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The Italian Tour

IPACK-IMA 2015 IGNITES A FOOD REVOLUTION

by Olivia Holden, Milling and Grain

or how long can the worlds agroalimentary system be sustained? It is

estimated that our global population is set
to reach nine billion by 2050. Demand for
food products will double by then, with an
increased need for more animal proteins
and processed foods. As a direct result,
the food-processing sector is now gearing
up to address how we are going to feed a
population that is growing at a rate never experienced before by
mankind.
The critical question as to how we should move forward in
an increasingly resource-constrained era was the subject of
this years IPACK-IMA International Conference, Designing
a Resilient Future: Food, Technology, and Sustainable
Development, held on May 20, 2015 at the Fieramilano, Milan.
As one of the largest food plant and technology exhibitions
in the world, IPACK-IMA has become an international
instrument for the dissemination and integration of food
technologies. Five years in the making, this years IPACKIMA was described as the most important ever, to highlight a
synergy and shared message with EXPO 2015 about Feeding
the Planet.
The cultural conference about the future of the food supply
chain, driven by the initiative of Professor Claudio Peri
(Scientific Advisor of IPACK-IMA, Professor Emeritus,
University of Milan) brought together four distinguished figures,
representing prestigious institutions in their capacity as food
experts and opinion makers: Michiel Bakker, Director of Google
Foodservice International, Paolo Barilla, of the Barilla Centre
for Food and Nutrition (BCFN), Philippe Scholts of the United
Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Greg
Drescher, Vice President of the Culinary Institute of America
(CIA).

52 | Milling and Grain

Food security: a critical nexus

2015 marks a pivotal year in terms of global recognition and

awareness towards the state of food insecurity and the pressing
need to create a sustainable future. It is the very subject under
global scrutiny at the aforementioned World EXPO, Feeding the
Planet: Energy for Life, (also currently being hosted in Milan).
There has never been a better time to examine our often
emotive and complex relationship with food. At present, the
global community is facing alarming contradictions. While on
the one hand, there are still people going hungry, (latest FAO data
indicates at least 805 million people, or one in nine worldwide,
do not have enough to eat), there are also people dying from poor
nutrition and disorders associated with excessive food intake.
It is estimated globally there are 2.8 million deaths registered
per year related to obesity or weight problems. In particular,
concern is now mounting for a global diabetes epidemic
spreading from the Americas to China.
This timely conference connected critical links between
technology and sustainability and provided an invaluable
opportunity to brainstorm at a top level. As consumers, chefs,
food service providers, policy makers and thought leaders,
collectively, we can make concerted food choices that will have a
significant bearing upon our future.

Bread as a symbol

In spite of the surrounding emphasis upon technology present

at the trade fair, a loaf of bread was chosen as the key symbol
for the international conference. Rich or poor, bread is often the
common basis of a meal.
Equally, bread is a symbol of community. Sharing our daily
bread, emphasised Professor Peri, is synonymous with the need
to address issues of injustice in the supply of food and the need
to share our food with others. A poignant image, it was fitting to
commence the conference thinking of the loaf of bread before

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embarking upon a discussion about the future of food.

The future of food 2050: key recommendations

The highly authoritative contributions commenced with Greg

Drescher, author of The Mediterranean Diet. As Vice President
of the CIA, he is one of the most influential voices and opinion
makers in the US regarding food and the culinary arts. In the
lead up to 2050 the CIA, the words premier culinary college, is
addressing sustainability and food ethics in collaboration with
the Harvard School of Public Health. The end result has been
the groundbreaking Menus of Change initiative - a set of 24
principles for healthy, sustainable menus.
Launched in 2012, Menus of Change: The business of healthy,
sustainable food aims to create a roadmap for change by bringing
together a cross-disciplinary community of leaders in foodservice
and public health to create sustainable, healthy business models.
Diners are now increasingly looking to chefs and industry leaders
to help them make the right choices and this is how the culinary
profession in turn, has responded.

