Circular Food System
A circular food systems approach encompasses primary production, food processing, packaging and shelf life to ensure a safe, healthy and sustainable food supply. The global demand for food is expected to continue with an increasing global population, stimulating new approaches to produce food sustainably with reduced environmental impact. Diversification is a crucial component of innovation in this area, and plant-based alternatives fall into this category, including manufacturing new ingredients and upcycling by-product streams. This is in addition to optimising existing animal-based production and processing systems while maintaining the highest quality and safety standards. Research focuses on generating safe and nutritious foods through diversification and valorisation, and the promotion of circular use of food resources by reducing waste and improving nutrition with reduced environmental impact.
Priority Research Questions
- What is the role of plant and marine-based protein in future foods and ingredients?
- What are the safety, quality and nutritional standards of “climate-friendly” foods and packaging?
- How can fermentation, bioprocessing and separation techniques be applied to reduce
food waste, maximise food resources and build a sustainable circular food system? - How can the nutritional and energy densities of foods be compared to the environmental impact of their production, including nutritional, water and energy inputs?
- What are the impacts of GHG mitigation technologies on food quality and food safety?
Anticipated Research Outcomes
- Valorisation of plant and marine resources to formulate plant-based and hybrid food
products. - Reduction of food waste by developing byproduct stream conversion tools through biotransformation.
- New methods in sustainable food processing: fermentation, up-cycling, valorisation and fractionation of food resources, as well as optimisation of production efficiency.
- Development of a microbial biobank for sustainable production and processing, supported by bioinformatics, sequencing and metabolite profiling.
- Development of nutritional profiles of foods per environmental footprint.
- Evaluation of eco-friendly, recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging.
Olivia McAuliffe
Circular Food Systems Pillar Lead
Research Snapshots
Bioprocessing
Bioprocessing involves leveraging living organisms to generate valuable products. These processes hold the potential to convert low-value materials, including food and waste streams, into high-value goods with enhanced functional attributes, prolonged shelf life, and heightened safety standards. Bioprocessing is a key facet of the Sustainable Circular Bioeconomy, a strategy for developing a sustainable resilient food system, producing renewable feedstocks, food, fuel, energy and bio-based products and in doing so, protecting the environment.
Waste material occurs at various stages of the food supply chain, from production and processing to distribution and consumption. Turning waste biomass into value is not only environmentally responsible but also a tool to conserve resources and contribute to a more sustainable future. Some of the ongoing research at Teagasc includes the bioprocessing of side streams from dairy and plant-protein into novel, high value products.
Alternative Proteins
Protein is the most important macronutrient for growth, it provides the essential amino acids that are required by the body to maintain bone, muscle and tissue, and for the production of hormones, enzymes and immunoglobulins. However, protein can be obtained only through the diet and is mostly dairy or meat-derived. Research at Teagasc is exploring crop and marine-based protein alternatives. These resources have the potential to provide quality nutrition to the consumer while also developing an alternative, economically-viable and sustainable agricultural enterprise.
Two major projects led by Teagasc in this space are U-Protein and ValPRO. These projects are identifying suitable crops and cropping techniques to produce high value plant protein in Ireland, as well as the separation techniques to isolate this protein for use in ingredients and food products. In support of the sustainable circular bioeconomy, the residual biomass (e.g. starch) from these protein sources will be valorised to novel or renewable products through bioprocessing.
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Current projects relating to Circular Food Systems