Championing innovation for a resilient food system

Abstract

Food Science and TechnologyVolume 34, Issue 2 p. 36-39 FeaturesFree Access Championing innovation for a resilient food system First published: 28 May 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/fsat.3402_10.xAboutSectionsPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Laura Elphick outlines the goals and aspirations of EIT Food and explains how it is working to increase collaboration and innovation in the food sector. Arguably now more than ever our agri-food system faces multiple threats and challenges. From a growing population that is expected to reach 9.8bn people by 2050 (UN, 2017)1, to a global food waste crisis where one- third of all food is lost or wasted (FAO, 2020)2, to the effects of climate change on soil health and quality3, our food system is experiencing increased pressure. The current COVID-19 outbreak is increasing the pressure even further as we experience the impact on food supply chains across the globe4. EIT Food is Europe's leading food innovation initiative, aiming to overcome some of the food system's biggest challenges. To do this, EIT Food is building an inclusive community that fosters innovation and collaboration to transform the system into one which is more sustainable, healthy and trusted. This community consists of actors from across the food value chain including key industry players, agri-food start-ups, research centres and universities from across Europe, all working together with citizens and consumers to deliver an innovative and entrepreneurial food sector. EIT Food is one of eight EIT-funded innovation communities that supports entrepreneurs, innovators and students across Europe to create and find innovative solutions to major societal issues. Through building connections with organisations, such as IFST, EIT Food is reaching out to individuals across the food sector to encourage participation in innovation to deliver a secure, sustainable and healthy future of food. There are many ways for individuals and companies to engage directly with EIT Food and its partner base. Our UK-based team are always available to discuss and share information about ways to engage. EIT Food: making innovation happen EIT Food was formed in 2018 by a public-private consortium funded by The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). EIT itself is an EU body created by the European Union in 2008 to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. EIT Food is one of eight EIT-funded innovation communities that supports entrepreneurs, innovators and students across Europe to create and find innovative solutions to major societal issues. It is this motivation to understand the food system from multiple perspectives and solve its challenges that underpins the determination to achieve real impact in a sector that needs transforming. At EIT Food we align ourselves with UN Sustainable Development Goals5 to define the wider societal challenges where we want to deliver influence, and the specific societal indicators that we need to focus on to achieve this. We have six target areas where we aim to deliver real impact including targeted nutrition, sustainable agriculture, digital traceability, sustainable aquaculture, circular food systems and alternative proteins. In an industry which is traditional and largely unchanged, innovations within each of these areas will allow the digital transformation of the food system as a whole, where new technologies can help overcome many of the industry's challenges. EIT Food has built a community with 86 innovative partners and 58 enterprising start-ups, which deliver over 100 projects each year that are helping to transform the food system. This community is continuing to grow, as we welcome other networks, organisations and start-ups with different skills and capabilities to join us. At the core of the EIT Food community is the consumer, as it is the inclusion of consumers in the process of innovation itself that is paramount to achieve change. We are all responsible for and connected to the food that we eat so all stakeholders need to work together to make innovation happen. Delivering innovation during a crisis Creating and implementing innovative solutions during the most challenging of times including the COVID-19 pandemic can be daunting. However, in times of crisis the food system pulls together to display the upmost resiliency. At EIT Food we are no different. We enable collaboration via a digital platform and facilitated workshops and discussions to support online joint innovation when face-to-face collaboration is not possible. This platform enables us to reach out to our network and beyond, providing our community with a space to collaborate and exchange ideas. This includes how we can remain proactive and impact-driven during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a European organisation which spans dozens of countries, the platform will remain useful when face-to-face collaboration is once again possible, as digital working can be just as effective whilst having the added benefit of reducing our carbon footprint. Supporting the next generation innovators EIT Food offers opportunities for students, entrepreneurs and professionals, who want to transform the food system, by helping these groups develop key skills including critical thinking and business modelling. We offer a variety of education programmes, including free massive open online courses (MOOCs), Masters Programmes and Summer Schools designed for all levels of learning and professional development. For instance, if you are a startup or SME wanting to learn how to safeguard your business, our ‘Intellectual Property Management in the Food Sector’ online