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| July 2023 |
Globally, we need to ensure food and nutrition security as fast as possible, while at the same time transforming food systems to become more sustainable and resilient in the long run. Three elements are key for this. First, the negative environmental impacts of food systems need to be drastically reduced. Second, resilience to climate, environmental, institutional, and economic shocks need to be built. And third, economic and social justice needs to be ensured to allow consumers to have access to healthy and nutritious food and farming families to generate a secured income.
Such a transformation is imperative for all. It is therefore important that everyone, but especially farmers, become part of the solution. For this reason, we want to intensify our exchanges with various actors to discuss the solutions proposed by our members in a larger food system context and, hence, support the translation of knowledge into action.
Kind regards,
Martijn Sonnevelt
and the World Food System Center Team |
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| Center News |
| Collaborations for Change |
On a sunny afternoon in June in Zurich, a delegation of representatives from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO), the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva, and the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture visited the World Food System Center at ETH Zurich. Ismahane Elouafi, FAO Chief Scientist, and Vincent Martin, Director of the FAO Office of Innovation, were part of the delegation looking to exchange ideas on innovations for bringing needed change to the food system.
We thank the delegation for the visit and all the scientists for sharing their work and passion with the group. |
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| Center Location |
| Visit us near Central in Zurich. We share the building with ETH Entrepreneurship: Weinbergstrasse 11, 8092 Zurich. |
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| Research |
| Flagship Update |
The Flagship Project Enhancing Resilience in Food Systems seeks to directly contribute to food systems resilience by supporting decision-making in practice through stakeholder participation and academic education. Several projects are ongoing in countries across Africa and in Switzerland.
Melanie Surchat presented the photovoice exhibition in Kigali in June at the Center for Photography. A successful and insightful vernissage was followed by a talk with some of the stakeholders involved. Also, Paul Donadieu de Lavit has been working on a regional food system assessment tool in different regions in Switzerland. Through the analysis of three local food systems, he aims to capture the diversity of the Swiss agriculture and consolidate the assessments.
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| Flagship Update |
The Flagship Project Novel Proteins for Food and Feed aims to develop food innovations to provide new sources of sustainable and nutritious protein for a growing world population. Work continues on projects focused on urban food waste management with black soldier fly larvae, in Switzerland and Singapore.
One ongoing project in Singapore is addressing urban food waste management through the use of black soldier fly larvae. This interdisciplinary initiative is led by the National University of Singapore and the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the Nanyang Technological University Singapore. By utilizing Singapore's diverse range of food wastes, the project aims to produce feed and fertilizer locally, aligning with Singapore's goals of achieving greater food self-sufficiency and becoming a zero waste nation. |
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| Education |
| Alumni Stories: Bloom – Planting seeds of change |
| World Food System Center alumni and friends plant seeds of learning and understanding at Bloom, a community garden project in Zurich. By growing various fruits and vegetables, the diverse group aims to learn more about gardening and the plants behind the food we consume. Some are already experienced gardeners, while others are getting their hands dirty for the first time. The casual environment allows for all to learn, no matter their experience. Recent highlights at the garden include permaculture and mushroom workshops and a film series. |
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| From Beans to Bars |
| Next January, the Center will again offer its workshop Bittersweet Stories of Chocolate, as part of the Continuing Education for Teachers at the University of Zurich. Teachers from across Switzerland can sign up for the course to learn about about the differents steps of the cocoa value chain and the stakeholders involved, with the help of a role-play board game developed at the Center. The workshop was created for teachers interested in bringing the theme of sustainable food systems into the classroom. The game is now available for download in English and German. |
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| Outreach |
| Science on our Plates |
The global challenge to produce enough nutritious food for over 8 billion people within our planet’s boundaries is growing. New solutions are needed to successfully transform and build sustainable food systems that ensure food and nutrition security, environmental health, and social well-being for all across the globe. Researchers at ETH Zurich are working to create new innovations to support such change.
Come by our exhibits to experience innovation for our plates!
Scientifica at ETH Zurich, 2-3 September
OLMA – Swiss fair for agriculture and nutrition in St. Gallen, 12-22 October |
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| Food Day @ETH |
02 November 2023
ETH Zurich
Join us for this year’s Food Day @ETH. We look forward to see our members, partners, and friends at our yearly public symposium. Take part in interactive discussions, presentations on new research findings, and workshops on food system related research and innovation.
