Fungal infections destroy a significant amount of crops worldwide. Scientists have warned that the crop losses due to fungal infections cause hundreds of thousands of people to miss out on calories they could have if the crops survived. And this will only get worse as our world gets warmer.
The UK government has invested £12m (€13.57) in a new research centre to grow sustainable protein and cultivated meat. This will be the largest investment yet made by the government in sustainable proteins.
Plant-based is one of the most important trends in the food industry today. Meat- and dairy-free products are helping provide food alternatives to an ever-growing flexitarian market. But some questions still remain. For one, since many plant-based foods are heavily processed, can they bring the same nutritional benefits as traditional meat and dairy or do they inevitably have the same pitfalls as ‘ultra-processed’ foods? Secondly, and most importantly, how will plant-based foods help us to make a transition to a sustainable food system?