Research and Innovation for our future food systems Position paper of TP Organics

Research and Innovation for our future food systems Position paper of TP Organics 1. Introduction The European Commission, Directorate-General Research and Innovation, organised the workshop Building our future food systems on 11 May 2016. The aim of this workshop was to discuss the challenges for today's food systems, debate future solutions for these challenges, and list key areas for future research and innovation and for European action. This position paper is meant as an input to the workshop. It is based on the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda of TP Organics. Input and advice was provided by the national technology platforms of TP Organics and a team of experts. The position paper deals mainly with food system research and innovation post farm gate. Research and innovation needs related to primary production are not addressed. 2. Grand challenges of our food systems Food systems comprise food production (primary production and processing), trade and consumption. They are directly dependent on and at the same time have big impact on the natural environment. The major challenges of Europe s food systems can be summarized as follows: 1. Consumption 1.1 Urbanization leads to a loss of connection to food production and the environment in which food is produced. Knowledge about food, nutrition and food preparation decreases. 1.2 Changes in consumer attitudes with higher preference for more ready-to-eat products and convenience products. At the same time, there is increasing demand for natural, healthy and authentic foods. 1.3 Market power concentration in big retailers and supermarkets shapes consumer behaviour. 1.4 Market demand and prices are more volatile. Price volatility is a problem both for producers and consumers. 1.5 The price of food does not reflect the true cost. External environmental, social and public health costs are not taken into account. 1.6 Increase of malnutrition. Almost 52% of Europeans are overweight or obese. Malnutrition is the number one root cause. At the same time, undernutrition also affects a large number of people. In Europe, an estimated 33 million people are at risk of undernutrition. Socio-economic inequalities lie at the heart of health inequalities. 2. Production 2.1 Production processes become more complex. 2.2 Increase of food processing methods with increased intensity of the processes and use of additives, often degrading nutritional quality. 2.3 Loss of nutrient density of food as a result of soil exhaustion and intensive farming methods. 2.4 Decreased diversity of raw materials accompanied by increased diversity of food products on the market, which results in more of the same. 2.5 Increased food marketing and advertisement. As a result, a gap has developed between the food industry s practices and consumer perception. 2.6 Food fraud and counterfeit food is an increasing threat to the credibility of European farmers and the food industry at large. 1

3. Environment 3.1 Decrease of biodiversity: food production depends directly on the services provided by the many species in our agro-ecosystems (e.g. pollination, soil fertility). The degradation of these species will have serious consequences for food production, and perhaps already does. 3.2 Climate change: agricultural activities are responsible for 10% of the EU s greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, food production is already and will even be more affected by the consequences of climate change. 3.3 Water scarcity and water pollution: food production has an impact on water cycles by abstracting and contaminating water. At the same time, the reduced availability of clean water is a serious threat for food production. It is often cited that consumers increasingly consume foods outside the home, e.g. in canteens, cafeterias, and (fast food) restaurants. Lack of time prompts people to purchase convenience foods, which are ready to eat or require minimal preparation. But, consumer preferences and lifestyles also change in the other direction. There is increased interest in cooking among consumers. More and more consumers demand diversified, high-quality, natural (no chemicals, no additives) and healthy food products at affordable prices. Demand for vegetarian and vegan food is rising. Community-supported agriculture links urban consumers with peri-urban quality producers using low external inputs. Consumers prefer food from sustainable and ethical production systems. They want to know where their food comes from; they demand transparency. These trends are creating pressure to move away from input-based methods of food production towards more environmentally friendly techniques. In this context, the market for organic food in Europe is increasing rapidly. Since the mid-1980s, in the EU alone the total area of farmland under organic production has increased steadily to 10.3 million hectares (as of 2014). This has been accompanied by buoyant market growth over the last ten years, with the total value of the EU organic retail market doubling from 11.1 billion in 2005 to 24 billion in 2014. 3. Our future food systems A transition is needed towards sustainable food systems based on fairness, transparency, integrity and trust. TP Organics stands for food systems in which people have healthier and better balanced diets with a greater share of fresh and whole foods. Food production and food processing technology should meet the highest environmental standards and only minimally alter the intrinsic qualities of food. Food systems should produce authentic food and allow for regional variations of flavours and products. Food loss and food waste should be reduced to a minimum. Consumers should be better informed about the production processes and their environmental and societal impacts, so that they can make informed choices. The organic food system offers a model of how these values and principles can be integrated into successful business models. 4. Key areas of research and innovation Research and innovation for building the food systems of the future should include all relevant perspectives and not be reduced to single step improvements. Innovations should include social innovation (change in behaviour), organisational innovation (change in management and cooperation), know-how innovation (knowledge around methods and practices) as well as technological innovations and integrate all actors within the food system. TP Organics has identified following key areas of research and innovation for building our future food systems: 2

