Integrating developed and developing world knowledge into global discussions and strategies for sustainability. 2. Economics and governance

Knowledge transfer from the developing to the developed world is described in the domain of economics and governance for sustainable development. Three system areas are explored: the structure of commons governance institutions, the process of community-based participatory action research, and the role of microfinance and microenterprise for the development, adoption, and diffusion of sustainable technologies. Case studies from both the developed and developing world demonstrate the effectiveness of social networks and community cooperative strategies in a wide range of sectors. Developing world experiences are shown to be particularly rich in the application of local knowledge and social capital toward sustainable development.     

Recent Advances on Application of Ultrasound and Pulsed Electric Field Technologies in the Extraction of Bioactives from Agro-Industrial By-products

Agro-industrial by-products are rich sources of natural bioactive compounds and their valorisation is a must for global food sustainability. Along with conventional techniques, numerous novel methods have been developed and optimised to facilitate extraction of the bioactives in sustainable and efficient manner. This review summarises the recent advances in the application of novel extraction technologies for various classes of bioactive molecules from agro-industrial by-products with special emphasis on two emerging techniques, i.e. ultrasound- and pulsed electric field-assisted extraction. These two technologies have shown promising extraction efficacy with reduced usage of extraction solvents, thus saving time and cost. The mechanism through which these techniques aid extraction, the various parameters affecting their efficacy, integration with other novel techniques, and promising applications for by-product valorisation are discussed.     

Measuring the embodied energy in drinking water supply systems: a case study in the Great Lakes region

A sustainable supply of both energy and water is critical to long-term national security, effective climate policy, natural resource sustainability, and social wellbeing. These two critical resources are inextricably and reciprocally linked; the production of energy requires large volumes of water, while the treatment and distribution of water is also significantly dependent upon energy. In this paper, a hybrid analysis approach is proposed to estimate embodied energy and to perform a structural path analysis of drinking water supply systems. The applicability of this approach is then tested through a case study of a large municipal water utility (city of Kalamazoo) in the Great Lakes region to provide insights on the issues of water-energy pricing and carbon footprints. Kalamazoo drinking water requires approximately 9.2 MJ/m(3) of energy to produce, 30% of which is associated with indirect inputs such as system construction and treatment chemicals.     

Flow of natural versus economic capital in industrial supply networks and its implications to sustainability

Appreciating the reliance of industrial networks on natural capital is a necessary step toward their sustainable design and operation. However, most contemporary accounting techniques, including engineering economics, life cycle assessment, and full cost accounting, fail in this regard, as they take natural capital for granted and concentrate mainly on the economic aspects and emissions. The recently developed "thermodynamic input-output analysis" (TIOA) includes the contribution of ecological goods, ecosystem services, human resources, and impact of emissions in an economic input-output model. This paper uses TIOA to determine the throughputs of natural and economic capitals along industrial supply networks. The ratios of natural to economic capitals of economic sectors reveals a hierarchical organization of the U.S. economy wherein basic infrastructure industries are at the bottom and specialized value-added industries constitute the top. These results provide novel insight into the reliance of specific industrial sectors and supply chains on natural capital and the corresponding economic throughput. Such insight is useful for understanding the implications of corporate restructuring on industrial sustainability metrics and of outsourcing of business activities on outsourcer, outsourcee, and global sustainability. These implications are discussed from the standpoints of weak and strong sustainability paradigms. The calculated ratios can also be used for hybrid thermodynamic life cycle assessment.     

Managing grapevines to optimise fruit development in a challenging environment: a climate change primer for viticulturists

Grapevine reproductive development extends over two seasons, and the genotypic expression of yield potential and fruit composition is subject to environmental impacts, which include viticultural manipulations, throughout this period. This paper reviews current knowledge on yield formation and fruit composition and attempts to identify challenges, opportunities and priorities for research and practice. The present analysis of published information gives a critical appraisal of recent advances concerning variables, especially as they relate to global climate change, that influence yield formation and fruit composition at harvest. Exciting discoveries in fundamental research on the one hand and an increasing focus on outcomes and knowledge transfer on the other are enabling the development and implementation of practical recommendations that will impact grape production in the future. Future research should aim to minimise seasonal variation and optimise the profitable and sustainable production of high-quality fruit for specific uses in the face of climate change, water and labour shortages, shifting consumer preferences and global competition. Better control of product quantity and quality, and differentiation to meet consumer demands and market preferences will enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the global grape and wine industries.     

