Nature foodPub Date : 2025-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01108-5
Matthew Gibson, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Anna Norberg, Costanza Conti, Maria Boa Alvarado, Mario Herrero
{"title":"Degrowth as a plausible pathway for food systems transformation","authors":"Matthew Gibson, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Anna Norberg, Costanza Conti, Maria Boa Alvarado, Mario Herrero","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01108-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01108-5","url":null,"abstract":"Food systems require urgent transformation towards social and ecological sustainability. Degrowth posits a radical pathway of transformation to reduce ecological impacts while increasing well-being and reducing inequality. Here we highlight that degrowth and food systems—albeit both linked to transformation—are not well integrated. We conduct a conceptual exploration of the potential alignment between key food systems and degrowth transformation measures, arguing for complementary and reciprocal perspectives to theorize and enact transformation. Finally, we offer concrete practical actions to integrate degrowth and food systems, thereby widening the narrative and analytical lens of social–ecological transformation. To address the view that degrowth and the food system are not well aligned, this Perspective offers concrete practical actions to integrate the two, thereby widening the narrative and analytical lens of social–ecological transformation.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"19-24"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142917024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2025-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01110-x
Christopher B. Barrett, Jing Yi
{"title":"Confronting the modern food price dilemma","authors":"Christopher B. Barrett, Jing Yi","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01110-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01110-x","url":null,"abstract":"As agrifood systems contribute considerably to global greenhouse gas emissions, policies targeting greenhouse gas reductions must navigate the distributional and dynamic implications of induced food price effects. Marketing margins can buffer consumer prices from production cost increases, but those effects vary across countries in ways that complicate the political economy of corrective policy.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"10-12"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142916840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2025-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01085-9
Rachel Zoe Bennie, Olivia Janice Ogilvie, Larry Sai Weng Loo, Hanzhang Zhou, Say Kong Ng, Ang Jin, Hamish John Francis Trlin, Andrew Wan, Hanry Yu, Laura Joy Domigan, Renwick Charles Joseph Dobson
{"title":"A risk-based approach can guide safe cell line development and cell banking for scaled-up cultivated meat production","authors":"Rachel Zoe Bennie, Olivia Janice Ogilvie, Larry Sai Weng Loo, Hanzhang Zhou, Say Kong Ng, Ang Jin, Hamish John Francis Trlin, Andrew Wan, Hanry Yu, Laura Joy Domigan, Renwick Charles Joseph Dobson","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01085-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01085-9","url":null,"abstract":"For commercial viability, cultivated meats require scientifically informed approaches to identify and manage hazards and risks. Here we discuss food safety in the rapidly developing field of cultivated meat as it shifts from lab-based to commercial scales. We focus on what science-informed risk mitigation processes can be implemented from neighbouring fields. We case-study pre-market safety assessments from UPSIDE Foods, GOOD Meat and Vow Group using publicly available dossiers. Quality control and safety assurance practices need to be established and standardized for cell lines and food-grade cell banks. Safe and reliable cell sources are essential for cultivated meat production. This Perspective explores approaches from fields using similar technologies and pre-market dossiers to address food safety issues associated with scale-up and commercial viability.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"25-30"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142916873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sub-terahertz metamaterial stickers for non-invasive fruit ripeness sensing","authors":"Subhajit Karmakar, Atsutse Kludze, Ranveer Chandra, Yasaman Ghasempour","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01083-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01083-x","url":null,"abstract":"Fruits and vegetables account for around a third of all food loss and waste. Post-harvest, retail and consumer losses and waste could be reduced with better ripeness assessment methods. Here we develop a sub-terahertz metamaterial sticker (called Meta-Sticker) that can be attached to a fruit to provide insights into the edible mesocarp’s ripeness without cutting into the produce. The fruit acts as a complex multilayer substrate to Meta-Sticker and, when excited by sub-terahertz signals, generates two distinct resonances: localized dipole resonance that correlates with the exocarp’s refractive index; and propagating plasmon resonance that penetrates into the mesocarp and resembles the rare phenomenon of ‘extraordinary transmission’. The Meta-Sticker accurately predicted the ripeness of different fruits with a cumulative normalized root mean square error of 0.54% of the produce tested. This study offers a non-invasive, low-cost and biodegradable solution for accurate ripeness assessment with applications in distribution optimization and food waste reduction. Fresh produce can be wasted at many stages of the food supply chain. A metamaterial sticker is developed based on sub-terahertz signals to detect fruit ripeness, which can be used to optimize distribution and for waste prevention.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"97-104"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-024-01083-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142911927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2025-01-02DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01105-8
Alessandra Toncelli
{"title":"On-the-shelf fruit ripeness monitoring using sub-terahertz plasmonic stickers","authors":"Alessandra Toncelli","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01105-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01105-8","url":null,"abstract":"Almost half of all fruits and vegetables are wasted annually. A low-cost sticker for use on the skin of fruit, based on plasmonics and sub-terahertz spectroscopy, can accurately predict fruit ripeness and could contribute towards reducing food loss and waste.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"13-14"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142911922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2025-01-02DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01086-8