True cost accounting of food and food systems In our present food systems many costs are externalized. The price of (conventional) food on the market does not reflect its true costs. Costs related to loss of biodiversity, water contamination, climate change impact, and other negative effects on the environment, public health and the society are not taken into account. The externalisation of these costs disadvantages sustainable food systems based on agroecological and organic principles. Models for true cost accounting should be developed and policies should be designed that make market prices reflect external costs. Reconnecting consumers and producers Innovative approaches should be designed that reconnect consumers with food production and result in more ethical consumption choices. Consumers should know how their food is produced and where it comes from. Producers need to better understand preferences of consumers, rather than assume that current purchases represent consumer demand. A mutual understanding of consumer and producer needs is a prerequisite in the transition towards sustainable food systems. Different approaches for promoting more transparent value chains are possible, such as cooperative business structures, urban agriculture or community supported agriculture, alongside ICT tools (e.g. smartphone applications) that provide consumers with transparent, reliable and relevant information. Policies should be designed that improve consumers relationships with food production. Rebalancing market power in the supply chain Business models and supply chains should be designed where more value is added to the primary product. A diversity of approaches is possible such as more direct consumer involvement (community supported agriculture), on-farm food processing, short or regional supply chains, farmer/consumer cooperatives, and establishing stable and fair contracts between farmers and food companies. Transparency and trust in the food chain Consumers, farmers and many food companies, including organic food companies, demand more transparency in the food supply chain. Collaboration within the food chain should be supported and new business-to- business communication tools should be developed to increase transparency and food integrity. Big data and marketing analytics represent important opportunities in this respect. A balance should be struck between sharing information among the actors of the food system and protecting confidential business information. Such efforts should be complemented with analytical (lab) methods that can detect food fraud (e.g. in the organic value chain). Development and assessment of food processing technologies Several innovative technologies are being developed that preserve the typical characteristics of fresh food (sensorial-organoleptic properties, texture, essential nutrients) better than conventional technologies do and that have a lower environmental impact. More research should be invested in such minimal processing technologies. Technologies should also be developed that allow reducing the use of food additives and enhancing the shelf life of products (e.g. by reducing unwanted side effects of thermal actions). A critical assessment of novel and emerging technologies for food processing is needed. Attention should be paid to the impact of these methods on nutritional quality, food texture, the environment, public health and labour safety as well as economic feasibility. Consumer acceptance in terms of quality, safety and costs deserves special attention. A special area of research should be the appropriateness of these technologies for use in the organic sector. 3

