Food System Innovation

Food production has always shaped the lives of humans and the surface of the Earth. Be it plow or refrigerator, time and again innovations have transformed the ways we grow, process, and consume food over the last millennia.

Image Credit: ChiccoDodiFC/Shutterstock.com

Today, with almost 40 percent of all land on Earth used for food production, the food system massively impacts climate and environment - from nitrogen flows to water use, from biodiversity to greenhouse gas emissions.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Food, an international team of researchers has now assessed and categorized key innovations with a potential to transform the food system, from artificial meat or seafood to biofortified crops or improved climate forecasts, and established what is most needed to make them succeed.

From the invention of the wheel to artificial fertilizers, innovations have always shaped the food system. And agriculture, in turn, has shaped our planet. Of late, however, not to the better, states Alexander Popp, one of the study's authors and head of the land-use group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK):

"Nitrogen has boosted yields and lifted millions out of hunger, but if too much of it drains into nature, whole ecosystems can collapse. So, in light of an expanding world population, huge and rising dietary and nutritional needs, and rapidly shrinking space to remain within safe planetary boundaries, we need to identify innovations that can transform the food system, making it sustainable while feeding more people, and what it takes to make them fly."

In order to do that, the authors have conducted a technological review spanning three millennia. From past successes like the plow or the greenhouse to innovations that are not yet rolled out. The focus is the latter as the researchers aim to answer the question of what society should put her cards on.

We regard transformation as a process of systemic change. This means we not only analyse technologies but also values, policies, and governance. With such lenses we have assessed what innovations there are, globally, how to categorize them, and how ready they are",

Mario Herrero, Commonwealth Scientific, and Industrial Research Organisation

The ten categories identified by the researchers include food processing, gene technology, digital, and even cellular agriculture. The innovations as such, in turn, are very broad, ranging from substitutes for livestock or seafood to biofortified crops or improved climate forecasts.

"Amongst the things currently sprouting in the global incubators are very advanced elements like insects for food or meat substitutes, but even high-impact basic research like fine-tuning photosynthesis", Herrero lays out.

Researchers are currently looking to boost light harvesting in photosynthesis to improve biomass yield.

The right climate for behavioral change

Developing new technology is yet not enough to kick-off a disruptive change in the food system. Innovations also need the right policy conditions and social acceptance to unfold. Plant-based meat and milk substitutes are a great example. The recipes for seitan, soymilk, or tofu were out there for long times.

But only in recent years, with rising consumer awareness for environmental issues, health, and animal welfare, we have the right climate for behavioral change - and companies are seeing the business opportunities: They are ready to refine the technology, making the products tastier and cheaper. And the final boost could come when environmental pollution gets priced, revealing the true costs of a beef burger versus a pea patty. Plant-based meat can become one of the largest transformations in our food system, and it might take off now."

Johan Rockström, PIK director and co-author of the study, summarises: "The Paris Agreement's stay well below two-degree target together with UNs 2030 goals of eradicating hunger, gives us the clear direction of where we are going.

This research now shows us not only how to get there, but also provides confidence that it is indeed possible to succeed.

We can feed humanity within planetary boundaries: what we need is to prepare the ground by implementing the right policies for sustainable innovators and actors that can scale change in the entire food industry, such as carbon and nitrogen pricing and science-based targets for sustainable food. Thus we can kick-start a true transformation towards a safe and just food future for all on Earth."