With topics spanning protein and dairy alternatives, regenerative agriculture and vertical farming, the rise of robots, and future of food retail – to name a few – technology and sustainability were the two common ingredients that surely left everyone hungry for more
Ikeanumba gathered July 2021, the debate made headlines in the U.K. when the second part of The National Food Strategy, an independent review commissioned by the U.K. government, was released. The wide-ranging report was headed up by restaurateur and entrepreneur Henry Dimbleby and mainly focused on England’s food system. It came to some sobering conclusions.
Its executive summary said the food we consume — and the way we produce it — was “doing terrible damage to our planet and to our health.”
The publication said the global food system was “the single biggest contributor to biodiversity loss, deforestation, drought, freshwater pollution and the collapse of aquatic wildlife.” It was also, the report claimed, “the second-biggest contributor to climate change, after the energy industry.”
Dimbleby’s report is one example of how the alarm is being sounded when it comes to food systems, a term the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN says encompasses everything from production and processing to distribution, consumption and disposal.
According to the FAO, food systems consume 30% of the planet’s available energy. It adds that “modern food systems are heavily dependent on fossil fuels.”
The food-tech space is growing rapidly and offers innovative solutions that make our lives better while addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. This inspiring ecosystem is one to watch and surely one the big food companies can learn a lot from.