Advances in legume protein extraction technologies: A review

Globally, the demand for protein continues to exceed its supply due to the geometric increase in population. For sustainability reasons, the high demand is leading to a shift in interest from animal-based protein, towards consuming high plant protein, sourced mainly from legumes and pulses. Traditional methods for protein extraction have been deployed to ensure availability and convenient utilization of these novel protein sources. Dry and wet fractionation are the two main categories of traditional protein extraction methods, with dry fractionation being more sustainable and frequently used. However, the repercussions trailing these methods keep encouraging research towards greener extraction pathways to ensure more protein availability and sustainability. The key drivers of this transition are increased yield, quality, uniformity and process eco-friendliness. Microwave, ultrasonic energy, pulse electric field, hydrodynamic cavitation extraction and tribo-electrostatic separation, among other novel technologies, appear to be the most likely techniques to dominate in the next few decades. This prospection hinges on available data of their performance efficiency in pulse / legume protein extraction and observed relatively higher yield potentials, protein quality, demand for less water, solvents and energy. The latter inarguably favors the food-energy-water nexus and could contribute considerably to environmental sustainability. Nonetheless, available knowledge cannot suffice effective and sustainable deployments of these techniques in legume protein extraction. Therefore, the gap on process performance and possible optimization of process parameters of these novel technologies deserves urgent attention. The product-process efficiency is highly critical for better understanding of the chances for process scale-up. This has been identified as the present stage of research in this domain.     

Basic requirements for the transfer of fermentation technologies to developing countries

Traditional small-scale fermentation technologies offer considerable potential for stimulating development in the food industry of developing countries in light of their low cost, scalability, minimal energy and infrastructural requirements and the wide consumer acceptance of fermented products in these countries. Efficient transfer and adaptation of these technologies is, however, often limited by inadequate basic scientific knowledge of the processes involved and the lack of appropriate biological inoculants and process controls for these technologies. Basic infrastructures, such as suitably equipped laboratories with consistent working conditions, a constant supply of good quality water and reliable power supplies, are critical elements of a minimal technology base for transfer and adaptation of these technologies. Building the institutional capacity in developing countries to facilitate research and development geared toward a better understanding of the technologies applied in small-scale traditional fermentations is essential, as is the encouragement of governments to formulate supportive national policies, which promote small-scale agro-industrial development. Socioeconomic considerations play a critical role in the successful and sustainable transfer and adoption of technologies and their products in developing countries.     

Crops that feed the world 10. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by wheat in global food security

Wheat is fundamental to human civilization and has played an outstanding role in feeding a hungry world and improving global food security. The crop contributes about 20 % of the total dietary calories and proteins worldwide. Food demand in the developing regions is growing by 1 % annually and varies from 170 kg in Central Asia to 27 kg in East and South Africa. The developing regions (including China and Central Asia) account for roughly 53 % of the total harvested area and 50 % of the production. Unprecedented productivity growth from the Green Revolution (GR) since the 1960s dramatically transformed world wheat production, benefitting both producers and consumers through low production costs and low food prices. Modern wheat varieties were adopted more rapidly than any other technological innovation in the history of agriculture, recently reaching about 90 % of the area in developing regions. One of the key challenges today is to replace these varieties with new ones for better sustainability. While the GR “spared” essential ecosystems from conversion to agriculture, it also generated its own environmental problems. Also productivity increase is now slow or static. Achieving the productivity gains needed to ensure food security will therefore require more than a repeat performance of the GR of the past. Future demand will need to be achieved through sustainable intensification that combines better crop resistance to diseases and pests, adaptation to warmer climates, and reduced use of water, fertilizer, labor and fuel. Meeting these challenges will require concerted efforts in research and innovation to develop and deploy viable solutions. Substantive investment will be required to realize sustainable productivity growth through better technologies and policy and institutional innovations that facilitate farmer adoption and adaptation. The enduring lessons from the GR and the recent efforts for sustainable intensification of cereal systems in South Asia and other regions provide useful insights for the future.     

