The workshop - STT · The workshop brought together actors from different parts of our food system, academics, policy makers and other stakeholders to discuss the grand challenges

The workshop brought together actors from different parts of our food system, academics, policy

makers and other stakeholders to discuss the grand challenges for our food systems, to imagine

future solutions towards 2030, and to reflect on what this means for European action in research

and innovation and beyond.

Approximately 45 experts from farming, food industry, retail, consumer insight organisations,

academia, ICT, banking, business consulting and the European Commission attended the workshop.

Two experienced facilitators guided them in their discussions: Dr Patrick van der Duin and Mrs Ellen

Willemse.

The results of the workshop will contribute to developing and enriching the European Commission's

upcoming FOOD2030-initiative. This initiative will be presented on a high level conference 'FOOD

2030: research and innovation for tomorrow's nutrition and food systems' which will take place in

Brussels on 13 October 2016.

This workshop newsletter is a ‘written snapshot’ of what happened on the workshop, as a memory

support for the European Commission and the participants. This document shall neither be binding

nor construed as constituting commitment by the European Commission.

Purpose of the meeting

John Bell, Director of the Bioeconomy Directorate of DG Research and Innovation welcomed the participants. John addressed the urgent need for Europe to develop a transdisciplinary 'food system'-approach to research and innovation. Such an approach will enable us to harness the upcoming disruption in food systems, the biggest since the industrial revolution. We are witnessing a paradigm shift, in which global policy, technologies, data, business models and investment opportunities converge. John stressed the unique role that European Research and Innovation (R&I) has to play in ensuring Europe's food and nutrition security. This role lies at the heart of delivering knowledge, data-driven smart and innovative processes, business models, and technologies, to support sustainable and resilient food production from land and sea, to implement circularity principles and to future-proof nutrition and food systems at every step of the chain, in Europe and globally. After his speech, John gave the floor to Patrick. Patrick introduced the participants, and asked them by means of an icebreaker what they would do if they were offered the option to move forward/backwards in time using a time machine. Most participants agreed that they would prefer to look toward the future, naming reasons like "curiosity" to see how it turns out, to see how innovation accelerates and the future is "unlocked". Those interested in going backwards mentioned among other reasons the opportunity to change the present day and the chance of understanding the thinking of people in the past.

Welcome and introduction 9:00 – 9:30

Barend Verachtert, Head of Unit of the Agri-food unit within the Directorate Bioeconomy set

the scene for the day with a presentation entitled ' Future food systems for food & nutrition

security, growth and jobs: challenges & policy objectives'.

Barend highlighted the importance of addressing the compounded effects of population

growth, urbanization, migration, resource scarcity and climate change on the entire food

chain, the ‘double burden’ of malnutrition including both obesity and malnutrition, the

unsustainability of the increasing global demand for meat and animal products, as well as the

necessity to increase global food production by +60% to feed a population of 9 billion by

2050, while at the moment 1/3 of the food we produce is wasted.

He emphasised that European Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) requires a new 'Food systems' approach in R&I. This approach will key to revolutionise, innovate and digitise our food and drink value chains. This approach will include the entire 'value chain' from inputs, to primary production (agriculture, aquaculture & fisheries), harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, distribution, waste streams, to consumer intake – and back! Barend also highlighted in his presentation, that R&I is key to finding solutions but that the current European FNS R&I landscape is fragmented, lacks policy coherence, cohesion & investment at industrial level, is suffering from an innovation gap, as well as low speed of market/societal/policy take-up given the challenges lying ahead. He also pointed out that private R&I investment in the European food and drink sector is still comparatively low compared to other developed economies, despite the fact that this sector is the single largest manufacturing sector in Europe.

Setting the scene 9:30 – 9:45

1 - Reducing hunger & malnutrition, addressing food safety and diet-related illnesses, and helping citizens adopt sustainable diets and healthy lives

2 - Building a climate and global change-resilient primary production system

3 - Implementing sustainability and circular economy principles across the whole food system

4 - Boosting market creating innovation and investment, while empowering communities

Barend explained that the Commission is developing a new initiative called "FOOD 2030", to address many of the above mentioned issues and to improve the impact of R&I for FNS. He said that this FOOD 2030 initiative seeks to be:

1. A policy framework to better structure, connect and scale-up EU R&I, in a global context 2. A global platform to convene stakeholders in Nutrition & Food Systems to tackle global

societal challenges 3. Investment driver : A mean to step-up EU investment ambition 4. A magnet for Market Creating Innovation

FOOD 2030 is built around a food systems approach to the whole food chain from the "farm to the fork and back", while also incorporating and addressing consumer and animal nutrition and health, climate change resilience and the implementation of sustainability and the circular economy. It's about market creating innovation approaches and harvesting effective investment strategies to solve real world problems on the ground and responding to societal needs.

