DUBAI, 22 February 2022 – Future food practices have to change to tackle the global challenges brought on by fewer resources and growing populations worldwide, panelists highlighted today (22 February) at the World Majlis: Food For Thought session held at the Italy Pavilion.

Thought-leaders, visionaries and change-makers explored how eating in the future will be a matter of balancing culture and innovation.

Thought-leaders, visionaries and change-makers explored how eating in the future will be a matter of balancing culture and innovation. The panel came together as part of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Food, Agriculture & Livelihoods Week to exchange ideas on how to address the challenge of exploring new food to feed another two billion people in the future within the limits of our planet.

There is no doubt that what we eat will be drastically different in the future, according to Michelle Colgrave, Professor of Food and Agricultural Proteomics at Australia’s Edith Cowan University, who said: “Plant-based proteins are now really entering the mainstream. We are starting to explore the biodiversity that exists globally. We are thinking about how we can utilize things like insects, for example, which are incredibly diverse and incredibly efficient at taking things like food waste and upcycling it into new products like protein. They are enriched with vitamins and minerals, iron and other things that we really need.”

Michelle Colgrave, Professor of Food and Agricultural Proteomics at Australia’s Edith Cowan University, who said: “Plant-based proteins are now really entering the mainstream.

We must use technology and the resources we have available today to make more conscious choices when it comes to the food we produce and consume, chef and restaurateur Coco Reinarhz highlighted, adding that our ability to find more sustainable food systems will affect the way we eat in the future.

Future food production systems must be sensible and invest in nature, so that they are not only sustainable, but also innovative, Dr Brent Clothier, Principal Scientist with New Zealand’s Plant and Food Research Institute, suggested.

Food, Agriculture & Livelihoods Week, which runs until tomorrow (23 February), is focusing on creating food systems for the future that are more productive, more inclusive of poor and marginalised populations, environmentally sustainable and resilient, as well as delivering healthy and nutritious diets for all.

Future food production systems must be sensible and invest in nature, so that they are not only sustainable, but also innovative, Dr Brent Clothier, Principal Scientist with New Zealand’s Plant and Food Research Institute.

However, in his opening remarks, His Excellency Senator Stefano Patuanelli, Italy’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, pointed out that when looking for solutions to global concerns – such as starvation, nutrition, obesity, food security and self-sufficiency – it is important we do not lose the culture and traditions that food represents.

HE Senator Stefano Patuanelli said: “Food is about culture, a sense of community and tradition. We have to think about climate change and we have to think about consuming less resources. Through this journey [towards better food systems], we must keep the gastronomic traditions of cultures and countries alive.”

The week is the ninth of 10 Theme Weeks held throughout the six months of Expo 2020 Dubai as part of the Programme for People and Planet. The programme aims to serve as a platform for the exchange of inspiring new perspectives to address the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time.

ameerul.hasan@thechangemakers.news