In June 2022, global food supply chain emissions were reported to be between 3.5 and 7.5 times higher than previous estimates. Creating 16 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions each year and contributing to about 30% of total human-produced GHGs, the industry requires a collective change to mitigate its negative environmental impact and the associated issues that come with it - thankfully, the solution is becoming increasingly sought out.
Regenerative Food Supply Chains - Revolutionizing Environmental Efficiency
Elie Skaf, Co-Founder & CEO of Right Farm, explains how to create a circular economy
Business interest in regenerative farming has surged by 138% since 2019 as international conglomerates are among the growing number of companies recognising its industry-revolutionising value.
On top of tackling the current climate crisis and contributing to the realisation of initiatives like the Paris Agreement and Net Zero 2050, regenerative food production also provides benefits such as a more resilient food supply, increased biodiversity, and boosted human health.
With food being a part of nature, and nature being inherently regenerative, the importance of developing circular economies cannot be overstated and worldwide efforts are reinforcing the notion that adopting regenerative food supply chains is the key to the future.
Re-imagining Food Supply
A regenerative food supply chain that can revolutionise environmental efficiency requires modernisation and digitalisation. Transforming the traditional farming landscape and building a circular economy that offers equal benefits to buyers, suppliers, and the environment is achieved through five key pillars: revitalising wasteful practices, encouraging local sourcing, improving international sourcing, recycling, and upcycling.
Prevent Waste Through Technology and Education
Recent estimates say that the weight of 10 million blue whales, 2.5 billion tonnes, is how much food is wasted around the world every year; that is nearly double what was previously estimated and represents approximately 40% of all the food cultivated by farmers.
Tackling food waste head-on, through technology, can effectively minimize this surreal number by shortening supply chains and connecting supply and demand. Through the integration of data-driven forecast engines, tech-enabled platforms can access and share insights with buyers and suppliers to enhance educational awareness and enable informed decision-making.
Source Local to Support Global
Sourcing and supplying produce from local and regional farms can help slash the 19% of GHGs that are caused by the transportation of commodities. The development of circular economies can therefore reduce food miles and in turn, the carbon footprint it takes to import fruits and vegetables. Global food supply chains are only as resilient as the 500 million smallholder farmers who produce up to 70% of the world’s food, and this can empower them accordingly.
Imperfect Produce is Perfectly Fine
An estimated 33% of food produced for human consumption is wasted yearly; vegetables and fruits have the highest waste rate of any food with almost 50% of production being wasted.
Building awareness, providing accessibility, and educating businesses and consumers is essential for collective progress. This will encourage and influence them to reduce their wastage by understanding that visually imperfect produce is still perfectly edible.
Manage Food Waste Through Partnerships
The cost of food wasted annually is almost one trillion dollars, and the cost of discarding it is $410 billion. Furthermore, if only 25% of this food was saved, it could be used to feed approximately 870 million of the one billion hungry people in the world. With that said, partnerships that follow a food waste management strategy and facilitate accessibility to composting and other systems should be prioritized.
Right Farm has emphasized this by partnering with the likes of Circa Biotech, the region’s first waste-to-feed project that utilises industrial insect farming to upcycle organic waste into protein-rich animal feed and organic fertilizer, and The Waste Lab, an impact-driven startup that helps divert organic food scraps from landfills and uses them to create healthy compost and other byproducts that benefit our local soil, local farms, local food and local jobs. Because of our unique connection to farms and the food service industry, we see ourselves as enablers who play a lead role in fostering sustainability, and partnerships with innovative companies like these allow us to leverage their capabilities to achieve collective targets.
Upcycle to Save Space and Repurpose Waste
Around the globe, 37% of waste is disposed of in some sort of landfill and we will run out of space if we don’t change our ways. This is especially true when considering that the world is expected to generate 3.4 billion tonnes of waste per year by 2050, resulting in a whopping 70% increase when compared to 2016 levels.
Upcycling organic waste into high-quality products is a viable solution to combat the dumping of organic waste into landfills. For example, nutrient-rich protein can be extracted via Black Solider Fly larvae for animal nutrition and organic fertilizer. This can then be used in agriculture, aquaculture, and livestock production.
Closing the Loop
Supply chain innovations and food waste management strategies enable the creation of circular economies by facilitating the reuse of food waste as compost and other byproducts. Utilizing this method can “close the loop” to support local farms, revitalize land, and serve to overcome global challenges of climate change, food waste, world hunger, and the vulnerabilities that come with being over reliant on importing resources.
In the end, buyers and suppliers are happy, the business model is effective, and most importantly, a sustainable environment is fostered to secure a prosperous future for everyone.