Food), New Economy.