Insects: a protein source with the potential to revolutionise the food industry
Today, current dietary patterns highly rely on meat, dairy and fish products due to their unique nutritional profile, as certain proteins, vitamins and fats are only present in these products. Together, they contribute to 37% of the global protein intake. However, these traditional dietary patterns currently generate a negative environmental impact by using 83% of the world’s farmland and contributing to generate 58% of food production-related GHG emissions[1]. This situation is extremally worrying for meat products, as livestock alone is responsible for 15.4% of total GHG emissions globally. [1] European of Journal Nutrition (2024). Meeting the global protein supply [...]
Can Alternative Proteins Bring Sustainable And Healthy Diets?
Alternative proteins are defined as plant-based and food technology alternatives to animal protein, thus including food products made from plants, fungus (mushrooms), ocean, insects and even cultured (lab-grown) meat. In this article we will discuss if Alternative Proteins can bring sustainable and healthy diets. The need to shift our diet Animal based products (e.g., meat, fish, dairy products) are present and important in our current diet, as they are an important source of proteins and vitamins. However, according to future predictions, as human population is growing and expect to reach 9.1 billion people by 2050[1], global meat production is expected [...]
Crops diversification: A solution for climate change adaptation
Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change effects due its high dependence to climatic conditions. For this reason, agricultural systems are facing increasing pressure to shift production towards more resilient systems, able to adapt to damaging climate change effects, while continuing to ensure sufficient supplies of food products for a growing global population, which is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, according to FAO. For these reasons, agricultural resilience is among the top priorities in research. Climate change effects on food supply are still uncertain. However, some expected damaging effects include the following: high [...]
Lump Sum Funding In Horizon Europe: How Does It Work?
Lump sum funding aims to reduce administrative and financial errors, simplifying the funding programme and thus the financial reporting process by eliminating the need to report actual costs and eliminating ex-post financial audits. This programme is primarily targeted at small and start-up companies, as they often have no prior knowledge of EU fund management. Compared to other Horizon Europe grants, the lump sum grant agreement and evaluation systems follow the same standard approach in the following aspects: evaluation criteria, payment scheme, pre-financing and reporting periods. However, there is one notable difference to note: lump sum funding focuses on the [...]