Renewable sources: applications in personal care formulations

A global tendency for products considered environmentally sustainable, and ecologically obtained led the industry related to personal care formulations to fund the research and the development of personal care/cosmetics containing ingredients from natural resources. Furthermore, consumers are aware of environmental and sustainability issueans, thus not harming the environment represents a key consideration when developing a new cosmetic ingredient. In this study we review some examples of active ingredients or raw materials used in cosmetics/personal care/biomedical products that are coming from either through biotechnological systems, or as byproducts of several industries. A skin formulation containing biosynthetic actives, prepared by us and the study regarding its dermocosmetic properties are also described. The need for the standardization processes, the safety assessment tools, the improvement of the exploitation methods of these renewable sources in order the production to be ecologically and economically better are also discussed.     

Designing resilient, sustainable systems

Pursuit of sustainable development requires a systems approach to the design of industrial product and service systems. Although many business enterprises have adopted sustainability goals, the actual development of sustainable systems remains challenging because of the broad range of economic, environmental and social factors that need to be considered across the system life cycle. Traditional systems engineering practices try to anticipate and resist disruptions but may be vulnerable to unforeseen factors. An alternative is to design systems with inherent "resilience" bytaking advantage of fundamental properties such as diversity, efficiency, adaptability, and cohesion. Previous work on sustainable design has focused largely upon ecological efficiency improvements. For example, companies have found that reducing material and energy intensity and converting wastes into valuable secondary products creates value for shareholders as well as for society at large. To encourage broader systems thinking, a design protocol is presented that involves the following steps: identifying system function and boundaries, establishing requirements, selecting appropriate technologies, developing a system design, evaluating anticipated performance, and devising a practical means for system deployment. The approach encourages explicit consideration of resilience in both engineered systems and the larger systems in which they are embedded.     

Prospects for sustainability of pig production in relation to climate change and novel feed resources

Pig production systems provide multiple benefits to humans. However, the global increase in meat consumption has profound consequences for our earth. This perspective describes two alternative scenarios for improving the sustainability of future pig production systems. The first scenario is a high input–high output system based on sustainable intensification, maximizing animal protein production efficiency on a limited land surface at the same time as minimizing environmental impacts. The second scenario is a reduced input–reduced output system based on selecting animals that are more robust to climate change and are better adapted to transform low quality feed (local feeds, feedstuff co-products, food waste) into meat. However, in contrast to the first scenario, the latter scenario results in reduced predicted yields, reduced production efficiency and possibly increased costs to the consumer. National evaluation of the availability of local feed and feedstuff co-product alternatives, determination of limits to feed sourced from international markets, available land for crop and livestock production, desired production levels, and a willingness to politically enforce policies through subsidies and/or penalties are some of the considerations to combine these two scenarios. Given future novel sustainable alternatives to livestock animal protein, it may become reasonable to move towards an added general premium price on ‘protein from livestock animals’ to the benefit of promoting higher incomes to farmers at the same time as covering the extra costs of, politically enforced, welfare of livestock animals in sustainable production systems. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Trends in meat science and technology: The future looks bright,but the journey will be long

With an increasing world population, an increase in affluence and a substantial growth in the demand for high quality protein, the meat sector faces a fantastic but challenging century. New scientific knowledge, technology and creative minds are the main ingredients in order to reach out for this great opportunity. Efficiency all the way from breeding and farming to processing and dispatch is crucial for success. Technology has brought us far, and there is still a huge potential for increased efficiency by implementing best practices on a global scale. New challenges include: hyper flexible automation, more accurate and faster measurement systems and meeting special consumer demands already at the production line. Systems for optimal animal welfare will be even more important and sustainability is no longer a consumer trend but a license to operate. The scientific meat society must provide knowledge and technology so we together can reach out for a seemingly bright future.     

