Impact Insights: A Net Zero Food System
With the launch of EIT Food’s Impact Funding Framework, dive into the detail of EIT Food’s Net Zero Food System mission with this fact sheet.
This fact sheet includes key takeaways and recommendations from EIT Food’s mission insight report, A Net Zero Food System and has been designed to guide applications for EIT Food’s Open Call.
The four priority areas where EIT Food can have the most impact are:
- Agriculture and primary production
- Food loss and food waste
- Food and beverage packaging
- Protein diversification
Three key enablers to these priority areas:
- Data and value chain integration and measure, report, verify (MRV) processes
- Overcoming barriers to behaviour change in the farming community
- Changing consumer behaviour
Dive into the detail
Key findings
Agriculture and primary production
Beef production, rice production and feed coming from deforested areas have the most negative effect on the emissions of greenhouse has (GHG).
Some innovation is required here, but enabling farmers to lead the transition is the key, including ensuring their understanding and overcoming barriers to adoption. This includes the critical need for standardised MRV and definitions for Net Zero and Regenerative Agriculture.
Food loss and food waste
Measuring and evidencing progress for food loss and food waste reduction is strongly required. For example, edible and inedible parts of food need to be disaggregated to help inform decision making. Furthermore, there is a need for a data repository on food loss and waste measurement as well as greater levels of consumer education e.g. best-before dates.
Food and beverage packaging
This is high on agendas for retailers, manufactures and brand owners. Connecting startups with industry here is important. There is a significant opportunity and need around developing a gold-standard for eco-labelling as well as a focus on education for consumers in general.
Protein diversification
There is a critical need to accelerate innovation to market in this field and enable appropriate policy frameworks to incentivise the transition to diversified protein sources. There is also a strong need to increase consumer awareness to facilitate behaviour change.
Opportunities
Agriculture and primary production
Regenerative Agriculture is a significant opportunity yet currently no commonly accepted definition nor impact indicator exists.
Incorporating low emission, carbon sequestration and sustainable farming practices to regenerate soils, boost productivity, increase yields, reduce emissions and capture carbon has the potential to reduce carbon by 10.5 Gt CO2 every year.
Supporting tech and capabilities
Methane capture, feed additives, precision farming, plant and soil microbiome, new breeds, gene editing, animal health and husbandry, solutions to fertilizer and anaerobic digestors.
Pricing of carbon will be a key component in supporting farmers to fund the negative emission technology needed to achieve net zero.
Food loss and food waste
Focussing on primary production and consumers, as well as the valorisation of side streams.
Supporting tech and capabilities
- End-of-use and waste: Recovery, e.g. recycling
- Landfills e.g. anaerobic digestion of food waste
- Game based apps
Food packaging
Transforming the packaging system from a linear model towards a circular system where value can be captured in the system and out of the environment
Supporting tech and capabilities
- Transitioning away from fossil fuel monomers
- Sustainable packaging by design
- Substrate additives and materials, active and intelligent packaging, smart labels and edible coatings
Protein diversification
In production and consumption. As an opportunity to complement and support the agriculture sector and wild fisheries to feed a growing population.
Supporting tech and capabilities
Plant diversification, aquaculture and algae biotechnology and synthetic biology.
Enablers for change
- Engagement with policymakers
- Forging collaboration and partnerships between government, academia, NGOS, industry (from big brands down to small farmers)
- Knowledge and skills development among farming communities and society, particularly young people
- Development of resources and infrastructure as well as technological innovation to scale up solutions and drive down costs
- Scouting innovations with underpinning IP, establishing regulatory experts / expertise to support agrifood start-ups and providing access for start-ups to technical experts, IP support and advice, pilot facilities and farms and support them in accelerating from lab to commercial scale
- Experimentation in new production methods, products, services, and business models, particularly in use of food waste will be important.
- Public Engagement, particularly with young people to inform on net-zero and raise awareness and increase consumer acceptance of innovative new net-zero solutions.
Got an idea that will change food systems for the better?
We’ve launched a competitive, open Impact Funding Framework to promote ambitious, long-term collaboration that will lead to food systems change to benefit us all.