Abstract
Finding a balance between food supply and demand in a manner that is sustainable and which ensures the long-term survival of the human species will be one of the most important challenges for humankind in the coming decades. Global population growth in the last several centuries with the attendant demands resulting from industrialization has made the need for food production and processing an important issue. This need is expected to increase in the next half century when the population of the world exceeds 9 billion. Environmental concerns related to food production and processing which require consideration include land use change and tremendous reduction in biodiversity, aquatic eutrophication by nitrogenous and phosphorus substances caused by over-fertilization, climate change, water shortages due to irrigation, ecotoxicity, and human effects of pesticides, among others. This review summarizes key highlights from the recently published book entitled Green Technologies in Food Production and Processing which provides a comprehensive summary of the current status of the agriculture and agri-food sectors in regard to environmental sustainability and material and energy stewardship and further provides strategies that can be used by industries to enhance the use of environmentally friendly technologies for food production and processing.
Highlights
Food is an integral component of life and human existence
Environmental concerns related to food production and processing which require consideration include land use change and tremendous reduction in biodiversity, aquatic eutrophication by nitrogenous and phosphorus substances caused by over-fertilization, climate change, water shortages due to irrigation, ecotoxicity, and human effects of pesticides, among others
This review summarizes key highlights from the recently published book entitled Green Technologies in Food Production and Processing which provides a comprehensive summary of the current status of the agriculture and agri-food sectors in regard to environmental sustainability and material and energy stewardship and further provides strategies that can be used by industries to enhance the use of environmentally friendly technologies for food production and processing
Summary
Food is an integral component of life and human existence. Since the beginning of time, humans have had to eat to survive. The food chain has some specific issues such as (1) seasonality of supply and demand, (2) customer issues of traceability and risk management related to health, nutrition, and safety, and (3) the environmental impact of food production through extensive resource use, including water and land use and from the significant greenhouse gas emissions and waste resulting from agricultural production [36]. The relative importance of these factors depends strongly on the food sector and the stakeholder within the food chain but, in general, food processing has lower environmental impacts than farming [3] Either because they are forced to by legislations or as a direct result of their own initiatives, an increasing number of food processors are evaluating their business activities in order to report, improve, and/or market their environmental efforts including their supply chain.
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