THE EDINBURGH FOOD SOCIAL – A FOOD EDUCATION PROJECT

Steve Brown over the course of his life has decided to embark on a journey into the world of food, working in a variety of positions, building his experience and working his way up to become Head of Food Education at Edinburgh Food Social. This is a social enterprise that is traditionally focused on teaching the community, particularly youth, about the importance of local food and its quality.

But during the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, Edinburgh Food Social was really instrumental in providing food to a significant number of people in the city of Edinburgh, reaching almost 75,000 meals. 

COVID-19 AND SUSTAINABLE CHANGE 

The Edinburgh Food Social is an organization that is built on three main pillars: community, dignity, and sustainability.

During the lockdown, members were in constant contact with communities and used community volunteer groups to distribute food within the communities. 

In terms of sustainability, for example, they utilized many local suppliers and used menus that changed seasonally but also used a lot of waste from larger food producers. 

During the pandemic, there was a lot of focus on people’s diets. In fact, Steve and the organization started buying food locally for meal preparation, went to farm stores, found new local suppliers and new takeout services. 

What Steve says he is interested in is being able to drive change in terms of sustainability and that is lasting over time, through primarily education. He is constantly trying to educate people and getting them to talk to each other, involving younger people as well, discussing the beautiful stories of those foods, which he says are the key to everything. The Edinburgh Food Social strives to create bags containing recipes for people to cook together, putting healthy and seasonal ingredients within the recipes. Steve states that: “It’s great to see families cooking with ingredients they haven’t tried before.” 

THE VALUES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE 

All of this leads to thinking about consumer behavior, which greatly affects food sustainability. In fact, within this organization there is a lot of awareness of what is being consumed. Big retailers tend toward homogenization of food and foods, and that is a real risk to food sustainability. In contrast, the community Steve is a part of focuses on diversity and variety of foods to bring to families’ tables because its cuisine features entirely seasonal foods. For the community, honesty is also very important, in fact there is total transparency about the reality and where the food comes from, something that is often lacking in the marketing of retailers, who paint a false picture of the type of provenance, condition and origins of their food. 

Steve is committed to teaching people about sustainability, the seasonality of products and their diversity, and a commitment to preventing food waste. So, people understand the importance of these issues and how important it is to normalize sustainable behavior. “I am honored to be able to share my passion for food with such wonderful people and to help people better understand where food comes from and encourage young people to create careers in the hospitality industry.”

Not only is Steve Brown fighting for better education and shorter supply chains, but he’s also supporting people in his local community with fresh, nutritious food for as long as they need it.

NEW SCENARIOS TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE DIET

Dr. Christian Reynolds is the Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Food Policy of London. In his last ten years of work, he has been committed to exploring the topic of sustainable diets and explaining to us why we need to lead a healthy lifestyle. 

Covid-19 is a big change in terms of sustainable eating because people have changed their shopping habits and cooking habits in the last year. In addition, there has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of food loss in waste produced by households in the UK. 

FEEDBACK LOOPS OF FOOD AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

Over the last hundred years, the Earth’s global temperature has increased and the period between 1995 and 2006 was warmer than ever before. Food has always been linked to environmental conditions and is sensitive to weather extremes and climate fluctuations. At the same time, however, food production and consumption also affect climate because of the way food is produced. In order to make societies resilient, we have had to change farming practices and cooking methods, so the gastronomy of what we eat has been affected by past climate change. 

Today, there is a huge challenge ahead: providing a growing world population with healthy diets from sustainable food systems. A radical transformation of the global food system is urgently needed, and what can bring benefits to both health and the environment is a diet rich in plant-based foods, with small amounts of animal-based foods. 

To address this urgent need, the EAT-Lancet Commission brought together renowned scientists from around the world, experts in various disciplines, including human health, agriculture, political science and environmental sustainability, to define global scientific goals for healthy diets and sustainable food production. They were placed within a common framework, the safe operating space for food systems, so that planetary health diets that are healthy and environmentally sustainable could be outlined. 

NEW GENERATIONS AND ATTENTION TO SUSTAINABLE DIETS

The transition by 2050 to healthy diets will require significant changes in eating habits. This implies at least a doubling in consumption of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes and a more than 50% reduction in overall consumption of less healthy products such as added sugars and red meat (especially in wealthier countries).

The good news is that dietary change has occurred throughout history. If we look at this phenomenon in terms of demographics, we see how people across generations (particularly today’s youth) are eating more sustainably than they did just 20 years ago. We are therefore moving towards a new normal, which is precisely why it is important to keep in mind that: 

• Consumption and production within a dietary framework can help address some of the major environmental challenges.
• Food security can be addressed with sustainable diets.
• Further dietary change is possible!
• We can use Covid-19 as a return to normal and part of the change.