R. W. McDowell, P. M. Haygarth
{"title":"Soil phosphorus stocks could prolong global reserves and improve water quality","authors":"R. W. McDowell, P. M. Haygarth","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01086-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01086-8","url":null,"abstract":"Combining existing databases, we estimated global phosphorus stocks in croplands and grasslands that are not readily available to plants as 32–41% of the 2020 estimated geologic phosphorus reserves, representing 146–186 years of the 2020 mass of phosphorus fertilizer applied annually. Especially if accessed by more efficient crops, this stock could reduce the need for additional fertilizer, improve water quality and contribute to all-round phosphorus sustainability. Combining existing databases, this study estimates global phosphorus stocks in croplands and grasslands that are not readily available to plants. The reserves represent 146–186 years of the 2020 mass of phosphorus fertilizer applied annually.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"31-35"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-024-01086-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142911923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2024-12-12DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01111-w
Frédéric Leroy, Peer Ederer
{"title":"Author Correction: The Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock","authors":"Frédéric Leroy, Peer Ederer","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01111-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01111-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"6 1","pages":"117-117"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-024-01111-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142815725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2024-11-25DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01079-7
Philip Thornton, Mario Herrero, Gerald Nelson, Dianne Mayberry
{"title":"Resilient livelihoods in Africa’s pastoral–agropastoral transition zones will increasingly depend on heat stress adaptation and systemic change","authors":"Philip Thornton, Mario Herrero, Gerald Nelson, Dianne Mayberry","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01079-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01079-7","url":null,"abstract":"Pastoral–agropastoral transition zones across the African continent are projected to face crop production difficulties due to climate change. A greater emphasis on livestock production may be an appropriate response in some places. Here we explore how heat stress may impact livestock productivity and human work capacity. While adaptations can alleviate some of the challenges related to heat stress, data-driven, systemic changes and multi-stakeholder participation are needed to accommodate the complex socio-economic factors involved in shaping a vision for pastoral and agropastoral food systems and to enact local—and effective—change. Heat stress threatens human and livestock well-being in pastoral and agropastoral production systems across Africa. This Perspective explores the challenges, potential adaptations and future pathways for these food systems in the coming decades.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"5 12","pages":"976-981"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142696948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2024-11-21DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01081-z
Yan Bo, Xuhui Wang, Kees Jan van Groenigen, Bruce A. Linquist, Christoph Müller, Tao Li, Jianchang Yang, Jonas Jägermeyr, Yue Qin, Feng Zhou
{"title":"Improved alternate wetting and drying irrigation increases global water productivity","authors":"Yan Bo, Xuhui Wang, Kees Jan van Groenigen, Bruce A. Linquist, Christoph Müller, Tao Li, Jianchang Yang, Jonas Jägermeyr, Yue Qin, Feng Zhou","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01081-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01081-z","url":null,"abstract":"Rice is the staple food for half of the world’s population but also has the largest water footprint among cereal crops. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a promising irrigation strategy to improve paddy rice’s water productivity—defined as the ratio of rice yield to irrigation water use. However, its global adoption has been limited due to concerns about potential yield losses and uncertainties regarding water productivity improvements. Here, using 1,187 paired field observations of rice yield under AWD and continuous flooding to quantify AWD effects (ΔY), we found that variation in ΔY is predominantly explained by the lowest soil water potential during the drying period. We estimate that implementing a soil water potential-based AWD scheme could increase water productivity across 37% of the global irrigated rice area, particularly in India, Bangladesh and central China. These findings highlight the potential of AWD to promote more sustainable rice production systems and provide a pathway toward the sustainable intensification of rice cultivation worldwide. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) optimizes water use in rice cultivation. This study shows that a soil water potential-based AWD scheme could minimize yield loss while increasing water productivity in 37% of global irrigated rice areas.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"5 12","pages":"1005-1013"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142678665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2024-11-21DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01084-w
Machiel J. Reinders, Hans Dagevos
{"title":"Meat reduction in small portions","authors":"Machiel J. Reinders, Hans Dagevos","doi":"10.1038/s43016-024-01084-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-024-01084-w","url":null,"abstract":"Reductions in meat consumption require dietary shifts and structural changes to our food system. Yet, a simple measure such as reducing the size of meat portions can already have an impact — and may help kick-off a longer-term shift.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"5 12","pages":"972-973"},"PeriodicalIF":23.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142678664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}