Globally inspired, plant-based cooking

Of all of the stated Menus of Change Principles (www.

menusofchange.org) no other solution is more effective in
advancing global sustainability than globally inspired, largely
plant-based cooking:
Scientific research now suggests that the most effective way to
help diners make healthy, sustainable food choices is to shift our

Greg Drescher, author of The

Mediterranean Diet addressing the
audience at Ipack-Ima

collective diets to mostly plant-based foods. Growing plants for

food generally has less of a negative impact on the environment
than raising livestock, as livestock have to eat lots of plants to
produce a smaller amount of food.
In fact, no other single decision in the professional kitchen or in the boardrooms of foodservice companies - can compare
in terms of the benefits of advancing global environmental
sustainability. From the well-researched Mediterranean diet to
the cuisines of Asia and Latin America, traditional food cultures
offer a myriad of flavor strategies to support innovation around
healthy, delicious, even craveable cooking that rebalances ratios
between foods from animal and plant sources. (Source: www.
menusofchange.org)
Michiel Bakker, head of catering services for Google premises
worldwide also advocates the same plant-centric model. Being
Google, the list of solutions would seem obvious: using maps to
determine areas taken away from agriculture, preparing climatic
maps to optimise work in the fields, etc. But the solution does not
lie in technology, or at least, not technology alone.
Google are currently working in collaboration with the CIA
54 | Milling and Grain

to promote the plant-based diet. Equally, as the worlds largest

information providers, Google aim to challenge the impossible,
triggering how the next generation will think about food and
technology.
The aim? To build a network of people who will all come to
the table with the same standing. Bakker highlighted that it is
not the lack of knowledge or insight these days that is stopping
us from taking action, but with so many key stakeholders
in the global food system, all come with different agendas.
Within this, there are many interconnected challenges and
opportunities.
The need to address protein alternatives means that there are
very exciting developments taking place around the world,
particularly with regard to the development of new products. The
two other challenges we must address, according to Bakker, are
increasing urbanisation and utilising food waste to create such
new products.
80 percent of us will live in cities by 2050, as a consequence
food distribution chains will need to adapt. How, for example,
will we distribute fresh fruit and vegetables to those in new
cities? Urban farms are likely to be just one solution.
Paolo Barilla is also convinced that diets based on the model
proposed by Drescher and Bakker can contribute to reducing the
environmental impact: for the same nutrition level, vegetablebased breakfasts, lunches, suppers and snacks reduce the
emission of climate-changing gases by 65 percent.
Meanwhile, the industry can and must control and guide
its procurement sources, urging farmers to go
back to traditional practices: rotating crops, as
recommended by Barillas Sustainable Durum
Wheat Project, which allows a 36 percent
reduction in CO2 emissions and a 10 percent
reduction in costs due to using less fertilisers and
pesticides.
Improving work in the fields is also a priority
for Philippe Scholts, General Manager of the
technological cooperation division of UNIDO,
the UN Organisation that deals with industrial
development. The added value per employee in
the agricultural sector is US$336 in developing
countries, but rises to US$1060 in industrialised
countries, soaring to US$18,497 in places like
Japan and Israel. This means that there is ample
room for improvement. But then, action is
needed for the rest of the foods journey as well. If it is true that
100 percent is produced in the field, only a little more than 60
percent reaches the stomach - at least half the losses are due to
poor packaging, incorrect storage and supermarket management
problems.
Overall, what is needed is for everyone to play their part:
farmers, industry, distribution, consumers, and suppliers of
technologies for transforming, packaging and preserving foods.
We expect a dramatic change, said Professor Peri.
Revolutionising the system is not a choice, but an obligatory
course: cooperating will make it possible to achieve the muchawaited balance quickly, at a sustainable cost, with benefits for all.

A lasting legacy

The speeches presented at the conference on Designing

a Resilient Future: Food, Technology, and Sustainable
Development will be incorporated into a book concerning the
future of agri-food systems. The speakers - Greg Drescher,
Michiel Bakker, Philippe Scholts and Paolo Barilla - have
agreed to participate in this initiative.

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