NUTRITION AS A FOUNDING PILLAR OF FAO

Dr. Mphumuzi Sukati is the Senior Nutrition and Food Systems Officer at FAO Regional Office for Africa. We had the pleasure of hearing his analysis of food consumption behaviors and he gave us an overview of what nutritional malnutrition is.

Dr. Sukati says what we know now, according to 2019 estimates, is that still nearly 700 million people (9% of the world’s population) are hungry and not getting the food they need, suffering from malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. What will happen if the situation continues as it is? That Goal 2 of the Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”) will likely not be achieved in 2030.

What appears even more troubling in these statistics is that the cost of healthy diets is getting higher and higher (almost five times more expensive than unhealthy diets). For this reason, consumers prefer unhealthy choices. Therefore, it is extremely important to strengthen the promotion and messaging of fruit and vegetable-based diets especially in low-income countries, where unfortunately cost is a big determining factor. 

STRATEGY AND VISION FOR FAO’S WORK IN NUTRITION 

Dr. Mphumuzi Sukati and FAO place at the center of their work that of nutrition and standards of the living of the people under their respective jurisdictions. Aspiring to a world free of hunger and malnutrition. Their work consists of very thorough research into the reasons and conditions of malnourished people, so they try to dig deep to find the reasons for this. Mphumuzi Sukati states that the causes of malnutrition are multifactorial and include many problems belonging to the food world. In fact, what FAO aspires to do is: 

• Improve the nutrition focus of FAO’s products and services through delivery mechanisms and core technical activities
• Build and share knowledge and expertise
• Have an approach to ensure that nutrition is addressed in all parts of the food system.

COVID19 AND HOUSEHOLD NUTRITION 

At the end, he outlines how Covid19 has had a serious impact on nutrition. Many people lost their jobs during the lockdown and the commerce of the food world stopped functioning properly, causing food prices to rise and consequently increasing levels of malnutrition, both in urban and rural households. The virus has not only proved to be a health or medical issue, but its impact on nutrition is of concern given the importance of nutrition for an effective immune response.

If you want to know more about the state of food and nutrition security in the world, please click here: http://www.fao.org/3/ca9692en/ca9692en.pdf 

ACHIEVING NET ZERO – FARMING’S 2040 GOAL

Ruth Edge is the Chief Food Chain Adviser at the National Farmers Union (NFU). She told us about the huge changes within the sustainability market and the big ambitions that are underway.

MORE SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR

Large companies and retailers are moving towards becoming more sustainable. People also seem to be taking a different stance, especially when it comes to sustainable aspects, we see more and more people trying to decrease their meat consumption and others sharing the decision to go vegan. 

What is the market doing to meet these demands? Today there are alternatives to meat on the market, but they only represent 2% of the market and in the last year only 0.7% of these have entered people’s homes. On the other hand, there has been a huge growth in dairy alternatives, which represent 5% of the market and in the last year have entered the homes of families almost 30% more than before. 

THE NFU’S VISION: A VERY AMBITIOUS GOAL

As we look at sustainability as a whole and what’s going on, it’s important to consider what National Farmers Union members are concerned about. As an industry they seek to respond to the scientific evidence of climate change impacts and the experience of their farmers and growers who have faced extremes of cold, drought and flooding in recent years.

Agriculture, and the land-based economy, can play a key role in addressing climate change. It is uniquely positioned to capture the main greenhouse gas – carbon dioxide (CO2) – from the air and turn it, with the help of farmers, into a wide range of foods, fibers and fuels. The NFU has set the ambitious goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the whole of agriculture in England and Wales by 2040. 

THE NFU’S APPROACH

NFU members have identified three areas that serve as pillars in this grand vision:

• Pillar 1 – Boosting productivity and reducing emissions: Improving the production efficiency of agriculture will allow farmers to produce the same amount of food, or more, with fewer inputs, in a smarter way. This, in turn, will allow the sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
• Pillar 2 – Farmland carbon storage: agriculture is already responsible for a critical soil carbon resource. Achieving net zero should promote conservation of this resource and enhance its value. This can be achieved by improving and changing land management to capture more carbon (e.g., through more hedgerows, more forests, and more carbon-rich soil)
• Pillar 3 – Coupling bioenergy to carbon capture, utilization and storage: this pillar has a future-focused look at renewable panels, technologies and other renewable energy that will be increasingly relied upon.

