The food we eat is one of the most important aspects of our lives, besides clear water to drink.
In 2020, there are an increasing number of trents which we see in the agrifood market place which are coming together and making us rethink the consumption model for meat and more importantly the entire diet humans consume on the planet. Let’s highlight a few.
The science behind the types of food we need is changing as we see the standard “post second world war” diet increasingly puts populations into obesity and early death. The understanding of macro and micro nutrients and what a balanced diet is has led to less meat consumption and also the rise of veganism throughout the western world(veganuary). The amount of information (some mis-information) available on good food diets (also sustainable consumption) is rising which allows people to research their own, create personal plans and develop better understandings, leading to a more diverse range of food consumption patterns.
The welfare of animals requirements is growing as consumers demand better, which is driving up costs, the use of antibiotics and larger farms to maintain profitability. Biosecurity is an issue as Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARs and Covid-19 all shown this global issue is not going away, so further research and understanding to mandate our food security is needed. The processing of meat is a major issue and the WHO has declared processed and cooked meats a carcinogen.
The relationship between land, its value, productivity and product type is reducing as technology allows these connections to be removed. The cost of labour is increasing, costs of health and safety in the (farm) workplace and the continued mechanisation, automation and ultimately robotization/AI replacement is increasing at a faster and faster pace.
The percentage cost of food per household has over the last 50 years gone down, so consumers are increasingly looking for provenance of their food and understanding the benefits of finding diverse and local sources, through Veg and Meat Box schemes and buying directly. These short supply chains have proved more resilient and sustainable and technologies such as BlockChain, E-payments and direct messaging have proven themselves.
The cost of carbon used in the production of food has come into public sectiny. Many countries require and industries have to account for the complete lifecycle of their products. Therefore within the agri-food sector this would then bring in creation, processing, transport, packaging and waste disposal which would currently make it unsustainable.
The western world subsidises food through (In the UK its currently £3.4bn a year through CAP, which is around £56 per person per year which no other industry sector gets (pre Covid-19)) based on a post second world war model. This is based on the amount of land and food groups, which is a broken link to production already highlighted.
The connection between farms and the environment is currently being explored as the next subside system(post-Brexit). The rural environment has been created by our farming methods and food requirements. These food requirements have changed and are changing fast so will result in changes to the rural landscape. The public’s perception and requirement of the rural landscape is under researched (are they happy with greenhouses the size of a small town or forests surrounding all villages. The options to decrease the environmental impact of the populations activities and their acceptance public debate.
These trends are making the very business model of food development and consumption change very quickly and it’s important we discuss them as a community.