13.01.2023
More foresight, fewer hasty decisions
Dear readers,
Each new year presents new opportunities. A critical look back at the past reveals what did not work so well and how we might do better in the future. The hopeful outlook onto the future gives room for wishes and resolutions. The same is true when it comes to the topic of food. Resource scarcity and consequently resource efficiency will continue to be key topics again this year. The past two years have clearly demonstrated one thing: There are no simple solutions. In Central Europe, at least, 2021 was too wet and 2022 was too dry. These extreme fluctuations pose significant challenges for farmers around the world and have a negative impact on harvests.
The worsening global food security situation in 2022 was compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We reported on this several times last year. “The New York Times” summarized the situation on world markets at the start of this year. Ukraine exported on average around 30 percent less wheat and oilseeds per month than it had the year before. Although the export agreement between Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia has eased the situation somewhat, the UN’s World Food Program estimates that more than 350 million people around the world are now affected by food insecurity, more than twice as many as in 2019, before the start of the pandemic. For many people, the price of staple foods have increased sharply, and national economies are still feeling the financial effects of COVID-19. Both of these trends reflect a scarcity of resources.
Climate change and the war in Ukraine underscore the major challenges facing global agricultural production. What is the right response? On the level of personal attention, it is hard to get around the "Veganuary" in January. As even Switzerland’s largest retailer uses “Veganuary” in its marketing, one might suspect that it has already become a mainstream concept. “What began as an experiment could become a life philosophy...” this is how a well-known Zurich restaurant owner puts it on his website.
However, the concept of giving up animal products for a month also raises contradictions. For example, in a blog post, Meg Chatham advocates for “Regenuary” instead of “Veganuary.” We won’t save the planet by replacing meat with imported avocados and soy-based meat substitutes from other countries according to Chatham. The environment would be better served by a “Regenuary,” that is, consuming foods that are sourced entirely regionally and animal products from only local regenerative producers. Local is better than vegan. Swissmilk would surely agree with these basic principles. The association provides examples of plant-based nutrition. The well-known food pyramid is plant-based. Meat and animal products are not excluded, but they are downsized, appearing towards the top of the pyramid. This is good for health and good for the environment.
Cutting out all meat would be a mistake because meat provides important micronutrients. This was also recently explained by Petra Klassen Wigger, nutrition scientist at Nestlé, at a Swiss Food -Talk. In another example, a December article in the “SonntagsZeitung” newspaper appeared under the headline: “Completely forgoing meat is not a solution.” The article concluded: “Of course it would help the planet if people ate much less meat. But not keeping any animals at all would be a mistake - also for nature.” In other words, rather than only causing harm, livestock can also have environmental benefits. Agricultural historian Peter Moser explains these benefits in the “BauernZeitung” newspaper. Cows also contribute to the formation of humus and to the circular economy. Moreover, humans cannot digest grass and 70% of the agricultural land in Switzerland is comprised of grassland. If humans want to use this land for food, then they need ruminant animals like sheep, goats, and cows. Even if some of the land can be converted to agricultural land, doing so is not possible everywhere.
The discussion shows that simple dogmas aren’t very helpful. Positive incentives and openness to technology are called for instead of abandonment and green eco-patronage. The Zukunftsinstitut (Future Institute) established by German futurist Matthias Horx talks of a “blue ecology”: “The blue ecology is a constructive ecology that does not deny or reject the human impact on the environment; rather, it moderates this impact in an intelligent way. It combines technology, intelligent systems and shifting consumer behavior, to create a new logic of change. It does away with the old, ideological, and polarized debate surrounding the environment, and creates a transformativity, that will grip people. This could truly be the greatest transformation of our era.” Or to put it another way: “More impact, less woke.”
And with that, we have our wish for the new year. Agriculture needs fewer trends and more long-term regenerative solutions. This is true around the world, but it’s also true for high-tech Switzerland. Under the pressure of immigration, the level of self-sufficiency and the area available for agriculture is declining. Yield increases are needed for a shrinking amount of land. The solution is to grow more from less, which will also help the climate. As studies by several German research institutions show, the carbon footprint of modern varieties of wheat and rye is 13 to 23 percent smaller than those from 1980.
This is because of increased yields per hectare.
Breeding is key to managing the various challenges we face. For example, modern varieties of cassava are a reason for hope in Africa. They are more drought-resistant than wheat or corn. And thanks to the discovery of the gene that confers resistance to the feared mosaic disease that can infect cassava, it will be possible to protect future crops with gene editing. Other so-called orphan crops can also be improved using these breeding methods. This includes, for example, tef, an Ethiopian grain. These breakthroughs have been made possible by foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the case of cassava, and the Syngenta Foundation in the case of tef. Wilhelm Gruissem, now an emeritus professor at ETH Zurich, also took part in the research. He has long been able to grow cassava with higher vitamin content using traditional genetic engineering.
Perhaps the most famous foodstuff to prevent suffering and death thanks to fortification is golden rice. In a noteworthy interview with Radio SRF on December 22, the inventor of this grain, Ingo Potrykus, discussed its long history and his struggle to get permission to plant it.
Here, too, the collaboration between researchers and industry, and financing from foundations made the breakthrough possible. Golden rice is a response to widespread vitamin A deficiency, which blinds hundreds of thousands of children and often results in death. Finally, it was now possible to harvest golden rice in the Philippines. The fierce opposition of NGOs to the rice has cost many lives.
Ideological opposition slows things down, but it does not solve problems. And golden rice is not alone here. There are currently many examples where ideological opposition has stalled action but has not solved a single problem. When politicians fall for ideological obstructionists, they often have to correct the wrong decisions later on with quick fixes and U-turns. This not only harms resource efficiency, but also on the credibility and the quality of legislation, as Daniel Gerny writes in the NZZ at the end of the year.
2023 is an election year in Switzerland. And in an election year, long-term thinking risks being sacrificed to short-term gains. But politicians need to make election promises that take account of the long-term and can be implemented pragmatically. Marketing-like claims alone will not result in success. Holistic concepts and the acceptance of pragmatic collaboration between public and private researchers are essential. Supporting ideology-free research will allow politicians to become problem-solvers. Simply identifying problems is no longer sufficient. Doing so is neither forward-looking nor constructive.
The swiss-food editorial team