What do farmers need to achieve this goal? 

It is difficult for farmers to change how they work, but it is extremely important that they undergo changes. It is important to have data and evidence to show farmers what the planet and we need. This from NFU is a very ambitious goal, but to make change happen, we need support and real help from government, industry and other key groups. 

There is an urgent need now to pilot this grand ambition with the support of government and other stakeholders, bringing net zero to life for the farmers and growers who are critical to its success.

HORTICULTURAL QUALITY AND FOOD LOSS NETWORK – CONNECTING FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

Professor Leon Terry is director of Environment and Agri-Food at Cranfield University and co-director of the Horticultural quality and Food Loss Network.

He tells us about a new initiative in the UK called “Horticultural Quality and Food Loss Network”, founded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. It supports the United Nation Sustainable Development Goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030 (SDG 12.3).

TO ACT AS THE LEADING COLLECTIVE VOICE FOR THE UK HORTICULTURAL COMMUNITY

To help achieve this goal, the UK needs to expand its scientific human capital around maintaining the quality of and reducing food losses from horticultural products. This is because there is currently not enough scientific human capital and technology for research. It’s not about intervening on the consumer, but it’s about intervening in terms of manipulating biology, creating new technologies to enable food loss to be addressed.  What is needed is to create new and better connections between researchers and research users such as businesses and policy makers. 

The goal of the Quality and Food Loss Network for Horticulture is to be the collective voice for the UK horticultural and post-harvest community. Their major interest is in addressing and resolving food loss through continued research and promoting improved quality of horticultural crops. The network focuses on building an efficient, collaborative, and sustainable horticultural research community at the national level, although the goal is to expand more and more. The network is concerned with and interested in the entire supply chain, from breeders to consumers, but with a distinct focus on post-harvest.

NETWORK OF INNOVATORS SO POWERFUL ITS IDEAS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD

The world we live in faces ever-changing social, environmental, and economic challenges that are felt regionally, nationally, but most importantly, globally. KTN’s mission is to connect ideas, people and communities to meet these challenges and drive positive change through innovation. Innovation is very complex and the transition from idea to market is not easy and requires a lot of investment, constant research and in-depth market knowledge. KTN was created to connect innovators with new partners and new opportunities, making ambitious ideas real and concrete.
Their diverse connections span business, government, funders, research and the third sector. KTN, with its broad range of expertise and experts, ensures that ideas are shared across sectors and communities so that innovation opportunities can be identified to change the world for the better.

If you would like to learn more about the Horticultural Quality and Food Loss Network, visit their webpage: https://foodlossnetwork.com. 

BREAKING THE CHAIN – SYSTEMIC INNOVATION IN FOOD ECOSYSTEM

Wayne Martindale is the Associate Professor in Food Insights and Sustainability National Centre for Food Manufacturing at University of Lincoln, leading in part-time study for food industry employees and innovation with businesses. 

The National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM) is the food science campus located on Park Road in Holbeach, South Lincolnshire and is committed to helping the food industry innovate by promoting food manufacturing and food supply chain research initiatives through a wide range of collaborations with industry and academia. The main areas of research are robotics and automation, technologies that can transform food, with the goal of innovating the food industry and improving the way food is produced. For them it is very important to understand what the consumer wants and shape the supply chain, producing meals and wasting as little as possible.

ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

Seeing a food industry plagued by rising labor costs and ingredient prices, they decided to establish a team dedicated to innovation, investing in new technologies and using science and data to disrupt the food production industry. 

Technical and research resources, combined with collaborations with industry and academia, allow NCFM to rapidly advance research and practical problem solving for the food industry.

One of the reasons they do this is because of the national indicators. Wayne Martindale shows us that there is a huge inequality in the world in terms of food waste, especially between the North and the South. That’s because high-income countries can afford to waste, while low- or middle-income countries can’t afford to waste food right now. 

We are at a point where we know the indicators and measures, but we need to have solutions. One of those solutions is clearly making products that are optimal in terms of sustainability. Designing food in a better way comes from a sense of responsibility and a lot of the things they are doing at the National Center for Food Production is looking at technologies that can integrate at relatively low cost but with extremely optimal results.

THE FUTURE IS NOW 

The strong food industry experience of The National Centre for Food Manufacturing has helped them accurately identify trends and stay ahead of the curve. The team strives to radically improve productivity, food safety and traceability through the application of technology in food processing. 

With their digital developments in the production line, they are moving closer to a food factory that brings safety, profitability and environmental benefits, changing the food industry of today and the future for the better.