The health of cultivated soils, biodiversity and decarbonization have been some of the themes that have shaped The Foodchangemakers Summit 2024 in Valencia. Beatriz Jacoste, director of KM ZERO, said in her speech:”We have lost 70% of biodiversity and 50% of agricultural land, which has undoubtedly had a significant impact on the nutritional density of our diet. Some of the startups that have attended ftalks'24, such as Biome Makers, are already playing an important role in recovering these lost soils, just as other emerging companies such as Carbon Harvesters are already leading measurement, mitigation and certification strategies in the agricultural sector.”
Food security and good nutrition, markers of social development
Researcher Martin W. Bloem, professor of Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, highlighted during his conference “Ending hunger and accessing healthy nutrition”: “Studies show that taking care of children's diet already means being late. We must start taking care of the baby's diet much earlier, from before pregnancy, to focus on The diet of mothers”. The expert stressed that this circumstance is the same in all countries of the world, but he warns of its uneven impact: “Low-income countries are not making the same progress as middle-income countries. It all boils down to the human capital index: survival, school and health. The fact that food is not adequate affects the country's development in a clear way. The higher the GDP, the higher the human capital index.”
Allegation by a Ministry of Food
For his part, Paul Newham, director of SDG2 Advocacy Hub and founder of the United Nations-backed initiative Chefs' Manifesto, has used his intervention at the analysis table on the geopolitics of food to highlight the need for address food safety in a comprehensive and collaborative way: “We can only find solutions if we work hand in hand. We all know what challenges and conflicts affecting food security are that we face when we turn on the television and watch the news. Climate change with its heat waves, floods, increased rainfall in unexpected seasons... We all think of these as isolated situations, but it is something that is happening all over the world and that is already affecting our access to food and our diet.”
Newham also referred to the political and legislative aspect of food security, advocating that countries like Spain see food as an integrated ministry: “When we talk about food, we need policies that are good and address several problems. It's too urgent, we can't afford to waste time solving problems one by one. Valencia is setting an example by combining the most innovative aspects of the food industry with its history, tradition and past.”
The challenge of showing the profitability of big data to the farmer
The sustainable relationship between industry and the field or the regeneration of cultivated soils have played a prominent role during the ftalks'24 agenda, thanks to round tables such as “Regenerative and Precision Agriculture”, which brought together renowned specialists and entrepreneurs in the agritech field such as Adrián Ferrero, CEO of Biome Makers; Jose Ignacio Peleteiro, CEO of the Spanish startup specializing in AI for the agricultural and forestry sector GROINN; Jerónimo Romero, Head of Business Development of the organization for the regeneration of agricultural soil Regeneration Academy; and Sharon Cittone, CEO of the hub Edible Planet Ventures and of one of the pioneering women in the construction of the current European foodtech ecosystem.
José Ignacio Peleteiro, CEO of GROINN, explained that “we have to know how to help each individual farmer and understand that the agricultural sector is not very linked to technology. We have to be able to teach them what it can do to them. Make things easier with technology, because the countryside is their way of earning a living and they have to see it with their own eyes. It's very easy to tell a farmer that big data can save them 50,000 euros on their harvest, but you have to prove it to them and make them see that this investment is applicable to their reality.”
The ftalks'24 program has been developed in parallel to the analysis tables with investors and managers of large food companies at the Startup Forum, a new scenario specific to the entrepreneurial ecosystem where numerous foodtech startups have presented their projects. In total, around 100 startups and more than 30 funds with an investment potential of more than 4 billion euros participated in the activities and spaces of the event.
The challenge of the foodtech sector: talking about food, not science fiction
The researcher at Stanford University and scientific advisor to Beyond Meat Joseph Puglisi, was one of the most relevant voices at the close of ftalks'24, advocating in his interventions for the value of scientific research to create the future of food, but aligned with the real relationship that consumers have with food: “We talk a lot about chemistry, textures and other advances, but it's also important to understand that when we talk about food, sometimes The simplest technology is the one that prevails in the market. We are already working with functional proteins, at a low cost, and science is advancing at speeds we can't imagine, allowing us to design proteins like never before.”
Puglisi also highlighted the relationship between food innovation and culture in each country with respect to traditional foods: “There is great interest in plant-based products, but situations such as the pandemic make consumers take refuge in the foods that best make them feel emotionally”. The Stanford researcher concluded by stating: “We are going to see a lot of very interesting science being applied to food, but keep in mind that we cannot talk about science fiction. People want to eat food, not experiments.”
ftalks: The Food Changemakers Summit closes its sixth edition in Valencia with great success, consolidating Spain as a reference point in Europe for defining the future of the food industry. Ftalks has managed to bring together more than 100 international speakers, making it the most international meeting on the future of food in the country. In this event, we have also created the Think tank international from KM ZERO, which has collected recommendations, priorities and success stories for the transformation of the food system towards a more regenerative, healthy and just one, reflecting this work in a subsequent report. This working group has been comprised of more than 50 global leaders who represent the interests of the entire food chain, including industry, the primary sector, the scientific community, investment funds, the public sector and restaurants.
The ftalks'24 round tables and talks are available on the channel of KM ZERO YouTube. Don't miss them!