FOOD 2030 – its 4 FNS priorities:

Barend listed the 4 FOOD 2030 priorities (see above) and said that these will be addressed via 4 drivers:

=> Open Innovation - improving the innovation and investment landscape via investment, regional, private sector collaboration

=> Open Science - multi-actor approach via open access and data sharing, improving engagement, education & skills

=> Research Breakthroughs - focus on investment in breakthroughs which meet consumer demand and involve all actors in the food chain, including society via ICT, Food systems science & transdisciplinarity

=> Open to the world - opening of the initiative to global stakeholders and actors via global collaborations, MS R&I alignment and support

Barend stressed that food is among

top priorities on the political agenda,

and that the political opportunity is

there to address many of global

political goals such as the Sustainable

Development 2030 goals, COP21

objectives and commitments, IPCC

priorities, World Food Day 2016,

Juncker priorities, Circular Economy

targets for waste, and more.

To conclude, Barend explained that the FOOD 2030 initiative will be presented at the occasion of a dedicated conference on the 13th of October 2016 in Brussels.

Patrick then explain the set-up of

the workshop (the 3 parts; see

figure), and how this delivers on the

desired outcome of the workshop.

He explained that for the discussion

participants would be divided in

working groups, created with the

intention of mixing participants of

many different areas of expertise

and enabling a food system

approach to each of the 3

discussions.

Part one of the workshop was dedicated to identifying key trends, or drivers of change and their

impact on food systems. Dr. Richard Swannell (Director of Sustainable Food Systems, WRAP) first

presented key findings from WRAP's "Food Futures"-report as an introduction to the group

discussions.

In his presentation, Richard explained which

food system trends were identified in WRAP's

report, and provided more detail of on 3

trends, which WRAP highlighted as key

trends or grand challenges towards our

future food systems.

PART 1:

What is going on in today's food systems?

9:45 – 12:00

In addition, Richard outlined 15 topics or areas where change is expected and/or needed. He also

showed how, according to WRAP, these topics relate to the grand challenges or key trends.

Richard concluded his presentation with WRAP's policy recommendations.

In the subsequent Q&A session the following comments and questions were raised:

the clarity and structure of WRAP's report was appreciated by participants;

the importance of a roadmap for change was stressed;

the question on how to mobilise farmers and small businesses was put forward as a key

challenge; a roadmap such as the one outlined by WRAP should not only target big business;

the importance of understanding consumers and their acceptance of technology was

emphasized;

when asked about what is key for businesses in the next 3-5 years, Richard pointed at

digitalisation.

Part 1: Discussions and their outcomes

The presentation of WRAP was followed by

discussion in small groups of participants, during

which each group identified the trends and

challenges in the FNS area that they perceived as

most important. The outcomes of the discussions

were presented at the end of the session, including

headlines and any thought provoking outliers that

came up in the discussions.

PART 1 - Outcomes of the discussion

Group 1:

A major challenge is the education and engagement of consumers/citizens, who on one hand need

to better understand their own nutritional needs (difference between "food needs" vs. "food

wants"), and who at the same time seem to not be fully aware of and understand the advantages of

technology. A lack of understanding might be the reason why they refuse some technologies.

The group also listed the tension between

agriculture, sustainability, and access to food as a

key challenge.

Group 1 also highlighted the need for all food

chain actors to work together.

Group 2:

This group identified one main grand challenge: climate change and the volatility it brings about.

The group expressed fear, that given the present and upcoming difficulties, farmers lack confidence

and instead of investing are focused on "keeping their head above the water". Innovation will be the

biggest loser in this scenario. Nevertheless, the group pointed at opportunities: (1) to enhance

cooperation in food systems, including retailers and producers, and (2) to develop risk management

tools.

In addition (and as outlier trend) the group pointed at the following trend:

emerging consumer interest for transparency and connectedness; the

image of "The Glass Factory" visualises this concept.

Group 3:

Group 3 stated that demands for transparency (data), more

local/organic – less processed/additives and technological

innovation will lead to more on societal innovation. They see data

driven change as one of the main trends and opportunities. The

group emphasized the importance of consumer empowerment

and of conscious choices as drivers for change in food systems.

Outlier: the group referred to the cost of land as a challenge.

Group 4:

Group 4 took the WRAP presentation as their starting point and took a step back. They asked the

following question: is the approach good, or are we missing the big picture?

