The 10 trillion dollar opportunity 💸

^{VITAMIN C® is a newsletter exploring topics in food, climate and everything in between.}

Read time: 3 minutes 57 seconds

Hi friend👋,

There's no better time than this Friday morning to dive into the trillion dollar food system opportunity and start building our future today.

In today’s issue:

1. [Insights]: 💸 The 10 trillion dollar food opportunity

2. Fast Snacks:

   [Good News Food]: 🥗 Why some people in Germany are worried their schnitzel might get banned

   [Good News Climate]: ♻️ EU makes a power move on single-use plastic

   [Quote]: 🌍 What one of the world’s most renown climate experts has to say about food

1. [Insights]: The 10 trillion dollar food opportunity 💸 

Let's time travel for a sec:

In 1800 when my way-way-back ancestors migrated from Scandinavia to Central Europe, Earth was home to 1 billion people.

Fast-forward to the 1960s when my mom was born, there were 3.5 billion people.

Today we are a whopping 8 billion people.

We see our population has exploded over the last two centuries.

And thanks to some serious brainpower and tech advancements, we've managed to keep a big chunk of those 8 people fed.

But (yeah, there's always a 'but'): projections say that in 2050 we will be 10 billion people.

And the way our food system is set up today, won’t be sufficient to feed those 10 billion hungry mouths.

With a growing population, the demand for food is increasing while the impact, especially from meat production practices, is devastating our planet.

We've got to find new ways to feed the next billions without wrecking our home: We're talking a more plant-forward, more circular, and more sustainable food system.

So, the big question is: How can we get there?

Before we answer that, let's check some key stats first:

Our current food system generates around 9.3 trillion USD in annual revenue (2023, source Statista).

These 9.3 trillion USD come at a cost, though. Big time.

According to the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC), the hidden costs of our global food system currently amount to 15 trillion USD each year.

I'm no mathematician, but even I can tell our food system is losing money like a kid with holes in his or her pockets:

Our food system generates more damage-related hidden costs (15 trillion USD) per year than it generates cash (9.3 trillion USD). That makes economically no sense.

So, how do we get out of that dilemma?

The FSEC modelled the “Food System Transformation Pathway”:

This pathway focuses on a sustainable transformation of food systems. It includes an increase in resource efficiency, the reduction of food waste, a healthier diet, and the introduction of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

The 5 key strategic pillars are:

📜 1. Policy incentives for the agriculture and food industry. Think taxing the bad stuff like carbon and nitrogen in food production to make the good stuff cheaper for those in need.

🔂 2. Realigning agriculture and food industry subsidies, Realigning agriculture and food industry subsidies, supporting producers to shift their production toward healthy foods and sustainable practices. Many subsidies - such as untargeted direct payments - currently work against health and environmental outcomes and could be reallocated.

🥗 3. Encouraging healthier and more sustainable diets, tailored to local needs. That means less meat in some places, more sustainable protein in others.

💡 4. Investing in innovation to develop new agricultural technologies, and widen accessibility of existing ones, to support small-scale farmers. The spread of technologies can make farming radically more efficient and support producers, while also lowering emissions.

🤝 5. Ensuring no one is left behind, by proactively mitigating potential knock-on impacts such as increases in food prices & job losses. These mitigations could include direct subsidies and support for both farmers & consumers, and targeted investment in productive infrastructure, skills & access to finance for those most vulnerable.

—> As always, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. So these strategies need to be translated into national food system transformation strategies accordingly.

What would it cost if all those strategic pillars were executed?

The FSEC says flipping our global food system to a sustainable, circular model would cost about 0.2 to 0.5 trillion USD a year until 2050.

And the upsides by far outweigh those relatively low costs.

A sustainable global food system would help feed a growing population, help reduce further climate damage, AND economically make total sense:

A sustainable global food system would generate up to 10 trillion USD each year in net benefits.

10 trillion USD in net benefits – that is freaking crazy!

I got nothing to add, besides: What the hell are we waiting for?

To echo Walt Disney “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

So, let’s roll up our sleeves and let’s go!

2. Today’s fast snacks

• [Good News Food]: 🥗 Last week, the German Nutrition Society (DGE) presented its updated dietary recommendations with a clear call to action: 75% of the human diet should be plant-based, max. 25% should be animal-derived. These guidelines are non-binding, yet very progressive for a country that is mostly known for currywurst and schnitzel when it comes to food. Read more here.

• [Good News Climate]: ♻️ The European Council and the folks at the European Parliament just made a power move. They've agreed to phase out single-use plastic packaging for indoor dining. And those little plastic sachets for condiments like ketchup? They're on their way out too. Plus, for takeaway, businesses will now need to offer the option for customers to bring their own containers, without any extra cost. Read more here.

• [Quote]: 🌍 What one of the world’s most renown climate experts has to say about food system:

Spot on!

Talk soon,

Lia

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