Discover food4future – An innovative project unlocking the potential of macroalgae as a sustainable food source

 

This initiative aims to ‘give the floor’ to all partners to share their projects and success stories, disseminating them with the Algae community. Keep reading to learn more about the latest initiative, part of the eighth edition of the EU4Algae Insider’s Perspective! 

 

food4future: Innovatively providing tomorrow’s food for the future 

 

food4future is a joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the "Agricultural Systems of the Future" funding line. It aims to focus on innovations for sustainable and healthy nutrition, creating a future where food is produced in urban areas to counteract fresh water and agricultural land scarcity. 

 

Watch the video to learn more about the project: food4future - what will we eat in the future? Citizen Science and future research (youtube.com)! 

 

food4future explores alternative food sources such as salt-tolerant plants (halophytes), macroalgae, insects (crickets), and jellyfish, transforming urban spaces like disused subway tunnels and former industrial buildings into food production sites. 

 

 

The project brings together experts from diverse scientific fields, working collaboratively across four research areas: 

1. Organisms: Developing closed saline cultivation systems for organisms like macroalgae & halophytes, jellyfish, and crickets. 

2. Urban Bio Spaces: Creating flexible bio spaces using natural fibre-reinforced composite materials with functional integration and UV-LEDs for urban environments. 

3. Smart Nutrition & Sensor Technology: Utilising wearable sensors to track health and nutrition parameters and providing personalised dietary recommendations via a mobile health app. 

4. Social Science Analysis: Examining societal impacts of extreme future scenarios on food production, consumer behaviour, and social structures through behavioural economics and ethnographic studies. 

 

 

Part of the project’s research is investigating the potential of macroalgae as a sustainable food source. To achieve this, food4future develops modular, multifunctional compartments in urban environments for the cultivation of macroalgae. This cultivation system uses innovative composite materials and UV-LED technology to optimise the algae’s nutrient composition. The research focuses on creating efficient and scalable urban bio spaces for algae production, aiming to integrate these sustainable practices into mainstream food production systems. 

 

 

Collaborate with EU4Algae? The answer is Yes. 

The EU4Algae initiative significantly supports the algae sector by fostering collaboration among researchers, providing funding opportunities, and promoting algae-based innovations. By connecting various stakeholders, EU4Algae helps overcome technical and regulatory challenges, accelerating the adoption of algae as a mainstream food source. The expansion of the EU Novel Food Status Catalogue to include more than 60 algae species is a game-changer, removing bottlenecks and reducing costs for the industry. 

 

 

Unlocking the algae potential 

To fully unlock the potential of algae, several steps are essential, including: 

• Research and Development to further research and optimise cultivation and processing techniques. 

• Public Education to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of algae-based foods. 

• Infrastructure Investment to develop the necessary infrastructure to support large-scale production. 

• Regulatory Support to create supportive regulatory frameworks to facilitate market entry. 

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration to engage stakeholders from various fields to integrate algae into the food system effectively. 

 

 

The food4future project exemplifies innovative approaches to sustainable food production, demonstrating the vast potential of macroalgae and other alternative food sources. Their pioneering methods are paving the way for a resilient and sustainable future food system, transforming both production and consumption practices. 

 

Learn more about the food4future project by visiting their official website. For more information, contact them at infofood4future [dot] de (info[at]food4future[dot]de). 

 

 

Did you hear about the new EU4Algae Interactive Platform?  

Designed to promote awareness and acceptance of algae products while helping increase the level of consumer algae-related knowledge and preferences for algae products, the EU4Algae Interactive Platform lets you take the EU4Algae Quiz to test your algae knowledge, answer a Survey to tell us a bit about your algae-eating habits (the first 200 responses get a free eBook!) and play the interactive Game to find out what kind of algae you are.