IDM ¦ The future of agriculture
Follow the Food
As individuals, do we have the power to change how our
food systems work?
Our entire food system is,
to a large extent, set up
to provide consumers with
what we demand of it.
With that power in mind,
BBC World News and BBC.com’s Follow
the Food: Consumer Power delves into
what we, as consumers, can do to help
make sure that our food system is sustainable,
secure and delivers the nutrition
we need to feed 10 billion people
by 2050.
How to eat well and
influence agriculture
Consumers have the power to influence
what is planted in, or grazes on, the
world's fields. Each purchase we make is
like a vote for the food we want to eat,
and those decisions can have a dramatic
impact on how diverse, resilient and nutritious
our food supply is.
In the programme, author of the book
The Fate of Food, Amanda Little, said: “I
think the consumer has a lot of power.
Many of the major producers look at
consumer trends – they understand that
millennials and gen Z are really interested
in alternative products. There is so much
shift and radical change in what we eat,
and how will grow it, the change is going
to come both from consumers and from
large scale producers.
“COVID-19 has really exposed a lot
of the problems in our food system, and
you see consumers responding to those
problems. For example, in the United
States, we've seen the demand for alternative
meats more than double in just six
months. Consumers started stockpiling
sustainable food supplies, and that has
certainly driven investment in that sector.”
Does meat need to come
from animals?
Approximately 80% of global agricultural
land is dedicated to rearing livestock,
and growing the crops to feed them,
generating up to 14% of all greenhouse
gas emissions, yet it produces less than
twenty percent of our calories. The move
to meat-free could make a big impact on
global warming.
One of the companies whose growth
is being fuelled by the current consumer
demand in plant-based protein is Beyond
Meat, founded in 2009. The company
has developed a range of plant based
products designed to accurately mimic
the texture and flavour of animal meat.
Ethan Brown, founder of Beyond
Meat, said: “The consumer is beginning
to hear more that there are reasons that
they may want to reduce their consumption
of animal protein, and at the same
time, our technology is getting stronger
and stronger, so we’re able to build meat
directly from plants in a way that's more
compelling and convincing to the consumers’
palette and sensory system.”
16 · July/August 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/BBC.com
/international-dairy.com
