The world's population is growing, and the UN expects we will be close to 10 billion people by 2050. So if we are to feed many more people, we need to make food production more sustainable.
Currently, global food production accounts for a quarter of the world’s total CO2 emissions, of which livestock in particular account for a large share.
The work on the green transition of food production includes various initiatives:
Food safety is in focus in all efforts to increase food sustainability. The new foods must not contain substances that are harmful to health and must not, for example, cause new food allergies.
Tine Hald Professor tiha@food.dtu.dk
Tine Hald is an epidemiologist with expertise in foodborne diseases including zoonoses and antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
Her research focuses on source attribution and quantitative risk assessments. Her work takes a One Health approach to optimize animal, human and environmental health. She advises Danish and international food and health organisations, including WHO and EFSA.
Morten Otto Alexander Sommer Scientific Director msom@biosustain.dtu.dk
Morten Sommer works with microbial foods that can help make our food production more sustainable.
His research involves academic fields such as microbiology, data science, synthetic biology and gastronomy. Together, they contribute to the development of new products and new technologies for food production. He holds more than 50 patents and is co-founder of several companies.
Anne S. Meyer Professor asme@dtu.dk
Anne S. Meyer is an expert in enzyme technology, and investigates enzymes that can used to improve processes and products in food, agriculture, climate and environment.
Her research includes new biotechnological methods that can be applied to create plant-based foods as an alternative to animal protein sources, biorefining of seaweed, or using residues from current food production to develop dietary fibres with health-promoting properties.
See our answers to frequently asked questions about food production.
Sustainable food production ensures we produce food in a way that meets our current food needs without destroying the ability of future generations to meet their food needs. That means that in food production, we must use resources efficiently, minimize the environmental impact, reduce waste and the volume of waste, and ensure that the methods and ingredients we use are responsible and sustainable in the long term.
Food production contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, livestock production, and food processing. This includes methane from livestock, such as cows, CO2 from agricultural machinery’s consumption of fossil fuels, energy consumption in processing processes, and food transport. Researchers are working to develop and implement ways to reduce these emissions, including creating more efficient production methods and alternative protein sources with a lower carbon footprint.
Climate-friendly foods are products that are produced with a lower carbon footprint than traditional foods. This can be achieved through methods that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimize energy and water consumption, or promote the use of sustainable raw materials.
Nutrition research is important to understand how different nutrients affect human health and well-being. The research helps develop dietary recommendations, prevent nutrition-related diseases, and improve the nutritional content of foods.
It also enables us to develop dietary guidelines that cater to population groups with special nutritional needs, such as children, the elderly, or pregnant women.
Microbial foods are foods based on microorganisms, which include bacteria, microalgae, fungi and yeast cells. The use of microorganisms can be divided into three main categories:
