Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium
A growing global population, combined with factors such as changing socio-demographics, will place increased pressure on the world’s resources to provide not only more but also different types of food. Increased demand for animal-based protein in particular is expected to have a negative environment...
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doaj-0005164312bf4b97bed1ab67eeed6dd92020-11-24T20:41:18ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582017-07-01675310.3390/foods6070053foods6070053Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable EquilibriumMaeve Henchion0Maria Hayes1Anne Maria Mullen2Mark Fenelon3Brijesh Tiwari4Department Agri-Food Business and Spatial Analysis, Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin D15 KN3K, IrelandFood BioSciences Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin D15 KN3K, IrelandFood Quality and Sensory Science, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin D15 KN3K, IrelandTeagasc Food Research Programme, Teagasc Food Research Centres, Ashtown and Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork P61 C996, IrelandFood Chemistry and Technology Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin D15 KN3K, IrelandA growing global population, combined with factors such as changing socio-demographics, will place increased pressure on the world’s resources to provide not only more but also different types of food. Increased demand for animal-based protein in particular is expected to have a negative environmental impact, generating greenhouse gas emissions, requiring more water and more land. Addressing this “perfect storm” will necessitate more sustainable production of existing sources of protein as well as alternative sources for direct human consumption. This paper outlines some potential demand scenarios and provides an overview of selected existing and novel protein sources in terms of their potential to sustainably deliver protein for the future, considering drivers and challenges relating to nutritional, environmental, and technological and market/consumer domains. It concludes that different factors influence the potential of existing and novel sources. Existing protein sources are primarily hindered by their negative environmental impacts with some concerns around health. However, they offer social and economic benefits, and have a high level of consumer acceptance. Furthermore, recent research emphasizes the role of livestock as part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions, and indicates that animal-based protein has an important role as part of a sustainable diet and as a contributor to food security. Novel proteins require the development of new value chains, and attention to issues such as production costs, food safety, scalability and consumer acceptance. Furthermore, positive environmental impacts cannot be assumed with novel protein sources and care must be taken to ensure that comparisons between novel and existing protein sources are valid. Greater alignment of political forces, and the involvement of wider stakeholders in a governance role, as well as development/commercialization role, is required to address both sources of protein and ensure food security.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/6/7/53proteinnovel proteinprotein demandin vitro meatalgaeinsectdairymeatvegetalconsumer |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Maeve Henchion Maria Hayes Anne Maria Mullen Mark Fenelon Brijesh Tiwari |
spellingShingle |
Maeve Henchion Maria Hayes Anne Maria Mullen Mark Fenelon Brijesh Tiwari Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium Foods protein novel protein protein demand in vitro meat algae insect dairy meat vegetal consumer |
author_facet |
Maeve Henchion Maria Hayes Anne Maria Mullen Mark Fenelon Brijesh Tiwari |
author_sort |
Maeve Henchion |
title |
Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium |
title_short |
Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium |
title_full |
Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium |
title_fullStr |
Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium |
title_full_unstemmed |
Future Protein Supply and Demand: Strategies and Factors Influencing a Sustainable Equilibrium |
title_sort |
future protein supply and demand: strategies and factors influencing a sustainable equilibrium |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Foods |
issn |
2304-8158 |
publishDate |
2017-07-01 |
description |
A growing global population, combined with factors such as changing socio-demographics, will place increased pressure on the world’s resources to provide not only more but also different types of food. Increased demand for animal-based protein in particular is expected to have a negative environmental impact, generating greenhouse gas emissions, requiring more water and more land. Addressing this “perfect storm” will necessitate more sustainable production of existing sources of protein as well as alternative sources for direct human consumption. This paper outlines some potential demand scenarios and provides an overview of selected existing and novel protein sources in terms of their potential to sustainably deliver protein for the future, considering drivers and challenges relating to nutritional, environmental, and technological and market/consumer domains. It concludes that different factors influence the potential of existing and novel sources. Existing protein sources are primarily hindered by their negative environmental impacts with some concerns around health. However, they offer social and economic benefits, and have a high level of consumer acceptance. Furthermore, recent research emphasizes the role of livestock as part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions, and indicates that animal-based protein has an important role as part of a sustainable diet and as a contributor to food security. Novel proteins require the development of new value chains, and attention to issues such as production costs, food safety, scalability and consumer acceptance. Furthermore, positive environmental impacts cannot be assumed with novel protein sources and care must be taken to ensure that comparisons between novel and existing protein sources are valid. Greater alignment of political forces, and the involvement of wider stakeholders in a governance role, as well as development/commercialization role, is required to address both sources of protein and ensure food security. |
topic |
protein novel protein protein demand in vitro meat algae insect dairy meat vegetal consumer |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/6/7/53 |
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AT maevehenchion futureproteinsupplyanddemandstrategiesandfactorsinfluencingasustainableequilibrium AT mariahayes futureproteinsupplyanddemandstrategiesandfactorsinfluencingasustainableequilibrium AT annemariamullen futureproteinsupplyanddemandstrategiesandfactorsinfluencingasustainableequilibrium AT markfenelon futureproteinsupplyanddemandstrategiesandfactorsinfluencingasustainableequilibrium AT brijeshtiwari futureproteinsupplyanddemandstrategiesandfactorsinfluencingasustainableequilibrium |
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