8 billion - and counting…
Since 1927 the rate of population growth has increased exponentially, and on the 15th of November we reached the 8 billion mark.[1] While population growth is expected to slow in the coming years, increases in demand and consumption for goods will continue to place unprecedented and unsustainable strain on our food systems and environment.[2]
Food Production accounts for 37% of global emissions
Food production and consumption is already one of the leading causes of climate change. In 2021 the global population consumed 2.5 billion metric tonnes of food, and while we may not consider it when our food is plated up in front of us, food production has a huge environmental cost.[3] It is responsible for about 37% amount of global CO2 emissions.[4] According to data sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, food production uses 50% of the Earths habitable land, and is responsible for 69% of global water consumption, again, making it responsible for the largest proportion of land and water resource use.[5]Agricultural expansion to support a growing demand for food causes almost 90% of global deforestation, and the vast majority of biodiversity loss.[6] The result of human attempts to grow and support the population have had devastating and potentially irreversible impacts on our environment. However, the food systems we have created are inefficient and unsustainable, with much room for improvement and innovation.
Ramping up production?
Continued population growth and resource use will cause critical consequences for our environment. However, we are also likely to encounter mass food shortages, and increased food insecurity, which seems contradictory considering the predicted increases in resource use. By 2050, a further 200m-1.4bn acres of land will be needed to feed an estimated population of 10 billion people.[7] To successfully feed the 2050 population, we would also need to ramp up global food production by 70% from its 2007 level.[8] Simultaneously, food insecurity is expected to rise as a result of climate change and resulting extreme weather conditions. For example, we are forecasted to experience a 3.1% - 7.4% drop in global yields for major crops for every degree-Celsius increase in global temperatures.[9]
Untapped resources
So, we find ourselves in a situation where population growth is placing an increasing demand on our resources, while these resources are becoming less reliable. However, we are also sitting on a major untapped, valuable source of nutritious food – food production side streams and by-products.
LoGI Food Technologies replaces starch and sugar with upcycled superfood food production side streams to unlock nutritious resources that require no further land or agricultural production. By using these ingredients, we can begin to mitigate the negative impacts of our food systems, and work towards implementing a circular economy model. By using upcycled ingredients, we prevent the need for further agricultural production and food waste. Widespread use of LoGI-bind technology could reduce CO2 emissions by 275 million tonnes per year. We could also free up 70 million acres of land currently being used to produce sugar and starch for snacks, which could then be more efficiently used to feed our growing population.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/world/world-population-8-billion.html
[2] https://www.un.org/en/dayof8billion
[3] https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1298375/volume-food-consumption-worldwide
[4] https://www.newscientist.com/article/2290068-food-production-emissions-make-up-more-than-a-third-of-global-total/
[5] https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture, https://www.fao.org/3/I9253EN/i9253en.pdf
[6] https://www.fao.org/3/cb7449en/cb7449en.pdf and, IPBES (2019), Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
[7] World Resources Institute, without benefits of intensification.
[8] https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/HLEF2050_Global_Agriculture.pdf
[9] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fes3.261