They agreed that there definitely is a need to start with societal sciences, and a need to engage

consumers on food and nutrition. Aspects like believes and behaviour, as well as ethical issues

should be included in the discussion. One of the questions raised by the group was "What does

progress mean"? Plus, is the consumer really as passive as he is often pictured? Is he only receiving,

or?

A big trend they highlighted was the accessibility question – access to food, to jobs, to education, to

skills, access to IP etc.

Group 5:

This group considered 'people' the most important challenge.

Everything starts with PEOPLE and we ALL are consumers. Change is a

very difficult process and it is difficult to make the right choices,

therefore it is necessary to make change as EASY as possible, for

example via available data, transparency and choice.

Another important challenge is climate change-challenge, which

definitely needs new plant based solutions, diversity of solutions,

agile plus flexible industry.

Other important challenges were the smart, but not empty factory,

agile and flexible; trust in industry to make the right choices for us;

and the need for a new generation of "cool" farmers, that are great

with ICT and other breakthrough technologies

.

Group 6:

Group said that there is too much gloom and doom. There is a need for a positive twist in thinking,

as there are also quite some opportunities.

New trends/challenges are localisation of food, growing interest in health, nutraceuticals, and

personalised nutrition. The group thought that the convergence of health and sustainability

presents an opportunity to regain consumer trust. Also, food is too commodified and should be

raised up again and be given more value. Food waste needs tackling.

The [lack of] food chain resilience was described as "a sleeping time bomb". Food system actors

were said to apply the "ostrich with his head in the sand" approach - there is a shock wave on its

way, and will definitely happen, since instead of preparing we are ignoring it hoping the impact will

be not too strong. Particular concerns included: the lack of life cycle analysis, lack of total supply

coordination (companies and government), risk of big players buying up stocks, risks to food safety

due to quick changes, etc.

The group confirmed the importance of digitalisation, and said that consumers want more

traceability (block chain technology should be explored). But they also pointed at risks: IT food safety

risks, data privacy, data ownership. The group also asked itself whether they were too old to

comment on some aspects of the digitalisation challenge, like for example data privacy. They also

pointed at digitalisation opportunities like personalisation, collaborative economy, or food waste

reduction.

Group 7:

Group 7 elaborated on each of the 3 key challenges identified by WRAP.

On the alignment of health and sustainability, group 7 highlighted that we need scientific data and

validation. Also, in health & food 'one size does not fit all', hence the attractiveness of a more

personalised nutrition.

On the explosion of data enabled technologies: Group 7 saw an urgent need for open data sources,

for data sharing across the chain, but also for data collection standards. Retailers need to be

involved. And the decision support of farmers can be improved.

On the challenge of increasing food chain resilience: group 7 agreed that this is a challenge for food

companies, that partnerships and instruments are needed to cope with volatility, as well as

transparency and trust across the chain.

The group stressed the need for a global perspective on food systems, for collaboration between all

actors including the retailers. Consumers need to be educated about the value of food, since it

recently really became a commodity.

Ellen Willemse opened this part. She introduced her organisation (STT; Study Centre for Technology

Trends; NL), and defined the term 'technology' broadly (=Systematic application of scientific

knowledge, or otherwise systematically acquired knowledge) as a reference for the discussion.

A short game followed, in which participants were asked to guess the year in which a technological

discovery like a personal computer, a smart phone, or iPad was first launched. She then presented

some of the technologies of which the STT-study 'The future of Technology in agriculture' stated that

they will have a major impact on the future of agriculture and food. She did this as an inspiration for

the discussion.

1. 3D printing 2. 4D printing 3. Smart materials 4. Robotics 5. Autonomous micro-robots 6. Sensor technology 7. Information technology and IT infrastructures 8. Bioinformatics 9. Smart farming 10. Renewable energy

11. Biorefinery and biofuels 12. Gen technology 13. Synthetic biology 14. Protein transition 15. Food design 16. Aquaculture 17. Vertical agriculture 18. Conservation technology 19. Transport technology 20. Weather modification

MinION DNA sequencer, two new "letters" being added to the DNA, soft robotics, self-learning

robots, Watson (the questions answering computer system and many more) were some of these

technologies.

PART 2:

What will future food systems look like?

13:00 – 15:15

After that, Ellen guided us through the participatory session of Part 2. She first showed a short movie

"Essay about the future" to demonstrate that it is difficult to overestimate potential future

technological changes.