course, can equip you with the knowledge to do this. Or if you are a farmer wanting to learn more about sustainable production methods, we have a course exploring how farmers produce food sustainably. We also have a new course on how panic buying affects food supply chains in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. We think everyone should have the opportunity to learn more about the food system and develop the skills and competencies necessary to improve it, which is why we offer a range of programmes to suit different needs and workloads. Those who have developed their food sector skills can transition to our entrepreneurship programmes where we support agri-food start-ups in launching, accelerating and scaling their ideas and businesses. Here, we offer long-term support and mentoring through a variety of programmes. These include our EIT Food Accelerator Network, which helps high impact agri-food start-ups maximise their success and our Seedbed Incubator, which helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop their minimum viable product or service from a commercial proposition to a validated business. We focus on supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups as they bring exciting new ideas and solutions that pave the way for transformation. Partnering for innovation A consortium which brings together all key players in the food system is equipped to deliver impact, as different players can bring different skills and capabilities into the mix. Start-ups, industry and researchers each have something different to offer, whether it is a start-up's agile way of embracing innovation, industry's unique perspective on end-consumers or a researcher's ability to offer unique evidence and insight. EIT Food's SmartFoodLogging project is an example of a start-up, two universities and an industry partner working together to help deliver a solution to targeted nutrition. The start-up, BeYou, offers mobile development skills, KU Leuven and the University of Warsaw offer expertise and the industry partner, Colruyt Group, offers the means to deliver digital shopping solutions for consumers. Their different skills have enabled them to develop a platform which connects health coaches and consumers to help them make better food choices. This is just one EIT Food project which demonstrates the value an inclusive network can bring to innovation and collaboration. CASE STUDIES The case studies below demonstrate how the network is delivering impact in our target areas. Focus on farmers Farmers have always been an integral part of the food system, yet they face multiple threats on a daily basis including degrading soil, pest problems and difficult weather conditions, emphasising the need for sustainable agriculture. Agricultural technologies offer solutions to many of these problems including optimising yields and reducing the negative impact of agriculture on climate change, while increasing efficiency and profitability. For example, agri-food start-up GrainSense has developed the world's first hand-held device for grain quality measurement, enabling farmers to measure the key parameters of their crops in real-time. This technology empowers farmers to manage crop quality using big data to improve profitability, demonstrating the positive impact technology can have on farmers and their businesses. To help agricultural start-ups test and validate their solutions, EIT Food's ‘Test Farms’ project connects start-ups with technologies that needs testing with farmers who have the available land for carrying out tests. The programme unites potential clients with their customers, where farmers can see first-hand how technologies could help them in their day-to-day activities and build trust in the product by interacting directly with its creators. The unique context offers an opportunity for collaboration as farmers can give direct feedback and start-ups can ask for suggestions for improvement. This project emphasises how collaborating with end-consumers can help innovative solutions reach their full potential and in this case, support the wider technological transformation in European Agriculture. Unfortunately, farmers do not always work alongside start-ups in the creation of farming solutions. As such, they are often faced with new technologies that are difficult to install and learn how to use. This has led to the slow adoption of innovative technologies with farmers often sticking to traditional, less climate-friendly methods. ‘Focus on Farmers’ is a project led by the University of Reading that connects farmers with mentors who can teach them about the benefits of using innovative technologies and train them in their use. This project aims to overcome the slow adoption of farming technologies by recruiting farmer champions and technology ambassadors who encourage the wider farming community to adopt new methods. So far, the project has engaged with 4,500 farmers, who have learned how to adopt useful, new technologies at scale. Digital Waste Streams To address food loss in the food value chain, our Digital Waste Streams project is giving food surplus and other waste materials from the food industry a new purpose. These materials are known as side-streams and can be anything from leftover dough from bakery products to chocolate husks from cocoa beans. The start-up involved in the project ‘Rethink Resource’ has created a matchmaking platform where companies can sell their side-streams to other companies which need them. For example, a company that produces seedless raspberry jam can sell their raspberry seeds to a company that uses these seeds in cosmetics products. So far the project has identified over 50 side-streams for its platform, but is hoping to reach