Registration starts in September. |
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| Member Highlights |
Nina Buchmann recently celebrated 20 years of the Grassland Sciences Group at ETH Zurich with an anniversary symposium.
Byron Perez won a ETH Medal for his Master’s thesis focusing on nanosecond pulsed electric fields based processing of microalgae.
Billie Maude Hauser was awarded a ETH medal for her master's thesis ‘Substrates for microbial growth in sustainable food production’.
Martina Bernaschina received a SGLWT Prize for her master's thesis 'Study of plant-based protein stabilized emulsions and the interactions between proteins and emulsifiers at the interfaces'.
Sabina Keller produced a short video for the Kangaroo goes Science event in March 2023. At the event, the top hundred seventh-grade girls who took part in a mathematics competition visited ETH Zurich.
The paper ‘The optimal drought index for designing weather index insurance’ by Janic Bucheli, Robert Finger, and coauthors received the Societal Impact Award of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. |
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| Food Systems Publications |
| Recent publications from WFSC members that highlight their work on food system topics. |
| • | | Baumgartner, S.; et al. Substantial organic and particulate nitrogen and phosphorus export from geomorphologically stable African tropical forest landscapes. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-022-00773-6 |
| • | | Birkinshaw, A.; et al. Effects of incremental increases in grass silage proportions from different harvest years on methane emissions, urinary nitrogen losses, and protein and energy utilisation in dairy cows. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpn.13696 |
| • | | Birkinshaw, A.; et al. Evaluation and quantification of associations between commonly suggested milk biomarkers and the proportion of grassland-based feeds in the diets of dairy cows. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282515 |
| • | | Bucheli, J.; et al. Weather insurance in European crop and horticulture production. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100525 |
| • | | den Hond-Vaccaro, C; et al. How do different functional crop groups perform in temperate silvoarable agroforestry systems? A Swiss case study. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12047 |
| • | | Efosa, N.; et al. Emissions of nitrous oxide and methane after field application of liquid organic fertilizers and biochar. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108642 |
| • | | Eitel, J.; et al. Towards monitoring stem growth phenology from space with high resolution satellite data. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109549 |
| • | | El Benni, N.; et al. Towards more evidence-based agricultural and food policies. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoad003 |
| • | | Engist, D.; et al. Agricultural systems and biodiversity: Evidence from European borders and bird populations. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107854 |
| • | | Huber, R.; et al. Marginal climate change abatement costs in Swiss dairy production considering farm heterogeneity and interaction effects. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103639 |
| • | | Ingram, J.; et al. Further concepts and approaches for enhancing food system resilience. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00762-5 |
| • | | Keller, M. et al. Nitrogen and energy losses and methane emissions from beef cattle fed diets with gradual replacement of maize silage and concentrate with grass silage and corn-cob mix. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2023.100722 |
| • | | Klaus, V.H. Pitfalls in global grassland restoration challenge restoration programs and the science-policy dialogue. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110185 |
| • | | Kreft, C.; et al. Action- vs. results-based policy designs for agricultural climate change mitigation. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13376 |
| • | | Laub M.; et al. Combining manure with mineral N fertilizer maintains maize yields: Evidence from four long-term experiments in Kenya. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108788 |
| • | | Le Provost, G.; et al. The supply of multiple ecosystem services requires biodiversity across spatial scales. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01918-5 |
| • | | Mack, G.; et al. Modelling policies towards pesticide-free agricultural production systems. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103642 |
| • | | Pauler, C. Thinning the thickets: Foraging of hardy cattle, sheep and goats in green alder shrubs. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14156 |
| • | | Pedolin D.; et al. Farm diversity impacts on food production, income generation and environmental preservation: The Swiss case. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.135851 |
| • | | Schaub, S.; et al. The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12538 |
| • | | Sellare, J.; et al. Five stylized facts about producer organizations and rural development. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaa2.70 |
| • | | Stemmler, H. and Meemken, E-M. Greenhouse farming and employment: Evidence from Ecuador. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102443 |
| • | | van Zutphen, K.G.; et al. Nutrition as a driver and outcome of agroecology. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00631-7 |
| • | | Yan, B.-F.; et al. Differential allocation of cadmium and zinc in durum wheat during grain filling as revealed by stable isotope labeling. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06005-7 |
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