UN Food Systems Summit: Calls to fix broken food production

23 Sep 2021 --- Taking place today is the UN Food Systems Summit in New York, US, focused on scaling food systems to ensure that everyone worldwide has access to sufficient nutrition.

The Summit is convening major influencers and stakeholders across the world to kick start bold new actions to progress the UN SDGs. The summit will seek to identify solutions and leaders, issuing a call for action at all levels of the food system.

“We need food systems transformation for a livable future. Current food production and consumption are jeopardizing our futures when they could be the very basis of nourishment, justice and sustainability,” stresses Lana Weidgenant, deputy director of This is Zero Hour, Action Track 2 Youth Vice-chair, and youth leader at Act4Food Act4Change.

Decoupling protein production from agriculture
Ahead of the summit, David Henstrom, CEO, Unibio, the sustainable protein company that uses microbial fermentation to convert natural gas, including bio-gas, into high quality and sustainable protein for fish and animal feed, shares his views on the importance of innovative solutions able to effectively tackle the ever-increasing issue of global protein scarcity.

“Global population is projected to reach ten billion by 2050, with a growing middle class turbocharging demand for protein,” he stresses. “Global production of protein will need to increase by 70% of today’s availability to feed the population.”

Unibio uses a natural microbial fermentation process to produce protein from natural gas or biogas.“However, this growing global demand, in particular for meat, is heavily challenged by ecological and climate constraints,” he continues. “Global biodiversity is currently under threat from overfishing and deforestation associated with more traditional processes of protein production for animal feed.”

“The current pressure on vital ecosystems is unsustainable. The requirement for alternative and sustainable forms of protein is therefore significant.”

Protein from natural gas and biogas
Unibio has developed a proprietary continuous-flow fermentation process that decouples protein production from agriculture and fishing to produce a sustainable protein product – Uniprotein - for use in fish and animal feed. It uses a natural microbial fermentation process to produce this ingredient from natural gas or biogas. 

“We believe that innovative solutions and products will be essential if the world is to meet the challenge of sustainably feeding global populations and meet the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” says Henstrom.

Non-animal-based ingredient launches have recently expanded to include the world’s first milk made from sprouted millets, functional mung-bean protein, mycoprotein-based chicken and fish, and a fat ingredient made from oleaginous yeast for use in alt-dairy.

Notably, plant-based sales are soaring, especially in Asia, the US and Europe, with increasing investment in more sophisticated meat alternatives – such as plant-based fillet mignon – as a growing number of companies try to obtain a share of this fast-paced market.

World Food Forum
Shortly after the UN Food Systems Summit, the youth led World Food Forum (WFF) will host its first flagship event in Rome, Italy, on October 1 to 5, bringing together people from diverse sectors around the world to galvanize global action following up to the Summit.

The Forum features many youth leaders from the agricultural sector. They will be joined by influencers, celebrities, business and civil society leaders.

Participants from the private sector include Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, Kimbal Musk, Co-Founder and Chairman of Big Green, The Kitchen Restaurant Group and Square Roots, and Frank Giustra, Co-Chair of the International Crisis Group.

By Benjamin Ferrer