Sustainable packaging In recent years, the development of novel food packaging (modified atmosphere, active packaging) has not only increased the shelf life of foods, but also their safety and quality. At the same time such packaging may have a high environmental impact. Research in sustainable food packaging should be guided by the principles of the circular economy. Priority should be given to packaging with minimal environmental impact that can be re-used, recycled or is bio-degradable. Use of harmful substances (e.g. bisphenol A) should be eliminated. Innovation in food packaging has gradually expanded towards the development of intelligent packaging, i.e. packaging that can monitor the condition of the contained food or the atmosphere surrounding the food during transport and/or storage. The development of such new intelligent packaging deserves further research. It can enable the detection of fraud throughout the supply chain or contribute to the prevention of contamination during transport. Colour, odour, and texture are indicators that consumers use to evaluate overall product quality. However, a product s package can prevent consumers from fully employing these conventional ways of quality assessment. Consequently, there is a need for technology that provides an additional way for consumers to assess quality of food products. Protein production and consumption Europe depends greatly upon proteins imported from overseas (mainly soya). Europe s self-sufficiency in proteins needs to increase drastically, both for animal feed and direct human consumption. Efforts are needed at the level of primary production (growing more protein crops), but also at the level of food processing. Better feed and food processing techniques (e.g. texturisation, extrusion) should be developed for the production of more efficient protein feed (for monogastrics) and the production of plant-protein products that can be accepted by consumers. The use of algae and insects for animal feed and human food should be further explored. In order to close the gap between demand and supply, not only the supply of regionally produced proteins should increase, but also demand for animal products (and hence animal protein feed) should decrease, by encouraging a dietary shift to vegetable proteins. Sustainable, diverse and healthy diets Diets and eating habits are an essential part of sustainable food systems. Research is needed on how dominant actors influence consumer behaviour, in ways which may lower environmental sustainability and nutritional quality. Social innovation is needed to increase the consumption of, and improve access to fresh, regional, seasonal and healthy food. It is important to promote diets with a greater proportion of plant-based products as this would considerably reduce the ecological footprint of Europe s food system, while at the same time increase public health. The role of public policy (e.g. public procurement, subsidy schemes for sustainable and healthy food) and education should be investigated. Special attention needs to be paid to vulnerable groups like children, people living in poverty and social exclusion, rural communities or minorities. Reducing food waste Lost and wasted food accounts for about 30% of global agricultural production. Reducing this food wastage is an essential strategy for increasing sustainability of food systems, as it would reduce the pressure to increase yields or to expand cropping areas to feed the growing global population. Also, food waste in the supply chain is an economic loss, so reducing it is a win-win. At the level of the supply chain, there is a need for better planning and organisation, for better storage facilities, processing methods and packaging. At the consumer level, change of purchase, consumption and eating habits are needed. 4

5. Flagship programme for the transition of the food system In order to achieve food and nutrition security at the global level, a transition of the entire food system is needed. Many lock-in factors prevent the dominant food system to change. Farm and food policies from the local to the global level need to be redesigned and better integrated, new supply chains and retail infrastructures need to be set-up, food and farming education needs to adapt. This requires much more than a value chain approach. Also the non-linear actors in the chain should be involved such as policy makers and actors in the education system. Furthermore, people should not only be addressed in their role as consumer, but also and in the first place as citizen. While the transition of the food system in itself is not a matter of research but of policy making, research has an important role to play in designing policy options and assessing the complex interactions and dependencies between them. Crucial for designing policies is using the right indicators. One major trap is to reduce the food system to only a few parameters for which data are available. For example, sustainability is often reduced to greenhouse gas emissions, not taking into account biodiversity loss and socio-economic aspects. All the different dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, economic, cultural) should be taken into account and the synergies and tradeoffs between them better understood. Given the huge number of actors involved and the many interactions and interdependencies in the food system, such research cannot be addressed by one single project or even series of projects. A flagship programme with considerable amount of budget is needed in order to make significant advances in the transition of Europe s food system. 6. Involving business in research and innovation The food and drink sector of Europe is a very diverse sector, with 99% of food and drink companies being SMEs. At the same time, SMEs experience several difficulties in participating in research and innovation projects. Whereas researchers need time to solve a problem, SMEs need solutions in a short time. The time investment needed to prepare a bid of which the result is unsure and the administrative burden for getting and running research projects are other obstacles preventing SMEs to participate. Given the diversity of the European food and drink sector, there is a wide diversity in research and innovation needs which should be reflected in research programmes. Funding rules should allow participation of companies that have low capacity to co-finance research. Transdisciplinary projects are needed that involve business actors as co-scientists, not as a source of data. The challenge here is to identify and provide the benefits for the business side. One pre-requisite for successful involvement of SMEs in research and innovation is to build and support the development of long-term relationships between science & business actors. Innovation brokers that can facilitate the understanding between the needs and obligations of the world of science and the world of business play a crucial role in this. Acknowledgement TP Organics wishes to thank Johannes Kahl who made the first draft of this paper. Furthermore, we gratefully acknowledge the feedback of all our national technology platforms and experts who contributed to the paper (Alexander Beck, Laurence Beck, Marian Blom, Lieve De Cock, Claire Dimier- Vallet, Johannes Doms, Martina Eiseltová, Mauro Gamboni, Gerald A. Herrmann, Les Levidow, Tom MacMillan, William Meister, Cristina Micheloni, Susanne Padel, Flavio Paoletti, Charles Pernin, Carola Strassner, and Maria Wivstad). 5