As a plenary warm-up, Ellen then presented different future scenarios, under the headline "Is this

the future?". Participants were asked to say how likely they thought the following scenarios are:

Fresh products are pre-processed at the place of production.

Many people use a smart system that continually monitors a myriad of biomarkers, and

subsequently gives personal advice on best health choices. Many participants thought this

scenario was likely.

Food printers and (micro) nutrient sprays make it very quick and easy for people to eat

exactly what they need, in a meal that is exactly what they like. A small majority of

participants thought this scenario was likely.

Big data is used to provide personalised packages of fresh food. Many participants thought

this scenario was likely; several expressed concerns about lack of data privacy.

An AirBnB-for-Agro changes the food chain completely. A small majority of participants

thought this scenario was likely; some participants linked it to short supply chains that target

specific (niche) groups.

Farmers own land in multiple countries, using robots and drones to do most of the work. The

first scenario (land in multiple countries) was considered likely or even already existing. The

future use of drones and robots in farming was seen to be very likely, but there as hesitation

whether these robots/drones would do all of the work.

In dry areas near the sea, land crops are grown in underwater greenhouses.

Eating insects is a total hype in Europe: once vloggers, popstars and other celebrities did it

(with some financial incentives), everybody followed. A small majority of participants

thought this scenario was likely.

After the presentation, participants were again divided into groups,

and asked to conceptualise their own individual utopian future

visions, and to select the most inspiring and important one, based on

discussion. This vision was presented to the audience.

PART 2 - Outcomes of the discussion

Group 1:

Group 1 described “utopia” for food systems as technology

driven, trusted, transparent, interconnected, diverse, and

focussed on value creation; and as catering for a wide variety of

consumer needs, while minimizing use of resources.

A few specific visions were presented for agriculture:

- Nutrient dense crops

- Low input farming

- Valorised by-products

And for consumers:

- Consumers value food, cultural aspects

- Literacy in nutrition

- Using personalised data to have affordable, nutritious &

tasty foods (on the go, at home)

Multiple technological and science advances are needed but

most urgent were new insights from behavioural sciences to

change behaviour.

Group 3:

This group presented 4 general visions:

Smart sustainable food production

where technology works in complete

harmony with nature.

Everyone in the world has access to

the food they need. Avoid a two

tiered food system.

Fully personalised food choices.

Consumer fully understands the true

cost of their food in terms of health

benefit (and costs). De-commodity-

fication of food; understand value of

food.

Group 4:

A number of visions were put forward:

A truly shared food economy. Peer-to-peer

community kitchens; re-use/re-work of waste.

Consumers that become active stakeholders in

food production.

Kitchens everywhere; fresh prepared food when

and where you want; breakfast and lunch

becoming more important.

Achieve integrated sustainability/transparency

(the glass factory) through using Internet-of-

Things.

Glocalisation: localise food but manage risks

globally.

On-demand and just-in-time agri-food production

models.

An integrated ‘food + agriculture + nutrition’-

culture through education (compulsory

curriculum)

Group 5:

This group created a vision for governance of the food system. Instead of focussing on minimising

negative impacts and problems, regulators should maximize the benefits that the food system can

offer to maximise opportunities: a food system that also absorbs carbon, preserves, manages and

builds water resources, builds soil fertility & biodiversity, …

Europe should lead with this approach. Regulation today still emphasises minimizing the downsides

of food production rather than maximizing the opportunities.

Group 6:

A Sustainable Protein Punch (to remove most

milk); needs new flavours, new texturisers,

research on how to make it work throughout the

chain (even in the home); needs to accepted

LEGO Food: food built up from basic nutritional

components (protein, fat, carbohydrates, …), and

composed into meal by person, 3D-printer,

bakery, robot, etc. Requires wide ranging

collaboration (between food companies and white

goods companies, consumer groups, …).

AIR Food – directly from farm, there-by bypassing

traditional retailers.

Group 7:

Group 7 presented a comprehensive

vision: As consumer, I can order

products, which are affordable &

specifically designed for my family, have

them delivered at home, advised on how

to prepare / integrate the products in

healthy meals & be alerted when

products shelf-life is reached, recharge

my fridge automatically (results in a

demand driven production system which

reduces volatility).

A discussion followed in which the

sustainability of cheap food was

questioned. There was also a plea for

diversity to cater for the many different

user types.

Workshop – "Building our future food systems" 11 May 2016

17

During the third part, 2 larger groups of participants briefly discussed some of the visions that

emerged from the second part, and discussed questions such as:

Which areas of science and technology are key to realising this vision?

Which complementary action will be needed?

What impact can we expect by 2030?