thousands, to enable as many materials as possible to be saved from landfill. The project demonstrates that there are innovative solutions to minimising waste and achieving a circular bioeconomy. As more companies realise the value in their waste streams, more materials can be reused and repurposed. Throwing away side streams can also be an expensive option compared to selling them on the project platform. With this in mind, reducing waste can be both more economically and environmentally sustainable and can help to achieve a zero-waste circular economy. To help agricultural start-ups test and validate their solutions, EIT Food's ‘Test Farms’ project connects start-ups with technologies that needs testing with farmers who have the available land for carrying out tests. Engaging consumers in collaboration Engaging with the public and listening to their opinions is important because ultimately their shopping and eating behaviours shape demand for food producers across the system. Therefore, citizens should have the opportunity to have their voices heard. In 2019, EIT conducted a series of street and group interviews across Europe to enable consumers to comment on important sector topics including, whether food is affordable and accessible, the health and environmental impacts of animal-based proteins versus alternative proteins and the role of technology in farming to improve traceability. We learned that consumers are highly aware of certain issues within the food industry and this highlighted the importance of passing on their opinions to those who can influence change at a macro level. Policymakers and food innovation experts were shown a collection of these interviews at our first EU conference in Brussels, which debated the future of food. Participants were encouraged to consider consumer perspectives and needs and how they can participate in transforming the food system. It was widely accepted that consumers should be given more opportunities to participate in the future of food. As an organisation that is actively involving consumers in the food innovation process we hope to keep delivering on this. Families and school children should also have the opportunity to learn about the food system and be motivated to improve it. EIT Food gave shoppers at Poland's largest shopping mall the opportunity to learn about the science behind food, by taking science out of the laboratory and bringing it to the people for a day of fun and learning. This hands-on learning experience was organised by the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Maspex Group, where over 70 researchers offered a variety of experiments and activities and gave away 1,500 prizes. Audiences had the opportunity to learn about the foods that astronauts eat in space in a cosmic food workshop, including how to extend the shelf-life of products while maintaining their nutritional value. Other activities included the hot topic of fermented foods and their impact on health, where participants could observe lactic acid bacteria under the microscope and learn about types of probiotic in fermented products. Families were also invited to try waste-free cooking offered by local food bank volunteers and a local chef and to learn how to reduce their environmental imprint in the kitchen. The general public will again have the chance to learn more about food and how it works during EIT Food's participation at New Scientist Live in London later this year. EIT Food engages in local community events, such as Reading Town Meal in the UK, where the public come together with grass-roots organisations to celebrate healthy and sustainable food. During this event a locally produced lunch is provided using food donated by growers and allotment holders and cooked by students from the local college, before being served free to families and volunteers. Families enjoyed the activities on offer, including exploring the kitchen of the future through virtual reality in an activity led by Matis, a food and biotech R&D company based in Iceland, and an activity ‘Games of Food’ led by the University of Reading, where families must adopt a healthy diet to escape a zombie attack. Transforming the food system is no easy task, but through collaboration we can create and deliver innovative solutions to overcome the challenges! REFERENCES 1United Nations. 2017. World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100. Available from: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.htmlGoogle Scholar 2FAO. 2020. Food Loss and Waste. Available at: http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/Google Scholar 3University of Bonn via Science Daily. 2020. Climate change affects soil health. Available from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200203104433.htmGoogle Scholar 4FAO. 2020. Q&A: COVID-19 pandemic–impact on food and agriculture. Available from: http://www.fao.org/2019-ncov/q-and-a/en/Google Scholar 5United Nations. 2020. About the Sustainable Development Goals. Available from: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/Google Scholar Laura Elphick, EIT Food CLC North West Ltd Whiteknights Road, Reading, RG6 6BU, UK Laura is the Communications and Engagement Officer at EIT Food. She holds a First-Class Bachelor's Degree in Consumer Behaviour and Marketing and is passionate about promoting a sustainable and healthy food environment to consumers. Email laura.elphick@eitfood.eu To learn more about EIT Food visit: eitfood.eu/ and follow us on Twitter @EIT_Food To learn more about our learning opportunities visit: eitfood.eu/education/programmes/learn-with-us To learn more about our entrepreneurship programmes visit: eitfood.eu/entrepreneurship Volume34, Issue2June 2020Pages 36-39 ReferencesRelatedInformation