Nanoemulsions: Synthesis,Characterization, and Application in Bio‐Based Active Food Packaging

The increasing demands for foods with fresh‐like characteristics, lower synthetic additive and preservative contents, and low environmental footprint, but still safe to consume, have guided researchers and industries toward the development of milder processing technologies and more eco‐friendly packaging solutions. As sustainability acquires an increasingly critical relevance in food packaging, bio‐based and/or biodegradable materials stand out as suitable alternatives to their synthetic counterparts. In this context, the use of nanoemulsions has represented a step forward for improving the performance of sustainable food packaging devices, especially for the successful incorporation of new compounds and functionalities into conventional films and coatings. This class of emulsions, featuring unique optical stability and rheological properties, has been developed to protect, encapsulate, and deliver hydrophobic bioactive and functional compounds, including natural preservatives (such as essential oils from plants), nutraceuticals, vitamins, colors, and flavors. This article presents the surfactants (including naturally occurring proteins and carbohydrates), dispersants, and oil‐soluble functional compounds used for designing food‐grade nanoemulsions intended for packaging applications. The improved kinetic stability, bioavailability, and optical transparency of nanoemulsions over conventional emulsions are discussed considering theoretical concepts and real experiments. Bottom‐up and top‐down approaches of nanoemulsion fabrication are described, including high‐energy (such as high‐pressure homogenizers, microfluidics, ultrasound, and high‐speed devices) and low‐energy methods (for instance, phase inversion and spontaneous emulsification). Finally, incorporation of nanoemulsions in biopolymer matrixes intended for food packaging applications is also addressed, considering current characterization techniques as well as their potential antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens.     

Farm‐to‐table: A Situation Awareness Model for Food Safety Assurance for Porous Borders

Aldous Huxley's Brave NewWorld (1932) was far more prescient to the situation of food safety today than we dare to consider. When people are seduced rather than compelled to live in harmony, evil is not so obvious because no one is looking. In the instance of food safety, changes in world trade, consumer demand for variety, and an increasingly complex regulatory system create challenges to effective vigilance and mitigation. It remains a critical reality that in any “farm‐to‐table” scenario, multiple sources, suppliers, and steps along the process pose a threat to the safety of the product. Here we discuss the effect of “porous borders” with reference to spread of disease and bio‐threats to food fabrication practices and regulatory agencies. We show that understanding correspondences between the morphology of global food production and product tracing/tracking technologies are critical to the real‐time performance of situation awareness prediction systems. Our reconstruction of the events associated with securing safe food opens a pathway to advancing the primitives necessary for an appropriate real‐time knowledge‐sharing system for start‐to‐finish data sources that assist detection/prediction assurance models.     

Agriculture, food and the environment

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development alerted the world to the hazards presumptive if the planet's natural resources of land, water, air, energy and biological organisms are not protected and utilised more conservatively. UNCED declared two urgent research priorities: global climate change and genetic diversity. Excessive use of fossil fuels and a resultant atmospheric pollution forebodes higher temperatures at the earth's surface. The consequences for agriculture are unpredictable. Alternative sources of energy are described: electric motors with high-capacity batteries and high energy fly-wheels; solar-thermal and photovoltaic systems of power generation. Global population will rise to at least 8 billion (1 BILLION = 10⁹) by 2025, a rate of growth demanding an annual increase of 3% in agricultural production. The principles of sustainable production in relation to land and water management, genetic diversity among crop species, and food science and technology are discussed. Among the many thousand crop genotypes in the international germ plasm banks, more is known about agronomic characters than about functional properties relevant to food processing. Transgenic modifications broaden the spectrum of pest resistance in crops, but too little is known of the nutritional implications. Biotechnological advances, demands for non-polluting waste disposal, consumer concerns for food safety, the need to provide food security for a global population changing in age and income distribution, offer exciting challenges to all food scientists and technologists.     

Nutritional and Safety Assessments of Foods and Feeds Nutritionally Improved through Biotechnology: An Executive Summary

The global demand for food is increasing because of the growing world population. At the same time, availability of arable land is shrinking. Traditional plant breeding methods have made and will continue to make important contributions toward meeting the need for more food. In many areas of the world, however, the problem is food quality. There may be enough energy available from food, but the staple foods lack certain essential nutrients. In the developed world, demand for "functional foods" (that is, foods that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition) is increasing. Nutritional improvements in foods could help to meet both of these demands for improved food quality. Modern agricultural biotechnology, which involves the application of cellular and molecular techniques to transfer DNA that encodes a desired trait to food and feed crops, is proving to be a powerful complement to traditional methods to meet global food requirements. An important aspect of biotechnology is that it provides access to a broad array of traits that can help meet this need for nutritionally improved cultivars. The new varieties developed through modern biotechnology have been identified by a number of terms, including genetically modified (GM or GMO), genetically engineered (GE or GEO), transgenic, biotech, recombinant, and plants with novel traits (PNTs). For the present discussion, the term "GM" will be used because of its simplicity and broad public recognition.     

