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Food
Background:
Evidence suggests that what we eat has more impact on climate change than any other aspect of daily life. The production, retailing, transport, packaging and preparation of food accounts for 31% of the EU's contribution to global warming. Buying sustainable food reduces energy use and thereby reduces adverse environmental effects. Sustainable food can also support struggling rural economies.
In 1988, 71% of all the food we consumed was made in the UK. By 2006, that figure had dropped to 58% as national food tastes have changed and more and more of our food is imported at great social, economic and environmental cost.
Aims:
The Food cluster will bring together the best practice in relation to food processing, marketing and transportation. It will provide a How To response to the following questions
How to design energy efficient processing systems.
How to utilise waste heat in processing systems.
How to minimize water usage.
How to maximise the use of recycled materials in packaging.
How to reduce food miles by branding, marketing and investigating niche local markets.
How to increase value, and thereby profitability, by processing home grown crops.
How to maximise efficiency in the transport system.
How to maximise profitability by recognising possible changes in seasonality and fashions due to climate change.
How to encourage external markets around the world to produce food in a more sustainable and environmental manner.
Outputs
The Food cluster, will:
• Utilise the existing Food Technology Building as both a teaching resource and a processing plant.
• Ensure food produced on the farm will be processed and sold to local markets under the Seale-Hayne brand e.g. milk, ice cream, clotted cream, cheese, bacon, hams, soups etc. This can be used as an illustration of how ‘food miles’ can be dramatically reduced.
• Fully utilise the facilities in order to act both as research and development centre and incubator unit for small to medium sized enterprises.
• Act as a hub where small businesses/local producers can share/organise transport to reduce delivery costs and CO2 emissions
• Provide advice and training to those seeking to change their business model.
• Provide a place for members of the public to learn about more sustainable methods of food processing, packaging and markets in both formal and informal settings.
• Provide food for the proposed low carbon community on the Seale-Hayne site (see the Built Environment Cluster)
• Provide a teaching resource for schools.
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