Megatrends in Food and Agriculture

Highlights and examines the growing convergence between the food and agricultural industries--the technological, environmental, and consumer-related drivers of this change, and the potential outcomes

This is the first book of its kind to connect food and the food industry with agriculture, water resources, and water management in a detailed and thorough way. It brings together a small community of expert authors to address the future of the food industry, agriculture (both for plants and animals), and water--and its role in a world of increasing demands on resources.

The book begins by highlighting the role of agriculture in today's food industry from a historical perspective--showing how it has grown over the years. It goes on to examine water management; new ways of plant breeding not only based on genetic modification pathways; and the attention between major crops (soy, corn, wheat) and so-called "orphan crops" (coffee, cocoa, tropical fruits). The book then turns towards the future of the food industry and analyzes major food trends, the new food, and "enough" food; discusses possible new business models for the future food industry; and analyzes the impact that the "internet of everything" will have on agriculture and the food industry. Finally, Megatrends in Food and Agriculture: Technology, Water Use and Nutrition offers scenarios about how agriculture, food, and the food industry might undergo some radical transformations.

• Assesses the evolution of food production and how we arrived at today's landscape

• Focuses on key areas of change, driven by both innovation and challenges such as new technologies, the demand for better nutrition, and the management of dwindling resources

• Highlights the role of better-informed consumers who demand transparency and accountability from producers

• Is written by industry insiders and academic experts

Megatrends in Food and Agriculture: Technology, Water Use and Nutrition is an important resource for food and agriculture industry professionals, including scientists and technicians as well as decision makers, in management, marketing, sales, and regulatory areas, as well as related NGOs.

Autorentext

HELMUT TRAITLER, "Senior Innovation Connector" for Swissnex San Francisco, California, United States. MICHEL DUBOIS, UniLaSalle, Beauvais, France. KEITH HEIKES, Chief Executive Officer, Cooperative Resources International, Wisconsin, United States. VINCENT PÉTIARD, Founder of Plant Sciences and Technology Corporate R&D at Nestlé, France. DAVID ZILBERMAN, Professor who holds the Robinson Chair in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California at Berkeley, United States.

Inhalt
Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Part 1 Agriculture and the Food Industry 1

1 The Role of Agriculture in Today's Food Industry 3

1.1 Introduction 3

1.1.1 The Four Building Blocks 4

1.1.2 Some History of Agriculture 5

1.1.3 Eat More and Increase the Likelihood for Survival 6

1.1.4 Food Can Be Grown and Plants Can Be Bred: What's Next? 7

1.1.5 From Very Old to Rather Recent Food?]Preservation Techniques 9

1.2 Agriculture: The Main Supplier to the Food Industry 10

1.2.1 Artificial Ingredients 10

1.2.2 The Main Raw Material Sources 11

1.2.3 Milk's the Star 12

1.2.4 MilkWhat Else? 13

1.2.5 Other Excursions from Food 14

1.2.6 Noncompeting Alternatives 15

1.3 Agriculture's New Role in Light of Food and Health 16

1.3.1 Decades of Food Safety Rules and Regulations 18

1.3.2 More Rules: What Do We Do? 20

1.3.3 Raw Materials and Processes Become More Sophisticated 21

1.4 Most Likely Drivers for Change in the Agriculture Industry 23

1.5 Summary and Major Learning 25

References 27

2 Water Management in Modern Agriculture: The Role of Water and Water Management in Agriculture and Industry 29

2.1 Introduction 29

2.2 Multiple Dimensions of Water 30

2.3 On the Evolution of Water Institutions and Policies 33

2.4 Reforming Water?]Resource Management at the Micro?]Level (Farm and Field) 35

2.5 Reforming Regional Water?]Allocation Regimes 38

2.6 Improved Water Project Design 42

2.7 Improved Water Quality 43

2.8 Climate Change 44

2.9 Summary and Major Learning 46

References 47

3 Innovation in Plant Breeding for a Sustainable Supply of High?]Quality Plant Raw Materials for the Food Industry 53

3.1 Introduction 53

3.2 Challenges for Future Agricultures and Food Industries 54

3.2.1 Strongly Growing Food Needs 54

3.2.2 Energy Issues 56

3.3 Genetic?]Based Techniques for Plant Breeding in the Context of Agricultural Production 59

3.3.1 Genetic Innovation and Agronomic Practices 59

3.3.2 The Process of Plant Breeding and Its Main Limitations 61

3.3.3 Preliminary Conclusions 67

3.4 Trends: Shift in Allocation of Resources to Global Needs? 68

3.4.1 Methodology 68

3.4.2 Analysis of Investment in Seed Research and Development 69

3.4.3 Analysis of Deviations and Distortions of R&D Investments and Production Volumes 71

3.5 A First Set of Conclusions and Recommendations 77

3.6 Summary and Major Learning 80

3.7 Appendix Tables 81

References 85

4 The Agriculture of Animals: Animal Proteins of the Future as Valuable and Sustainable Sources for the Food Industry 87

4.1 Livestock and Animal Husbandry 87

4.1.1 How We Got to Now 88

4.2 Animals: A Source of High?]Quality Proteins 89

4.3 Animal Protein Demand in Emerging Markets 90

4.4 Optimal Animal Welfare: Sustainable, Humane, and Healthy 93

4.4.1 Animal Production Increase 95

4.5 Animal?]Breeding Programs 97

4.5.1 Genomic Breeding of Animals 98

4.6 The Use of Big Data for Management and Genetic Evaluations 102

4.7 Summary and Major Learning 106

References 108

Part 2 The Future of the Food Industry 109

5 The Food TrendsThe New FoodEnough Food? 111

5.1 Historical Food Trends: From Then to Now 111

5.1.1 Food and Beverages during the Period of Classical Greece 111

5.1.2 Food and Beverages in the Roman Empire 113

5.1.3 Food in Medieval Times in Central Europe 115

5.1.4 From European Renaissance and Enlightenment to the First Industrial Revolution 118

5.1.5 Food in the 20th Century: The Real Food Revolution 121

5.2 Present?]Day Food Fashions and Trends: A Never?]Ending Story 124 5.2.1 Food and N...