Ecotrack

Sustainable diets, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, “are those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources”. (FAO report)

Whilst this definition works in theory, putting it into practical use for normal consumers is far more difficult. The ways to assess the sustainability of foods in practice are often debated given the complexity of the supply chain and in recording and quantifying environmental impact data from farm to fork. As many co dependent variables are being compared, assessing sustainability is very nuanced and therefore makes it difficult for consumers to understand what makes a sustainable diet.

However, a recent study has compiled extensive datasets covering 90% of what is eaten across 119 countries to assess the full life cycle impact of these foods. It revealed that avoiding meat consumption is the single most effective way to reduce our environmental impact as individuals. While meats and dairy only represent 18% of our calorie intake and 37% our protein intake, their production takes over 80% of all farmland and produce 60% of all agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, the production of meat requires very large amounts of freshwater and has a tremendous impact on water and air pollution.

The project began with a question: how might we encourage more sustainable and diverse diets in urban environment? We took on the challenge to break down the complexity surrounding the agricultural industry and to redefine our relationship with the food we consume.To start answering this question, we conducted extensive desk research to better understand the environmental impact of food production and what constitutes a sustainable diet.

Our next step was to gain a deep understanding of people, their needs, desires and their relationship with food. So we went out in the field and spent the rest of our research phase talking to people from different backgrounds, interviewing experts and immersing ourselves in various environments. This was a key step to identify our main insights and reframe our questions into actionable starting points. The 3 main insights that we identified related to transparency, awareness and attitude.

Transparency
Food shops (both online and physical) offer consumers overwhelming choice, making purchasing decisions based on provenance, seasonality and environmental impact complicated. As sustainability is a mixture of all these it also means that these choices are not absolute and need to be learned and improved over time.
→ How might we help consumers make sustainable food choices intuitively and on the go?

Awareness
People are unaware and do not realise that adjusting their diet is the most effective way to reduce their environmental impact on the planet.
→ How might we use branding and marketing to enable consumers to take control of what they eat by providing clear information about the environmental impact of food?

Attitude
Although meat production is one of the most harmful types of agriculture, people still consume too much of it and are in denial about how much of it they consume. Cultural significance, trends and convenience all shadow environmental consideration of the food.
→ How might we make the consumption of sustainable alternatives to meat more convenient through culturally considered and desirable options?

While addressing elements of each of these how might we questions, we decided to focus primarily on raising awareness by bringing transparency to the food we purchase in supermarkets.

The production of food has a complex influence on the environment and a variety of contributing factors can be used to evaluate their impact. Although this makes for a complex set of variables, it also means that each food product has potential for climate impact mitigation, giving consumers control and knowledge will allow for better decisions and will increase pressure on producers and suppliers to improve their product.

In order to break down the complexity of the food system and the repercussions it has on our environment both on the production side and consumer side, we developed a compound score that combines a set of normalized metrics into one single rating. We selected the 5 most significant metrics based on academic research, but also considering how easy these are to grasp conceptually from a consumer perspective.

The compound score is represented as a simple A / B / C rating that can be understood quickly and intuitively. By bringing to light information that is typically hidden from the consumer, the score enables anyone to make informed decisions about how sustainable an ingredient or product is.

The platform combines a sustainability rating present as a clear label on food products with an application that provides detailed yet accessible information about the environmental impact of our food. By providing an augmented interaction with the food we purchase, we can encourage more sustainable and responsible consumption habits on the go.

Ecotrack is part of a grander vision to augment our relationship with the food we consume and shape what the future of sustainable and resilient food production system might look like.

By suggesting alternatives to the traditional archetypes, we will help define new food paradigms and encourage more responsible forms of nourishment. And as consumers start consuming more sustainable products we will see increasing pressures on producers and suppliers to become more accountable for their climate impact.

To ensure the sustainable growth of ecotrack beyond a supermarket niche the following practical steps will need to be taken.
→ Building mechanisms within the production and distribution processes to record the most critical metrics at the source to obtain more accurate values throughout the process.
→ Using these metrics to inform better consumption practice and to optimise transport and packaging in particular.
→ Adopting a unified sustainability scoring system across supermarkets and fast/slow-food chains.