Where is the endless food? the circular economy has a bright future!

In today's linear food system of "take it and throw it away", most valuable nutrients face the misfortune of entering rivers, landfills, incinerators or open-air garbage dumps, and less than 2% of the resources are used effectively. This not only endangers public health and increases carbon emissions, but also directly results in a cost loss of 5.7 trillion dollars a year.

It is predicted that urban food consumption will account for 80% of the world's food consumption by 2050. How to put an end to waste recently, food circular economy, which significantly affects the way of food cultivation through urban-village interaction, is quietly on the rise.

The vision of a food circular economy is to improve the environment and make healthy and nutritious food available to all.

To achieve this vision, three major goals need to be achieved:

1. Procure food grown in renewable agriculture and, where possible, locally produced food.

2. "Food" makes the best use of it.

3. Design and sell healthier food.

From an urban perspective, the Allen MacArthur Foundation (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) has partnered with four key cities-Brussels, Belgium; Guelph, Canada; Porto, Portugal; and Sao Paulo, Brazil-to explore the potential health, environmental and economic benefits of a food circular economy in different natural, demographic, socio-economic, and policy environments.

01

Belgium-Brussels: support for local procurement and renewable food cultivation

On the outskirts of Brussels, there is an area of 1500 square kilometers for agricultural cultivation, which can meet the food needs of most Brussels citizens and a small number of suburban residents of Brussels. But in fact, only a small part of the food in Brussels is produced on the outskirts of the city. For example, although the output of apples and pears on the outskirts of the city is ten times that of Brussels (150000 tons per year), 60 per cent of the apples and pears sold in the city are still imported.

Figure | bing

The agricultural land on the outskirts of Brussels basically adopts the traditional planting method, which heavily depends on the use of synthetic fertilizer, which makes the soil of Belgium face greater risk, and almost all the soil types in its farmland have the decrease of soil organic carbon content.

To improve this situation, the city of Brussels adopted the good Food Strategy in 2015, hoping that by 2035, 30% of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed by Brussels citizens will come from the city and its suburbs. They predict that if all food types can adopt this policy and ensure the implementation of renewable planting methods, replacing synthetic fertilizers with organic fertilizers will improve soil health and avoid soil degradation; when the soil is healthier, water conservation capacity will be stronger, saving more than 21 million cubic meters of water each year, equivalent to half of the city's annual drinking water consumption.

02

Guelph, Canada: using biological solids from wastewater treatment for renewable agriculture

Guelph, which has more than 2300 farms, supports all farms to adopt renewable farming methods to convert organic waste into high-quality organic manure and compost to achieve the food cycle. Today, Guelph has implemented a sound household organic waste collection program, and will continue to expand on this basis. At the same time, the city has implemented a series of innovative programs aimed at converting additional food by-products (such as inedible food by-products and human waste) into soil-improving products.

Figure | bing

Biological solids produced by wastewater treatment facilities play an important role in the development of renewable agriculture. At the end of 2018, Guelph and Lystek Inc. A contract was signed for the company to manage the 4500 tons of biological solids produced annually by the city's wastewater treatment facility and convert them into commercially viable liquid organic fertilizers.

It is estimated that Guelph's wastewater treatment has yielded considerable benefits, with nitrogen and phosphorus recovered worth about $34000 a year. The high-nutrient organic fertilizer it supplies to farmland is enough to meet the demand of 1000 hectares of farmland in the area.

03

The city of Porto wastes about 14000 dry tons of food every year, and only a small portion of the waste is effectively used. However, Porto and the surrounding metropolitan area (PMA) are taking action to improve the situation.

The Refood (Reborn Food) and Fruta Feia (Ugly Fruit) cooperatives are the best examples. The Refood initiative aims to reuse food waste, while Fruta Feia aims to encourage people to eat defective fruits and vegetables through effective marketing.

Figure | pixabay

At present, donations from the Food Bank alone account for 13% of the edible food waste in Porto. Preventing food waste can not only help people in genuine need, but also reduce food production and waste, thereby reducing the adverse effects of food production and waste disposal.

Now, the entire Porto metropolitan area is expected to further strengthen and expand the current food waste control program. If half of the edible food waste can be effectively used to avoid landfills or incineration, the reduction in food production and food waste could save the Porto metropolitan area $14 million a year. In addition, preventing food waste can also deal with famine.

04

Brazil-Sao Paulo: building a more resilient and inclusive urban food system

The Sao Paulo metropolitan agricultural area has become an important production area for fresh food. To meet the city's total demand for fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, about 54% of the existing suburban farmland must be put into use. In S ã o Paulo, re-localization of food production could provide its citizens with a more resilient food supply system.

Localized production will also lead to more acceptable food prices and provide an important source of income for vulnerable groups in the suburbs of cities. More importantly, it can also help the residents of the suburbs to reintegrate into the social and economic development of the city. This will help advance two goals that S ã o Paulo aims to achieve by 2020: to downgrade its food system from medium to low, and to create more jobs for the poor.

At present, about 40% of suburban farmers are still using no-tillage and rotation methods. However, with the help of municipal and state government action plans, the supportive mechanisms and incentives brought about by the agro-ecological movement in S ã o Paulo will actively help all local farmers adopt renewable farming methods.

If the city of Sao Paulo can adopt procurement guidelines conducive to local and renewable farming production, public procurement alone can absorb the total amount of food produced by 71500 hectares of renewable farmland (equivalent to 73 per cent of urban suburban farmland). In addition, enterprises can also play an important role in driving demand.

The end of food goes hand in hand with the end of mankind. Although the food cycle system has not yet been popularized and applied in China, we still hope that in order to respond to the call of the national sustainable development policy, the relevant departments can reasonably build a food cycle system according to the specific conditions of cities or regions, implement supporting mechanisms and incentive plans in a timely manner, promote effective linkage between catering services and recycling manufacturers, reduce food waste, and achieve the maximum benefit of circular economy.