Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Erica Dorr, Maximilien Koegler, Benoit Gabrielle, Christine Aubry
Summary: The modern food systems have significant environmental impacts which can be mitigated through the application of circular economy principles. A study quantified the environmental impacts of a circular, urban mushroom farm near Paris and identified key contributors to these impacts, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of circular economy in this case study.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Russell C. Hedberg
Summary: In the past decade, animal agriculture has faced scrutiny for its negative environmental consequences. Advocates for diets with less animal products argue that animal-based diets are more resource intensive. The bad animal narrative, developed by venture capital-backed food technology startups, suggests replacing livestock with novel technologies to produce animal product alternatives. However, analysis shows that blaming livestock for environmental problems lacks clear evidence and overlooks the role of the industrial system. This paper examines the implications of the bad animal narrative for a sustainable future food system.
FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Ethics
Katerina Psarikidou
Summary: This paper aims to explore the potential of alternative agro-food networks (AAFNs) to constitute more responsible knowledge-based bio-economies, by unpacking the diversity of knowledges and knowledge production processes within AAFNs. It argues that AAFNs have the potential to be an alternative, more responsible KBBE, and encourages consideration of knowledge inclusion and reflexivity in research and innovation processes for agriculture and food.
JOURNAL OF RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Adriana Del Borghi, Valeria Tacchino, Luca Moreschi, Agata Matarazzo, Michela Gallo, Diego Arellano Vazquez
Summary: The increase in world population is putting pressure on soil, water resources, and ecosystems. This study uses a combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment to improve the energy-environmental performance of vegetable crops.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Geography
Marco Alberio, Melissa Moralli
Summary: Alternative food networks have emerged as alternative solutions to the mainstream food industry, offering innovative ways of producing, delivering, and consuming food that present new opportunities and challenges. By examining the relationship between contemporary social movements, social innovation, and alternative food networks through a territorial approach, this paper explores the locally embedded creative capacity of social groups in organic food production. Through empirical data from an Italian case study, it demonstrates how small-scale local actors address the issue of food sovereignty and reflects on the rearrangement and networking of producer-consumer relations and interactions.
JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Antonella Samoggia, Giulia Grillini, Margherita Del Prete
Summary: Food consumers are increasingly seeking products that ensure social and environmental sustainability, along with a growing interest towards price fairness, particularly in the processed tomato products agro-food chain. The study reveals limited consumer awareness of the dynamics in the processed tomato agro-food chain, with farmers perceived as the most unfairly remunerated partner. There is a gap between consumers' perception of fair price distribution and the actual distribution among processed tomato chain actors.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Erica Dorr, Benjamin Goldstein, Christine Aubry, Benoit Gabrielle, Arpad Horvath
Summary: Urban agriculture is often seen as a sustainable food supply for cities, but life cycle assessments of its environmental impacts have shown mixed results due to inconsistent application and reliance on hypothetical case studies. To address this, we conducted a life cycle assessment of eight urban farms and community gardens in Paris, France and San Francisco, California, USA. We found that medium-tech farms with minimum social engagement had the lowest impacts using a kilogram-based functional unit, while socially-oriented farms had the lowest impacts with an area-based functional unit. Our findings can help improve the consistency and completeness of life cycle assessments for urban agriculture and guide farmers and gardeners in optimizing their practices.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Veronica Arcas-Pilz, Marti Rufi-Salis, Felipe Parada, Xavier Gabarrell, Gara Villalba
Summary: Urban agriculture can lead to nutrient and fertilizer-related emissions, so alternative fertilization methods are needed to mitigate environmental impacts. This study analyzed the environmental performance of hydroponic systems combining rhizobium inoculation and struvite, showing a yield reduction of 60% to 50% compared to the control with full nutrient solution, with significant reductions in marine eutrophication and global warming impacts. The importance of infrastructure in reducing environmental impacts for urban agriculture is highlighted.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Review
Computer Science, Information Systems
Nayeli Montalvo-Romero, Aaron Montiel-Rosales, Ruben Purroy-Vasquez, Pompeyo Quechulpa-Perez
Summary: Guaranteeing food security in agriculture is a challenging task, especially for traditional agricultural practices. However, this systematic review found that there is an increasing adoption of intelligent systems in precision agriculture, which can help improve crop yields, determine product quality, and manage water resources. Monitoring and controlling crop development using emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are becoming predominant approaches. The review also identified five viable systems that can be adapted to traditional agriculture to enhance agricultural production.
Review
Geography
Leigh Martindale
Summary: This paper argues that China has the most capable innovation regime to drive the transformation of the global food system. The top-down policy of land consolidation and bottom-up food safety initiatives are identified as key factors driving this change, with the rise of Taobao villages and rural e-commerce as unintended innovative responses.
JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Laura Rasines, Guillermo San Miguel, angel Molina-Garcia, Francisco Artes-Hernandez, Eloy Hontoria, Encarna Aguayo
Summary: The aim of this research is to define different scenarios for optimizing the environmental sustainability of the postharvest stage of vegetable products. Various factors such as packaging materials, energy generation technologies, organic waste management, and transportation methods were considered. The analysis revealed that the production of packaging materials and transportation stage had the greatest impact on carbon footprint. The most effective measures to reduce the environmental footprint involved the use of reusable packaging materials, reducing transport distance, utilizing renewable energy, and repurposing organic waste.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Ampaka Mafu, Sunantha Ketnawa, Suphat Phongthai, Regine Schoenlechner, Saroat Rawdkuen
Summary: This study aimed to enrich protein content and indispensable amino acids in whole wheat bread by using cricket powder and investigated their physico-chemical properties, consumers' acceptance, and shelf-life. The results showed that bread enriched with cricket powder had higher protein and ash content, darker crumb color, and harder texture compared to the control bread. The bread enriched with 20% cricket powder had the best consumers' acceptance score and contained high levels of indispensable amino acids. Therefore, cricket powder could be a novel alternative protein source for enhancing the nutritional value of whole wheat bread.
Article
Business
Xiaojun Wang, Shukai Zhang, Niels Schneider
Summary: The research found that online recipe box delivery services have lower carbon emissions compared to supermarket shopping, especially at the retail operation and household consumption stages. This can help environmentally conscious consumers make informed choices and guide food organizations in achieving sustainability goals.
TECHNOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND SOCIAL CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Reid Maynard, Jesse Burkhardt, Jason C. Quinn
Summary: The study compares different local food production systems and finds that controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems have higher greenhouse gas emissions but lower water consumption compared to conventional centralized production. However, by utilizing low-carbon electricity sources, CEA facilities could achieve equivalent or lower greenhouse gas impacts than traditional supply chains.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
L. Weber, L. Bartek, P. Brancoli, A. Sjoelund, M. Eriksson
Summary: Efficient and purposeful transport of food, especially bread, is crucial for sustainable production and consumption. In Sweden, bread is sold under a take-back agreement, providing an opportunity for reverse logistics. However, there is a risk of inefficient transport that could reduce environmental benefits. This study assessed the climate change impact of bread transport in Sweden and found that collaborative transport approach showed the highest climate savings.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Lars odegaard Bentsen, Narada Dilp Warakagoda, Roy Stenbro, Paal Engelstad
Summary: This study investigates uncertainty modeling in wind power forecasting using different parametric and non-parametric methods. Johnson's SU distribution is found to outperform Gaussian distributions in predicting wind power. This research contributes to the literature by introducing Johnson's SU distribution as a candidate for probabilistic wind forecasting.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xing Liu, Qiuchen Wang, Yunhao Wen, Long Li, Xinfang Zhang, Yi Wang
Summary: This study analyzes the characteristics of process parameters in three lean gas ethane recovery processes and establishes a prediction and multiobjective optimization model for ethane recovery and system energy consumption. A new method for comparing ethane recovery processes for lean gas is proposed, and the addition of extra coolers improves the ethane recovery. The support vector regression model based on grey wolf optimization demonstrates the highest prediction accuracy, and the multiobjective multiverse optimization algorithm shows the best optimization performance and diversity in the solutions.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Cairong Song, Haidong Yang, Xian-Bing Meng, Pan Yang, Jianyang Cai, Hao Bao, Kangkang Xu
Summary: The paper proposes a novel deep learning-based prediction framework, aTCN-LSTM, for accurate cooling load predictions. The framework utilizes a gate-controlled multi-head temporal convolutional network and a sparse probabilistic self-attention mechanism with a bidirectional long short-term memory network to capture both temporal and long-term dependencies in the cooling load sequences. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method, which can serve as an effective guide for HVAC chiller scheduling and demand management initiatives.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Zhe Chen, Xiaojing Li, Xianli Xia, Jizhou Zhang
Summary: This study uses survey data from the Loess Plateau in China to evaluate the impact of social interaction on the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC) technology by farmers. The study finds that social interaction increases the likelihood of farmers adopting SWC, and internet use moderates this effect. The positive impact of social interaction on SWC adoption is more pronounced for farmers in larger villages and those who join cooperative societies.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chenghua Zhang, Yunfei Yan, Kaiming Shen, Zongguo Xue, Jingxiang You, Yonghong Wu, Ziqiang He
Summary: This paper reports a novel method that significantly improves combustion performance, including heat transfer enhancement under steady-state conditions and adaptive stable flame regulation under velocity sudden increase.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)