What are potential obstacles? (technical, logistical, financial, legal, societal etc)

What knowledge is needed?

What (new) partnerships are needed?

What else is needed?

The outcome from this final part is concisely listed below.

PART 3 - Outcomes of the discussion

Group 1

Protein mix (based on a 'sustainable protein punch', vision proposed by group 6 during Part2)

Key science and technology areas:

Research on sustainability indicators, scalability, safety (allergies), food texture, organoleptic

acceptability, waste treatment to produce proteins, humane killing of insects, aquaculture

Increase knowledge on algae and insects (cost, how they are used in products, cleaning and

harvesting algae, …)

ICT, Nano- and molecular science

Possible obstacles:

Acceptability, culture, effects of social media, resistance from NGOs (horror stories)

Regulatory problems

Financing risky, innovative projects

[Lack of] systematic comparative analysis

Stakeholders to be involved:

New alliances are needed (e.g. ICT, agriculture, health sector)

Actions needed:

Focus investments

Push the use of algae and insects in food & feed

PART 3:

What are the key areas & actions of R&I?

15:45 – 16:45

Workshop – "Building our future food systems" 11 May 2016

18

Educate consumers

More quality levels in supermarkets (less waste) ?

Transparency (based on a 'transparency/ Glass Factory', vision proposed by group 4, and others,

during Part2)

Key science and technology areas

ICT, standardisation (the right standards for the right place), how is data collected, make

clear what the different areas are within big data

Possible obstacles :

Legal frameworks

Consumer, other actors in system

Questions that arose?

What are the practical needs?

Who pays for the data?

Who has access to data? Who is the owner?

How to manage personal data?

How to empower/support small players?

How to translate data into something useful?

How to make the cost of food clear (price, health, and environment)?

How to avoid 'Big Brother'?

Workshop – "Building our future food systems" 11 May 2016

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Group 2

Positive impact food system

(based on vision proposed by group 5 during Part2)

Key science and technology areas

o Data: new metrics, different scientific validation, open datasets, transparency

o How to apply natural capital economics across the food system

o Resource use efficiency

o Novel, minimal process technologies

o Landscape solutions

Other actions

o Upscale, startup, testbed, rolling-out, testing (integrating/ connectedness)

o Support towards the change, public procurement

Personalised food solutions

(based on visions proposed by groups 1, 3, 6, 7 during Part2)

Consumer data, also for small companies (to stimulate their innovation)

Key science and technology areas

o Connecting food & genes

o Where is the validated information

o Holistic and comparative food research on impact of food consumption on life

o Better understanding of consumer behaviour; citizen-centricity

o More flexible, small scale solutions

o Shelf life

Other actions

o Promote multidisciplinarity between ICT and food

o Learning from, be inspired by "personalised medicine"

Other points raised

o Pleasure of food is important (& healthy)

o Diversity of food

o Climate impact of food

o Convenience, catering, transport

Workshop – "Building our future food systems" 11 May 2016

20

Wim Haentjens (European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, Unit F3 ‘Agri-food’) closed the

workshop and provided some final comments.

He thanked all the participants for attend, and for making time for this workshop.

He emphasized that many participants had appreciated the workshop’s attempt to bring

together a wide range of actors and disciplines from different parts of our food system. This

feedback reflects a consensus that a multi-actor- and systems-approach to research and

innovation is key to finding solutions for the grand challenges faced by our food systems.

He thanked the participants for providing ideas and said that these will help the ongoing

policy work, in particular the FOOD2030 initiative.

He asked the participants to note down the date of the upcoming Food2030-conference (13

October 2016; location: Brussels, Conference centre ' the Square') in their agenda.

He stated that the workshop would be followed by a newsletter (i.e. this document), that will

feed into the preparations for FOOD2030, and a workshop report.

The debriefing that followed the workshop confirmed that:

there was strong support for of the need to act now to shape the food systems of tomorrow,

that a food systems approach is needed,

that we need to do this together via a multi-actor engagement process, in which

consumers/citizens play a vital role,

that the EC has an important convening role to play to make this happen in an inclusive way,

and

that a R&I policy framework to get us there is welcomed.

These and other exchanges with stakeholders and colleagues reaffirm the need to move forward

with the FOOD 2030-initiative.

Unit F3 ‘Agri-food’ of the European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, wishes to give special

thanks to Dr Patrick van der Duin, Mrs Ellen Willemse, Dr Richard Swannell and Mr Jamie Blomfield

for their help in preparing and realising this workshop.

Wrap-up and closing comments

16:45 – 17:45

Acknowledgments