Miller Magazine Issue: 148 April 2022

84 COVER STORY MILLER / APRIL 2022 The food sustainability which history starts tens of thou- sands of years ago has never been important as it is in our time. 50 thousand years ago, when our ancestors started to settle in new continents from hunter-gathering, the most important condition for choosing a place was access to food. This access has become easier with each passing day, from the beginning of settled agriculture, which we know, about 11 thousand years ago, until it has developed continuously until today. The distances became closer with the new trans- portation routes and vehicles developed by the industrial revolution. Foods specific to certain geographies began to be grown and consumed wherever the climate was suitable, with an intercontinental transition for thousands of years. Given their importance in our diet (15-20%), proteins cer- tainly are one of the most essential nutritional components of our food system. The exceptional challenge to produce and distribute sufficient protein to feed over 9 billion people by 2050, in an environmentally sustainable way has made it inevitable to search for changes in our heavily carnivore diet. The very high levels of the carbon footprint of the pro- tein-rich carnivore diets have been proven to have a neg- ative impact on climate change and food sustainability. Hence, in the last decade scientists have been working very hard to improve the sustainability of our food systems and resources. Plant-based proteins are obviously the highlight of these scientific studies. Could plant proteins be the solution for our food systems’ sustainability? Yes, with their lower cost of production, easy access in many parts of the world and environmentally friendly characteristics plant proteins have lots of advantag- es but unfortunately compared to animal protein processing technology the plant proteins technology is still in its very early steps. Thanks to the recent studies of scientists with processes like extraction, fractionation, and modification; plant proteins can now be used in so many different food and feed applications. Apart from the rapid population growth, now health con- cerns, changing eating habits and environmental awareness creates a higher demand for animal protein alternatives, meat replacements and other non-animal industrial ingre- dients. The recent changes in lifestyle, cultural trends and “Apart from the rapid population growth, now health concerns, changing eating habits and environmental awareness creates a higher demand for animal protein alternatives, meat replacements and other non-animal industrial ingredients. The recent changes in lifestyle, cultural trends and environment, all together have created remarkably favorable market conditions for plant-based proteins. The question now is how sustainable are plant-based proteins? Is the world ready to produce a regular supply of plant proteins?” Plant-based proteins market Cem Bogusoglu Director Swiss Aegean Trading GmbH