Big Food Redesign Challenge Creates 20% Sustainable Food Market

The current food system, from production to consumption, is a meticulously designed structure that influences everything from packaging to store layouts and background music. Viewing it through this lens reveals a system primed for innovation. Globally, 60% of consumed calories come from just four crops—wheat, rice, corn, and potatoes—indicating a high level of uniformity that makes the food system vulnerable to crises like pandemics and extreme weather. This fragility was evident during recent events, where store shelves emptied quickly and staple prices surged due to weak links in the supply chain.

Imagine if grocery stores offered truly sustainable food products designed to regenerate nature and build a more resilient food system. These could include pastas made from diverse ancient grains, plant-based snack alternatives, beer made from surplus bread, and juices from plants like foraged cactus. Such foods are less resource-intensive, more resistant to shocks, and still delicious. Consumers could make choices based on taste, preference, and price, trusting that their choices have positive and sustainable impacts.

Over the past two years, the global Big Food Redesign Challenge has collaborated with over 100 food makers across three continents, from small startups to major industry leaders, to create or revamp products for sustainability from seed to shelf. These innovative products show that with cross-sector partnerships and philanthropic investments, food can be produced sustainably, benefiting people, the planet, and the bottom line.

Sustainability is appreciated by consumers and businesses, with 20% of the $2.6 trillion spent annually on food in the United States going to sustainable products. However, focusing on one element, like plastic-free packaging, is insufficient. The environmental impact of the entire food system—from ingredients to shipping and packaging—must be considered. Without a system-wide approach, the food sector will continue to be a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, currently accounting for one-third of the global total.

The Schmidt Family Foundation and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have previously worked with businesses to bring circularity to consumer goods. To achieve sustainability throughout the food journey, participating businesses prioritized diverse, low-impact, and upcycled ingredients. Diversifying ingredients from various plant and animal species benefits soil health, builds food supply resilience, and reduces reliance on single inputs. For example, a company created a shelf-stable smoothie powder using the disease-resistant Indian apple banana.

Low-impact ingredients, like fonio, a drought-tolerant, gluten-free West African staple, have fewer negative effects on nature and can even regenerate it. These ingredients reduce greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and deforestation, protecting the long-term resilience of natural systems. Meat options in the challenge were sometimes enhanced with underutilized seaweed or alternate plant products, reducing the carbon footprint of meat.

Upcycled ingredients are derived from food that would otherwise be wasted, reducing pressure on land and maximizing return on inputs. Products created through the challenge included those that rescued and reused everything from oat harvest leftovers to banana peels. Bread destined for the trash ended up contributing to a tasty beer, and wrinkled peas were dried and ground with whole meal flour to create pasta.

Circular products are important, but circularity must be built into the system itself. Eliminating waste increases productivity and options, expands healthy food choices, sources, and markets, and provides farmers with new income opportunities. Most importantly, prioritizing nature increases the long-term health of the soil, improving fertility and yield, which also drives higher profits. Plants, animals, and humans all benefit from a new kind of regenerative efficiency that plans for the future and protects planetary resources in a way conventional industrial food systems do not.

Systemic transformation requires bold leadership from business, policymakers, and the finance sector. Policy levers, including legislation and regulation, can provide the economic incentives food businesses need to invest in transforming the system. Small amounts of targeted capital can accelerate innovation and product development. Strategic philanthropy can bring great ideas from pilot to scale. Ultimately, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers need to embrace and demand better options.

We have the resources for an abundant and resilient food system. Let’s use them.