The food sector is often in the spotlight for its unsustainable practices, from all perspectives: the entire industry depends on the decisions of a few large global funds (Otherconomy, 2023), finance plays a key role in negotiations often at the expense of health, intensive livestock and agriculture alter and pollute the planet while endangering biodiversity, new drugs and consumer habits harm human health and beyond.
If the phrase "we are what we eat" were true, we would not look good at the moment. Change is needed on the supply side as much as on the demand side to preserve the health of the planet and our own.
But how to deal with such a change? What clues does the industry give us for the future?
Source: Statista, 2020
To envision a new future we need to start from the present, from what we know today. The data ISPI 2021 tell us that in Italy, livestock and agriculture represent the second most polluting sector in terms of greenhouse gases, with 19 percent of emissions, second only to the energy sector that reigns with 73 percent. However, not only producers are responsible for this situation, consumption also needs a new approach. Within households, in fact, very high amounts of food per capita are wasted each year.
In Europe alone, the average annual waste is 131 kg per person, with households responsible for 54 percent of total waste (Statista, 2020). In Italy the figure exceeds the average, with 140 kg of food wasted per capita. Several initiatives already exist to date to avoid this waste as much as possible, such as the well-known "Too Good To Go," but to really have a positive impact on large numbers, a different approach is needed at the cultural level, starting with education for the younger generation and ending with economic incentives at the national and European level.
Many of the issues related to the food sector are already in the public eye, with debates being spread from the big streaming platforms and their documentaries (Netflix Politics by Will Media explains this phenomenon very well). Livestock farms and the meat market have been put to the test by Cowspiracy. The fishing industry revealed its skeletons in the closet with Seaspiracy. The latest addition to Netflix's "You are what you eat: a twin experiment" showed more background on human, animal and planetary health resulting from the meat industry by comparing an omnivorous diet with a vegan one through several pairs of twins. Surprise surprise, the vegan diet was shown to be healthier, not only for human health.
A study by Oxford University showed that the vegan diet has 30 percent of the environmental impact compared to a meat-centered diet. In fact, some improvements in the market for meat substitutes have been seen, growing over the past 10 years by 48 percent per year (Statista, 2023). In 2023 in particular, the meat substitutes market recorded $13 billion. A figure that still remains insignificant compared to the meat market, which reached $1.3 trillion globally in the same year. Once again, a change that must start with education, training, and culture.
Source: Food Report 2023
In recent years a new philosophy, that of regenerative menus, has been spreading in Europe, especially in Northern Europe, which I am experiencing firsthand within the research project Bauhaus of the Seas Sails, with Ca' Foscari University of Venice. A philosophy that calls for a preference for crops that are regenerative for the ecosystem and adapt to climate change and the new seasonality it causes. To better understand this concept we need to take a step back, toward the idea that all change should not be measured solely and exclusively on people's needs, but on all living things, including animals and plants. The radical change lies right here. And it applies to regenerative menus as much as it does to Innovation Management.
And so in times of drought, we try to favor those crops that show superior resistance and thus grow more than others. Or vegetations that absorb more toxins during periods of high water pollution. In short, what is called for is an approach based on flexibility, to restore a balance that has been lost. Food affects the health of our bodies, our habits, cities and their landscapes, and the climate. A new relationship with food is not only recommended, it is necessary. Regenerative menus are just one part of what may be future solutions and trends. The Food Trend Map 2023 has identified two other trends for the years to come: New Glocal e vegan recipes.
The New Glocal can be interpreted as a new declination of what we have until now called fusion, with a greater focus on the local supply chains and products of an area. Vegan recipes are already better known and more widespread, although in Italy this trend struggles given the strong meat supply chain that runs through every region. The future seems to be heading in the direction of regeneration, where meat is not necessarily banned, but certainly subject to a rethinking of its production.
The event Homo Faber Economy organized in Venice last May 31 by Ca' Foscari University, Fondazione di Venezia and Upskill 4.0, recently dedicated a space for debate and sharing on precisely these issues. It was fascinating to see how many Venetian realities in the sector, from hotels to restaurants, are already falling into this perspective, promoting menus and cooking ideas in line with many of the future trends.
The difficulty in these cases is to best communicate these principles with consumers, to raise awareness of new consumption habits as much as possible, but without ending up in the usual vortex of sustainability devoid of substance, useful only for advertising campaigns. Rather, sustainability must give way to responsibility, to the people's choice factor, while becoming more inclusive and not something accessible only to those who can spend more on a healthy diet.
In short, there is no shortage of challenges for the food sector, but much is already being done in Italy and around the world. We are what we eat, and to be better people we need to be better consumers. A first step starts at the table.