Moral food lab: Transforming the food system with crowd-sourced ethics
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More and more people worldwide live in urban areas, and these areas face many problems, of which a sustainable food provision is one. In this paper we aim to show that a transition towards more sustainable, regionally organized food systems strongly contributes to green, livable cities. The article describes a case study in the Dutch region of Arnhem–Nijmegen. Partners of a network on sustainable food in this region were interviewed on how they expect the food system to develop, and in design studies possible futures are explored. Both the interviews and the designs give support to the idea that indeed sustainable food systems can be developed to contribute to green livable cities. They show that the quality and meaning of existing green areas can be raised; new areas can be added to a public green system, and connections with green surroundings are enforced. They also show that inhabitants or consumers can be stimulated to become so called food citizens, highlighting that the relation of food systems and livable cities is a very close one.
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By transitioning from a fossil-based economy to a circular and bio-based economy, the industry has an opportunity to reduce its overall CO2 emission. Necessary conditions for effective and significant reductions of CO2-emissions are that effective processing routes are developed that make the available carbon in the renewable sources accessible at an acceptable price and in process chains that produce valuable products that may replace fossil based products. To match the growing industrial carbon demand with sufficient carbon sources, all available circular, and renewable feedstock sources must be considered. A major challenge for greening chemistry is to find suitable sustainable carbon that is not fossil (petroleum, natural gas, coal), but also does not compete with the food or feed demand. Therefore, in this proposal, we omit the use of first generation substrates such as sugary crops (sugar beets), or starch-containing biomasses (maize, cereals).
In the Netherlands, the Agri-Food and Water Top Sectors aim at climate neutral food systems that close loops in the food value chains from farm to fork, based on efficiency of natural resource management, optimum use of food, a reduced use of natural resources and less environmental pressure, and optimum use of residue streams. It is also in their ambitions to promote and market Dutch circular solutions in foreign countries, such as emergent economies. The transition to a circular economy in the food chain in emergent economies requires a radical transformation, in which an integrated approach is required. In this regard, Indonesia strives for green development representing an advantageous market opportunity for Dutch SME’s offering circular innovations on the food value chain. The consortium in this project would like to explore the opportunities for applying integrated approaches contributing to the transition to a circular economy in the food chain of emerging countries, in this case Indonesia, that could open market opportunities in the agri-food sector. The integrated approach includes innovations on effective use of natural resources (e.g., soil and water), innovations on ‘reshaping’ local organization and governance, and innovations on food/streams value chains.
The consortium would like to contribute to structural reduction of post-harvest and food losses and food quality improvement in Kenyan avocado and dairy value chains via the application of technical solutions and tools as well as improved chain governance competences in those food chains. The consortium has four types of partners: 1. Universities (2 Kenyan, 4 Dutch), 2. Private sector actors in those chains, 3. Organisations supporting those chains, and 4. Associate partners which support category 1 to 3 partners through co-financing, advice and reflection. The FORQLAB project targets two areas in Kenya for both commodities, a relatively well-developed chain in the central highlands and a less-develop chain in Western-Kenya. The approach is business to business and the selected regions have great potential for uptake of successful chain innovations as outcome of research results. The results are scalable for other fresh and processed product chains via a living lab network approach. The project consists of 5 work packages (WPs): 1. Inventory , status quo and inception, 2. Applied research, 3. Dissemination of research outputs through living lab networks, 4. Translation of project output in curricula and trainings, and 5. Communication among partners and WPs. The applied research will be implemented in cooperation with all partners, whereby students of the consortium universities will conduct most of the field studies and all other partners support and interact depending on the WPs. The expected outcomes are: two knowledge exchange platforms (Living Labs) supported with hands on sustainable food waste reduction implementation plans (agenda strategy); overview and proposals for ready ICT and other tech solutions; communication and teaching materials for universities and TVETs; action perspectives; and knowledge transfer and uptake.
