What is food technology & how does it function?
Check out this webinar and the learnings below to better understand what food technology looks like, who makes it, and how it can be deployed
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Check out this webinar and the learnings below to better understand what food technology looks like, who makes it, and how it can be deployed
Last updated
Was this helpful?
During the “Transforming the Food System from Technology” webinar, in which 3 organisations from different European Union countries shared their experiences and best practices on how to transform the food system for citizens through technology.
Food technology has experienced significant advances in recent years, and makerspaces have also played an important role in innovation and the creation of technological solutions in different areas. A makerspace is a physical space where people can come together to share resources, knowledge and tools to carry out projects and develop creative ideas. (Find out more about how makerspaces, Fab Labs and Fab Cities can and are supporting food initiatives in Why & how: food tech in Fab Labs, makerspaces and Fab Cities and Food system interventions: Opportunities & challenges)
In this session, we were joined by the following innovators from the Food Tech 3.0 network:
Food technology can be hard to accept as a solution if citizens, public administration, and other businesses do not yet understand the full extent of the problem. As almost all our speakers noted, we need to help the public better conceptualise the problem while offering solutions in parallel. For example, in the case of using biomaterials, first putting the emphasis on why we shouldn't use plastic. If communities can grasp why plastic is such a massive problem-- socially, environmentally, and by virtue, economically-- they may be more open to technical solutions like biomaterials.
It's no longer enough for solutions, particularly technological ones, to only have an economic impact. Innovators should aim to develop solutions that provide social and environmental benefits as well.
Accessible agriculture, whether through hydroponics, soil, or otherwise, for example can have positive therapeutic benefits for users, supporting mental health. They can also promote biodiversity, particularly in cities. Meanwhile, using biomaterials for graphic design purposes have an educational component for audiences. Both innovations can be developed by and for communities suffering social and economic exclusion.
Tech that incorporates many parts of society can help us become not only more inclusive, but also more resilient. Tech makers should work ecosystemically with diverse partners at different points of the value chain in the both the development and implementation of tech in order to have a more holistic perspective and assure they are tackling the issue from all sides. Efforts should be made to particularly include citizens and communities during the development and implementation phase in order to assure that the technology developed actually addresses and responds to community challenges.
Craving more examples of food technology? Check out Our Food Tech Vision: Food Tech 3.0, Meet the Food Tech 3.0 Innovators, and Food system interventions: Opportunities & challenges for more exciting examples. Want to explore why a makerspace should interact with food tech? Try Why & how: food tech in Fab Labs, makerspaces and Fab Cities, Food system interventions: Opportunities & challenges, or A collective vision!
From Hamburg: representing , which emerged from the interdisciplinary research group “Value Creation” of the Laboratory for Production Engineering (LaFT) at . As a think tank for the future of value creation and value production, the experts of the New Production Institute are involved in various that address the transformation of value creation systems in the context of new possibilities for networking and production in times of digital transformation. In particular, the focus is on the implementation of openness in new modes of value creation (open innovation, open design, open production and open source).
From Barcelona: representing Garden, a Catalan company created in 2020 that was born with the aim of moving towards a more sustainable and local food production model. Born from the research group of , they are specialists in urban agriculture and have very diverse backgrounds to provide interdisciplinary responses to the challenges of moving towards more sustainable cities.
From Barcelona: and founders of , a transdisciplinary creative studio, specialized in eco-design strategies and sustainable solutions to promote circular economy among creative industries. Naifactory offers its know-how in research and innovation of biomaterials elaborated in its laboratory taking advantage of local resources and collaborating with social labor.