Evaluating the Sustainability and Nutritional Benefits of Alternative Production Systems and Foods

粮食系统目前造成了主要的负外部性，包括温室气体排放、水资源退化和严重的营养失衡，例如导致2型糖尿病等疾病。提高食品质量和减少对环境的负面影响既重要又日益紧迫。需要客观地评价新的生产方法，并对其局限性进行评估。生态位生产可能会取得明显的成功，但必须大规模实施，以低影响的方式喂好国家，这需要批判性的分析，例如，克兰菲尔德最近的一项研究表明，在英格兰和威尔士100%转向有机生产将增加温室气体排放。垂直农业存在于城市地下，但它能以有效的商业规模运作吗？了解和量化供应的生物物理极限对于未来实现可持续消费并大大减少对环境的负面影响至关重要。生命周期评估（LCA）已被用于评估单个食物和整个饮食，但在分析中明确包括营养特性仍是初步的。生产和消费一些新型食品的社会可接受性可能是吸收的主要障碍。考虑了两个主要的食品领域：(a)肉类和替代高蛋白食品和(b)高价值园艺作物（用于调味和微量营养素供应）。例如（但不限于）：植物和真菌蛋白质（作为整体和加工食品），人类食品和动物（包括鱼类）饲料的昆虫，养殖肉类，垂直农业和相关的高科技园艺生产方法（水力和气耕法），都使用自然和人工照明。肉类（尤其是反刍动物）的初级生产往往产生非常高的温室气体排放，而许多高价值的园艺产品是在高能耗产品系统中生产的，通过空运进口或从高度缺水地区进口。生产肉类替代品和在低影响系统中生产更高价值的园艺产品显然是必要的。有待检验的假设是，新兴的替代食品和生产方法可以在减少负面环境影响的同时，促进更好的营养。目标是：确定和审查当前和新兴的食品和生产系统，特别是肉类替代品和高价值新鲜农产品系统。开发克兰菲尔德LCA食品系统模型，以解决最有前途的替代食品和系统，最初使用新方法的初步预期LCA。扩展模型方法，明确说明营养成分，使其成为功能单元的一部分。使用粮食系统模型（具有预期lca）来探索蛋白质和高价值园艺产品的主要变化，并确定最有希望的替代方案，以更详细地研究这些变化。用新颖的原始数据开发未来的lca，以评估详细lca中的范例。整合环境LCA和社会LCA。评估新食品和新系统的生产限制、健康营养供应和可接受性

The food system currently contributes to major negative externalities including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water degradation and major nutrient imbalances, e.g. leading to conditions like type 2 diabetes. Improving food qualities and reducing negative environmental impacts are both essential and of increasing urgency. Novel production methods needs to be evaluated objectively and the limits to them assessed. Niche production may be apparently successful, but feeding nations well and with low impacts must be implemented at scale and this needs critical analysis, e.g. a recent Cranfield study showed that a 100% conversion to organic producing in England and Wales would increase GHG emissions. Vertical farming exists in subterranean niches under cities, but can this operate at effective commercial scale? Understanding and quantifying the biophysical limits to supply is critical for the future to enable sustainable consumption with greatly reduced negative environmental impacts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used to evaluate individual foods and whole diets, but the explicit inclusion of nutritional properties within analyses is still tentative. The social acceptability of producing and consuming some novel foods could be a major obstacle to uptake.Two major food areas are considered: (a) meats and alternative high protein foods and (b) high value horticultural crops (for flavour and micronutrient supply). Examples are (but not limited to): plant and fungal proteins (as whole and processed foods), insects for human food and animal (including fish) feed, cultured meat, vertical farming and associated high technology horticultural production methods (hydro and aeroponic methods), both using natural and artificial lighting. Primary production of meats (especially from ruminants) tend to create very high GHG emissions, while much high value horticultural produce is produced in high energy product systems, imported by air freight or imported from highly water stressed areas. Producing alternatives to meats and producing more high value horticultural produce in lower impacting systems is clearly needed.The hypothesis to be tested is that emerging alternative foods and production methods can make significant improvements in reducing negative environmental effects while promoting better nutrition.The objectives are:Identify and scrutinise current and emerging foods and production systems, especially alternatives to meat and systems for high value fresh produce.Develop the Cranfield LCA food system model to address most promising alternative foods and systems, initially using preliminary prospective LCAs of the new approaches.Extend the model method to account explicitly for nutrient content enabling this to be part of a functional unit.Use the food system model (with prospective LCAs) to explore major changes in protein and high value horticultural produce and to identify most promising alternatives to study these in greater detail.Develop the prospective LCAs with novel primary data to evaluate exemplars in detailed LCAs. Integrate the environmental LCAs with Social LCA.Evaluate the limits to production, healthy nutrient supply and acceptability of novel foods and systems