Agree NET
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Project Description
Agree is a project aiming at facing the agri-food waste problem through the circular economy, The objective of the project is to develop plant-based edible coatings that can be used to protect fruits and vegetables during their journey to our houses. Such protective coatings once are applied on fruits and vegetables making them last longer, i.e., extending their shelf-life. Our prototype maintains the freshness of fruits up to 3 times compared to fruits without our protective coating.
Geographical Scope
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Description of the project
Summary
Nowadays, a third of the food produced in the world is wasted, where more than 40% of such waste comes from the fruit and vegetable supply chain. Vegetable food waste is a problem that involves different phases of the agri-food chain (e.g., harvesting, transport, and at home) and it is mainly associated with the rapid deterioration of some products. The main objective of Agree project is facing the current food waste problems by reducing the rapid deterioration of fruits and vegetables through eco-friendly circular economy solutions. The Agree project aims to develop plant-based and biodegradable protective coatings to be used as a shielding barrier for fruits and vegetables, making them last longer. The innovative aspect of the Agree proposal lies in using agri-food by-products, rich in nutrients, as raw material to create the plant-based protective coatings. The project is based on reusing the agri-food by-products generated at the beginning of the supply chain to increase the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables in the journey to retails and end-users. The Agree’s coatings are designed to maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables without changing the organoleptic characteristics of these products. Moreover, these coatings will be edible, biodegradable, inert, and easily removable with water. Agree is developing its first prototype named Ally, created to help farmers, wholesalers, and supermarkets to increase the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables and reduce economic losses due to the waste of food products. Agree addresses its idea to agri-food actors that process and transform fruit and vegetables after harvesting (distributors, consortia, cooperatives, solidarity buying groups).
Key objectives for sustainability
The FAO estimated that 931 million tonnes of food go to waste each year and over a third of such food waste comes from the fruit and vegetable supply chain. The food waste problem goes beyond since we are not only throwing away food but also, the resources used for crops such as water, energy, soil, and manpower are wasted, with high environmental consequences. The problem burdens waste management systems, increases food insecurity and is a major contributor to the global problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Indeed, it is estimated that between 8-10% of global carbon emissions are linked to the food waste problem. Therefore, innovative approaches to make the agri-food supply chain more efficient are required. The Agree project is based on reusing agri-food by-products to create plant-based coatings that help to protect fruits and vegetables in their journey to retailers and end-users. This strategy could have a great positive impact on the whole agri-food chain since by-products can be reused to make fruits and vegetables last longer, and thus, make a great contribution in reducing food waste. The attempt is to reach future markets of low-income countries to help them deal with the effects of intense climatic events that can lead to a reduction in food availability. Agree's circular solution acts to reduce waste in the initial phase of harvesting (reusing plant by-products) as well as the medium-final phases of the agri-food supply chain (fruit and vegetables for sale that lasts longer). Therefore, the Agree project can contribute to Sustainable Development Goals achievement such as Goal 13: take urgent measures to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy, and Goal 15: protect, recover and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests sustainably, combat desertification, halt land degradation and halt the loss of biodiversity.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The first prototype of the Agree project, called Ally, is created to help farmers, wholesalers, and supermarkets to increase the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables to reduce economic losses due to the waste of food products. Ally is a plant-based protective coating developed using natural components, being, therefore, biodegradable, edible, innocuous, and does not change the organoleptic properties of fruits and vegetables. Ally has as a core feature to maintain the freshness of fruit and vegetables for longer times. Beyond this functionality, Ally can satisfy the aesthetic requirements from consumers and other actors of the agri-food supply chain, since it can give a shining look to fruit and vegetables without altering the organoleptic properties of the food product. In this way, the food product can be more appealing to be acquired by end-consumers in supermarket and retailer places. Besides, the food product coated with Ally can be maintained for longer times on shelved without altering their main properties (e.g., odor, aesthetics, taste). Indeed, one of the main interests of the Agree project is to offer a bio-based product that guarantees the freshness of fruits and vegetables and, eventually, enhances the quality of experience in terms of taste, smell, and edible features of the food product. All these three features can be achieved through the specific Agree’s procedure to create Ally from agri-food by-products. Once the Ally coating is applied to fruits and vegetables, it dries, and becomes invisible but still in action.
Key objectives for inclusion
To tackle the food waste problem, one of the main strategies is acting on the optimization of the agri-food chain, where enough food is wasted annually to feed about 1 billion people. With wasted food, the resources made available for crops such as water, energy, labor, and soil are also wasted. The problem of food waste is an issue that enters the European political agenda for a more sustainable future, through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as Goal N° 2 - Defeating hunger and Goal N° 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production. New methods and strategies are needed to make the food production process more efficient and more sustainable, and reduce the food waste through the agri-food chain. The Agree project consists of the circular economy-based production of protective and edible plant-based coating that can reduce food losses at the initial-medium stage of the agri-food supply chain (post-harvesting, transformation, and distribution phases) and at the end stages of it (retailers and end consumers). The Agree’s proposal could improve the allocation of agri-food by-products compared to the current alternatives (e.g., composting). The Agree idea can promote more efficient use of natural resources and human capital by reducing food wastes and losses through the agri-food supply chain, which in turn lead to a reduction of economic losses for the actors involved in the agri-food supply chain (e.g., farmers, distributors, supermarkets, and retailers). The Agree solution used by actors responsible for the processing, treating, and selling fruits and vegetables (e.g., transforming industry, distributors, and retailers), might generate a positive social and economic impact as well as contribute to solving environmental sustainability issues. Moreover, the impacts of the project can be further shared on a social basis by increasing the bargaining power of farmers using the Ally coating that can have better opportunity to keep the harvest for longer.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
The Agree project intends to collaborate with agricultural farmers to obtain the agricultural by-products, the raw material, for the creation of edible and protective plant-based coatings. Such by-products are rich in nutrients that can be retaken through eco-friendly laboratory procedures. These natural components are used by Agree as the main ingredients for the development of bio-based liquid solutions. The first prototype of the Agree project, Ally, is created to serve as a second peel for the food products since once it is applied on fruits and vegetables maintains their freshness for longer times (up to three times more than conventional methods). In this way, the Agree proposal is based on circular strategies by reusing the agri-food by-products generated at the beginning of the supply chain to increase the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables in the journey to retails and end-users. Such a circular approach can make a positive contribution in reducing food waste and losses. The potentiality of the Agree project can even reach other boundaries, such as markets in low-income countries to help them deal with the effects of intense climatic events that can lead to a reduction in food availability. The edible coating, Ally, can be seen as an environmental and social tool designed to face multiple global concerns: 1) it can contribute to the fight against food waste by increasing the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables, 2) it might aid in the reduction of food losses by re-using agricultural by-products, 3) it might serve as a circular economy example for the agri-food sector as a model to increase the efficiency of the supply chain, 4) it might be seen as a simple eco-friendly strategy by using natural resources (soil, water, and energy) and workforces better, 5) it might maintain and increase the quality of fruits and vegetables and hence, provide better food products to end-users, 6) it might contribute to solving environmental issues related to intensive crops.
