2. Background and Objectives
Background
Climate change and exponential population growth pose serious
threats to our ability to produce enough food to feed the world.
Moreover, the environmental changes can have an impact on the
quality and quantity of the food produced.
Objectives
• Develop science-based assessments
• Better understand the impact of the various steps along the food
chain on the environment and on human health.
2
3. Highlights
3
Water Use for Oil Crops: Current Water Use and Future
Outlooks
Ludwig et al. ILSI Europe Report Series 2011
Considering Water Quality for Use in the Food Industry
Fawell et al. ILSI Europe Report Series 2008
Understanding the impact of crop and food production on the
water environment - Using sugar as a model
(Hess et al. submitted)
5. Revised task force title
Suggested new titles
• Sustainable Food Production
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentally Sustainable Food Production
• Environmental sustained and healthy food
production
5
6. Future plans (1)
First step:
• Collect and evaluate the available sustainability indicators
• Identify the most robust and appropriate indicators for future
projects
6
Brainstorming
meeting
New Activity
Proposal
ready
Apr 2013 Jul 2013
New Activity
Proposal
approved
Oct 2013
1st Expert
Group
meeting
Nov 2013
7. Future plans (2)
• Impact (Risks and Benefits) of modern agro and food technologies on
food safety, food quality, environment and human health
• Global large scale based production vs. local small scale production
• Intensive vs. extensive agricultural production and their impact on
biodiversity
• Comparison of sourcing of food and commodities from abroad or local
• What are real major threats regarding food quality in view of potential
health impacts from a scientific point of view
7
Topic Selection –
Autumn 2013
This presentation is aiming at illustrating the current situation of the ILSI Europe Environment and Health Task Force and the suggested plans for the upcoming years.
As you may know, climate change and exponential population growth pose serious threats to our ability to produce enough food to feed the world. Moreover, efforts for increasing the amount of food may impact the environment and may not lead to sufficient food quantity and quality. The ILSI Europe Environment and Health Task Force aims to contribute to the understanding of the benefits and risks to human health and the environment that result from food production and food processing, and to promote best practices to manage these benefits and risks. More specifically, the first objective of the task force is to develop science-based assessments related to the environmental impact of the technology used for crop and food production in the context of its sustainability. The second objective is to better understand the impact of the various steps along the food production chain on the environment and on human health.
The task force has thus far addressed issues related to the actual and future water demands in terms of water use and availability for globally grown crops.In addition,guidelines were developed to encourage sustainable use of water at all stages of production, from farm to fork. The task force’s current activity aims to review the impact of crop and food production on the water environment and the range of tools available to food companies to quantify, evaluate and mitigate risks related to water availability and quality. In case you would like to have more insight on the outcomes of recently concluded activities, you can click on the corresponding links highlighted in the second and third box to access the publications.In this activity, sugar (beet and cane) was used as a relevant crop model to investigate water sustainability in agriculture. This paper illustrates how the approach can be applied to different crops and commodities although their particular characteristics will need to be considered. The manuscript was submitted in May 2013 to the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-sugar-cane-image25194282http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-sunflower-oil-flower-image20584189
The Environment and Health Task Force is now preparing for its future activities and has identified two main points of consideration. In April 2013 a brainstorming meeting was held with the members of the task force to identify new potential activities to start in the near future To better reflect the task force’s objective and main goals, it has been decided to revise the title of the task force. In addition, a plan of work has been drafted, identifying and prioritizing some of the main topics to be examined in the coming years. http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-future-image26300735
As the task force works on issues related to sustainability, environment and food production, it is important that the task force title clearly reflects their areas of work. Several new titles have been suggested to replace the current one. A decision is expected to be made in the task force meeting in Autumn 2013.http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-question-mark-name-tag-red-string-image16041200
Further to revising their title, the task force is currently refining its work plan for the coming years. Water management, land use, climate change, bio-diversity and eco-system services were identified as potential topics for new activities. A brainstorming meeting was held in April 2013 to identify and prioritize topics of interest. The task Force concluded that their future approach will focus on the assessment and ideally quantification of environmental impacts caused during food production, food processing or other steps along the food chain. To achieve this, a framework of underlying parameters needs to be defined. Working towards this direction, the Task Force will first collect and evaluate numerous available indicators to measure sustainability and then identify the most robust and appropriate ones for use in future projects.
Further to the activity on sustainability indicators that has been planned to start end of 2013, some more ideas have been developed for future activities. The projects in the pipeline revolve around geography and location of food productionfood distribution and transportfood quantity and quality, or Agro technologies and food processing methods. The topic to be picked up next by the task force will be decided during their upcoming meeting in autumn 2013.http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-diagram-sustainability-image25236894
We hope to have provided you with enough information on the current situation and future plans of the task force. In case you would like to take part in shaping the activities in the area of environmental sustainability, please send me an email at the mentioned address.Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
