Volume 3 Issue 6, June 2022

The framing of global food challenges as a matter of producing enough protein deserves critical assessment. We argue that powerful actors in the food system are responding to this apparent protein shortage in a way that deflects from the critical environmental and social challenges associated with conventional livestock production.

The Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without a transformation towards equitable livelihoods. Governments and businesses have an onus to protect and improve the livelihoods of people living in vulnerable situations by creating innovative institutions, policies and investments.

A cost-effective, high-throughput fibre-based food packaging approach using non-toxic, biodegradable biopolymer materials offers a strategy to considerably increase food safety and security while minimizing food waste.

Climate change will severely influence the yield, production and water demand of processing tomatoes. Atmospheric CO₂ concentration may offset, but not fully compensate, the adverse effects of elevated temperatures.

Trade enables food access and is therefore key to achieving global food security. However, greenhouse gas emissions associated with food transport are many times higher than what was indicated by previous estimates.

Principles encompassed in ‘less but better’ meat could shift meat production and consumption towards greater sustainability. A systematic review identifies inconsistencies in the term’s definition and explores different interpretations that could lead to a shared vision of meat within food systems.

Food production in a given solar footprint is limited by the efficiency of natural photosynthesis. Now, a hybrid electrochemical–biological artificial photosynthesis system demonstrates the potential for food synthesis from CO₂ and electricity, enabling a paradigm shift in food production.

The digital twin technology uses real-time sensor data and in silico models to predict food quality and marketability metrics for every single refrigerated shipment. With this approach, we can identify the optimal shipment temperature window for maintaining citrus fruit quality, killing fruit fly larvae and avoiding chilling injury.

A physics-based digital twin simulating the physical, physiological and microbiological behaviour of citrus fruits shipped at sub-zero temperatures reveals that half of the shipments lie outside the ideal trade-off range between maintaining quality, killing fruit flies and avoiding chilling injury.

A scalable, sustainable and cost-effective approach was developed to synthesize non-toxic, biodegradable pullulan fibres containing naturally derived antimicrobial agents. This food packaging system was tested on avocado and shows potential to enhance food safety while reducing food waste.

The projected increase in temperature will decrease processing tomato production in the three main producing countries by 2050. Temperature increases and water resource constraints in the future might change the main processing tomato growing regions and shift the value chain in the coming decades.

The contribution of transportation to food systems’ total carbon footprint varies widely depending on calculation methods, indicating different priorities for climate change mitigation in the sector. Here, a global multi-region accounting framework that estimates food-miles and associated emissions over the whole supply chain shows the benefits of localizing food production.

The concept of ‘less but better’ meat lacks clarity. A shared vision of livestock systems and meat consumption needs to be outlined to guide decision-makers towards food system sustainability.

Coupling a two-step electrochemical system that converts CO₂ to acetate with photovoltaics increases solar-to-food energy conversion efficiency, providing an alternative route to produce food from carbon dioxide and electricity, independent of biological photosynthesis.

Using soil redistribution and crop growth models, this study shows that as the duration and intensity of tillage increases, wheat and maize yields decrease. Under projected future climate conditions, the impact of crop yields from tillage erosion will be amplified due to reduced water availability.