Let´s team up with technology for a greener future!

We face a great dilemma related to food, we need to satisfy the physiological and psychological needs of the humans related to food and nutrition, but at the same time, we are generating threats to the environment. Food is a central part of our lives, not only to nourish our bodies but also our souls. Our eating habits and the way we handle food, have a direct impact on the planet.

Food loss and waste can occur throughout the whole food supply chain, from the farm all the way to the household consumption. This represents a problem from the ecological, social, and economic point of view. According to the Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland generates 2.8 million tons of food waste per year. However, at least two thirds are avoidable. Emerging technologies are key to generate preventive measures throughout the supply chain.

From the farm to the plate

Agriculture
Farming has evolved over the last centuries, and it became crucial to implement sustainable practices in order to reduce the negative effects on climate change. New technologies have proven to be helpful to adapt agriculture to these sustainable practices. A game changer has been the incorporation of drones in agriculture. They monitor the crops growth, fertility, and water, help to plan the irrigation, follow the changes in the weather conditions, help to react to pests and fungi and monitor the irrigation equipment. The collection of data can improve the efficiency, quality, save costs and reduce waste.

Processing
During processing, some of the waste is caused by incorrect handling of the food. Thereby, industrial automation and robotics can help to reduce waste. The Soft Robotics start-up from Goodman, for example, have transformed the supply chain with the development of an octopus-inspired robot who can interact with several products regardless of the shape, size, or texture. They focus on automating packaging and as the CEO, Carl Vause notes, they want to “ensure that all food that is grown or farmed, gets to the market”.

Retailers
One of the retailers´ strategies to avoid food waste is to reduce the price when some of the products are close to their sell-by date. The startup Wasteless took this concept to another level. They provide a solution for supermarkets to reduce food waste and at the same time profit from perishable food items. With the use of machine learning, they optimize the pricing. The price is displayed in small screens on the shelfs, and it changes dynamically when the expiration date of the products is close, the automatic reduction of the price should be an incentive for the consumer to acquire products that would otherwise be thrown away.

Households
Most people don´t realize how much food is thrown away every day. Therefore, we could benefit from already existing apps, that have the purpose to help us improve our habits in order to reduce food waste. The app, Too Good to Go from Denmark, connects restaurants and stores that have surplus food with potential customers and offers them unsold food at much lower price than normal. On the other hand, CozZo from Bulgaria, is an app that provides a kitchen management designed to prevent household food waste. The app generates food inventories that track the expiring dates of the products introduced and gives recipes using the ingredients that are on hand.

To ensure the sufficient access to food for a growing world population, food processing has become a fundamental aspect. Nevertheless, this sector causes a high environmental impact. Food waste remains an ongoing problem that could be avoided, but it requires the collective effort from farmers, industries, businesses, and consumers. Emerging technologies can bring ecological alternatives to transform and support the food systems. It´s not about replacing human labor, it´s about making work more efficient by forging an alliance with technology. To face the current environmental challenges, I believe we must question old patterns and take a proactive role towards food.

Author: Paola Díaz Cruz

Image Source Title: Andrey Popov on Adobe Stock

References:
https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/waste/guide-to-waste-a-z/biodegradable-waste/types-of-waste/lebensmittelabfaelle.html
https://www.wasteless.com/about
https://us.goodman.com/our-purpose/ambition-series/soft-robotics
https://toogoodtogo.org/en
https://cozzo.app/