Global phosphorus scarcity: identifying synergies for a sustainable future

Global food production is dependent on constant inputs of phosphorus. In the current system this phosphorus is not predominantly derived from organic recycled waste, but to a large degree from phosphate-rock based mineral fertilisers. However, phosphate rock is a finite resource that cannot be manufactured. Our dependency therefore needs to be addressed from a sustainability perspective in order to ensure global food supplies for a growing global population. The situation is made more urgent by predictions that, for example, the consumption of resource intensive foods and the demand for biomass energy will increase. The scientific and societal debate has so far been focussed on the exact timing of peak phosphorus and on when the total depletion of the global reserves will occur. Even though the timing of these events is important, all dimensions of phosphorus scarcity need to be addressed in a manner which acknowledges linkages to other sustainable development challenges and which takes into consideration the synergies between different sustainability measures. Many sustainable phosphorus measures have positive impacts on other challenges; for example, shifting global diets to more plant-based foods would not only reduce global phosphorus consumption, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce nitrogen fertiliser demand and reduce water consumption.     

Corn in the developing world and the international maize and wheat improvement center

Abstract

Native to Mesoamerica, corn has spread worldwide and is grown over a larger geographical range than any other cereal and in a greater variety of ecological niches. In developing countries the crop is cultivated in lowland tropical, subtropical, midaltitude, and highland environments. It is a staple food in Latin America and many countries of Africa, and is used in animal feed and fodder throughout the developing world. Growth in developing‐country corn production has increased steadily since 1951, although more slowly than demand. World prices are below the long‐term average and falling. As a result of rising populations and growth in income, the demand for corn in developing countries is expected to increase at more than 2.5% annually for the remainder of this decade and at an even higher rate in subsequent years. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is a nonprofit research and training organization that works with the agricultural research systems of some 100 countries in the developing world to increase the productivity of resources committed to corn and wheat there, while protecting natural resources. In the case of corn, since 1966 this collaborative effort has resulted in the spread of improved varieties and hybrids to about 8 million hectares, or half the area planted to improved varieties from the public sector in developing countries (excluding temperate zones). The research agenda of CIMMYT's Maize Program includes breeding for host plant resistance to important constraints of corn in the developing world, the conservation and utilization of corn genetic resources, and crop and natural resource management. In addition, the program offers germplasm and technical support for national programs or private companies that conduct research on quality protein corn.     

Towards sustainable Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) in dairy processing: Exploring enzyme-based approaches to cleaning in the Cheese industry

Cleaning-in-place (CIP) is the most commonly used cleaning and sanitation system for processing lines, equipment, and storage facilities such as milk silos in the global dairy processing industry. CIP employs thermal treatments and nonbiodegradable chemicals (acids and alkalis), requiring appropriate neutralization before disposal, resulting in sustainability challenges. In addition, biofilms are a major source of contamination and spoilage in dairy industries, and it is believed that current chemical CIP protocols do not entirely destroy biofilms. Use of enzymes as effective agents for CIP and as a more sustainable alternative to chemicals and thermal treatments is gaining interest. Enzymes offer several advantages when used for CIP, such as reduced water usage (less rinsing), lower operating temperatures resulting in energy savings, shorter cleaning times, and lower costs for wastewater treatment. Additionally, they are typically derived from natural sources, are easy to neutralize, and do not produce hazardous waste products. However, even with such advantages, enzymes for CIP within the dairy processing industry remain focused mainly on membrane cleaning. Greater adoption of enzyme-based CIP for cheese industries is projected pending a greater knowledge relating to cost, control of the process (inactivation kinetics), reusability of enzyme solutions, and the potential for residual activity, including possible effects on the subsequent product batches. Such studies are essential for the cheese industry to move toward more energy-efficient and sustainable cleaning solutions.     

Review: Potential of High Hydrostatic Pressure and Pulsed Electric Fields for Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Food Processing

The application of emerging, novel processing techniques such as high hydrostatic pressure or pulsed electric fields can be utilized to replace, enhance or modify conventional techniques of food production. In addition to quality improvements and consumer benefits by gentle microbial inactivation and improvement of mass transfer processes, their potential to improve energy efficiency and sustainability of food production will be discussed within this review.