Countryside Living - brought to you by APL Media • Wednesday 7 August 2024 Get set for nature-first food


Te Big Food Redesign Challenge involves 60 companies redesigning food to help nature thrive


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FROM DEPLETED LANDSCAPES TO VIBRANT BIODIVERSITY


The UK’s green and pleasant land needs some help. This country is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth; animals including hedgehogs, water voles and turtle doves, common sights in the 1970s, have all but disappeared. British insect populations, hardly visible on today’s car windscreens, have dropped by a shocking two thirds over the past 20 years. Although the industrialised


farming system kept cupboards stocked in the wake of two world wars, some practices have resulted in the erasure of habitats like hedgerows and wildflower meadows, and the use of chemicals that destroy pollinators as well as pests. The food system also contributes


one-third of greenhouse gas emissions — even larger than transport or energy. But there’s a better way to keep everyone fed, and you’ll soon be able to eat the results of it.


DELICIOUSLY DIVERSE A circular economy for food and drink offers a system that nourishes soil, air and water, keeping nutrients cycling between people and the earth. Rather than simply raiding nature’s larder, food can be made in ways that allow nature to thrive. That’s the thinking behind the


Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge, in partnership with the Sustainable Food Trust. The Challenge is enabled thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Its aim is to support innovative projects with the potential to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. Sixty companies across the world


are racing to create nature-first food products including beer, snacks and cereals. The benefit is clear; if manufacturers design with nature in mind, farmers will have the financial incentive to farm differently —something many are keen to do.


crops like peas and beans, for example, suck nitrogen out of the air and send it through their roots into the soil, helping other plants around them grow with little or no need of synthetic chemical inputs.


SAVED FROM SCRAP Food manufacturers in the Challenge are also looking at how they can use parts of plants or animals that usually go to waste — like fruit pulp or skin, or by-products from other food production processes (like brewer’s spent grain). If more manufacturers can upcycle ingredients in this way, food waste can be reduced and all the resources that went into growing or rearing the plant or animal can be maximised. Another part of circular design


involves bringing more diversity to our eating. Industrialised farming has led to vast fields full of the same plant: just four crops currently provide 60% of the world’s calories. This isn’t just dull for everyone at dinner time, it’s also a major driver of plant and animal extinctions. Challenge participants are drawing from the vast diversity of nature’s food cupboard, from black oats to rare breeds of pig.


The final piece of the jigsaw


is the way farmers manage the land. Businesses in the Challenge are looking at ways they can help farmers use practices including rotational grazing and agroforestry. These practices can create landscapes that support a wider range of species and help populations of the UK’s quintessential British wildlife make a comeback. Nature-first food has the potential to transform our landscapes as well


as our lunches. Watch out for Big Food Redesign Challenge products in UK shops including Waitrose and Fortnum & Mason from February. This project is enabled thanks to


funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, awarded through the Postcode Innovation Trust Dream Fund: postcodedreamfund. org.uk/funded-charities


Behind the scenes


Scan this QR code to watch how three Challenge participants are racing to finalise their designs for nature-first food.


How can manufacturers make


this change? By using circular design principles, in which food manufacturers make nature-friendly choices about ingredients and packaging design, as well as working more closely with farmers to help regenerate the land they manage. A big part of this plan for nature-


first food is prioritising ingredients that have a lower than average impact on the environment. Clever


links.emf.org/food


sustainablefoodtrust.org/ our-work/feeding-britain


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