Project Aim and Social Motivation:
Contemporary food systems have reached an unsustainable tipping point due to climate change and biodiversity loss. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy identifies the adoption of alternative protein sources with a lower environmental footprint—particularly as substitutes for red meat consumption—as a critical objective. However, alternative proteins such as edible insects face strong psychological barriers at the household level, including disgust and cultural alienation.
TROJAN-FOOD aims to overcome this resistance by utilizing the approximately 4,000-year-old archaeogastronomic heritage of ancient Troy as a “culinary bridge”, presenting insect-based food products as an alternative protein source embedded within a compelling cultural narrative.

Innovative Methodology and Approach:
The project proposes a highly interdisciplinary Living Lab design that integrates social sciences (Behavioral Economics), humanities (Archaeology and Gastronomy), and agricultural sciences with advanced food analytics technologies.

Archaeo-Gastronomy and Co-Creation:
Based on the dietary practices of the ancient city of Troy, traditional Trojan dishes will be reinterpreted by the project’s archaeogastronomy expert through the incorporation of insect-based ingredients. In this process, insect proteins will be embedded into familiar culinary elements (such as flour, spices, and sauces) and tested through “cook-together” sessions in household kitchens across EU countries. These participatory cooking and tasting sessions aim to reduce prejudice and normalize alternative proteins through experiential engagement.

Behavioral Economics Experiments:
To measure and overcome participant bias, the project will apply a quasi-experimental design across three core scenarios:
• Scenario 1 (Direct Comparison): Sensory analysis comparing the taste and acceptance of insect-based dishes with conventional equivalents.
• Scenario 2 (Psychological Dominance – Cognitive Dissonance): Labeling manipulation to demonstrate how pre-existing biases influence taste perception.
• Scenario 3 (Placebo Effect): Testing whether psychological barriers are driven by rational evaluation or emotional responses.

Data Analysis and Digital Impact:
Household experiments will be digitally documented and disseminated through platforms such as YouTube and local media to reach wider audiences. Global audience comments will be analyzed using MAXQDA software and AI-supported qualitative analysis to assess societal acceptance trends through a netnographic approach.
In addition, a 20-person Independent Validation Group, not involved in the experiments, will be used to test the robustness and transferability of the proposed behavioral strategies.

We need partners and the partners can be from:
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Slovakia, Spain and The Netherlands.

We are a state university in Türkiye. The university was established in 1992. It has 18 faculties, 42 research institutes and 46.000 students.