Future-Proofing Superfood Availability through Sustainable Measures

Establishing a sustainable intensification in agriculture is a key strategy to ensure food security while incorporating climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and other environmental phenomena.

FREMONT, CA: Given the current trend in the consumption of superfoods and the projections for their growth in the upcoming years. Priority issues and difficulties humanity faces, most notably food poverty, have been worsened in recent years by events like armed wars, climatic variability and extremes, or economic slowdowns and downturns. It's more complicated to get this problem under control and build a food industry that can adapt to it. It necessitates the evolution of food laws, dietary recommendations, and food safety procedures to adopt a strategy that considers food, economic, and environmental sustainability, leaving behind the conventional viewpoint only centered on nutrition and health.

New nutrition sources' promotion, acceptability, consumption, and the ensuing redesign of food systems without endangering the environment are portrayed as part of the answer in this transition. According to several polls, some consumers exhibit environmental awareness towards superfoods and prefer environmentally friendly living styles. Studies show ambient pollution levels and needless packaging are crucial factors for health-conscious blueberry buyers. Customers often express concern about manufacturing, selecting fresh or little processed meals, and making connections between natural ingredients and organic components. However, some customers are still determining the long-term viability of superfoods in terms of the environment. Since they are produced using traditional production techniques derived from indigenous civilizations, they are regarded as less processed. On the other hand, purchasing food that has yet to be grown close to where you live necessitates more intense energy consumption and transportation, creating major environmental consequences and lowering the quality of the final product.

The world's superfood market is projected to grow by 41 percent by 2027 from its 152 billion-dollar value in 2021. Rising healthcare expenditures, an aging population, food innovations, changing lifestyles, and increased health awareness primarily drive the demand for superfoods and the market's growth. In light of these expectations, educating consumers on the qualities and benefits of superfoods should be a top focus. In this view, it is essential to regulate these goods globally to classify them and set rigorous minimum standards for the products' acceptance of health claims.

Consequently, the current food industry is already under additional pressure from superfood production, especially because this increase in demand will require the sector to adopt intensive and commercial production systems, which will adversely affect the environment, diet, and carbon footprint, among other things. Science-based policies that offer a strong framework must assist this implementation, including goals for reducing synthetic resource consumption, promoting water efficiency, and long-term assessments of agricultural production and ecosystem services. In the absence of transparency and traceability in the food supply chain, consumers and stakeholders are concerned about food information's integrity, quality, and safety. To address this issue, technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchains, and distributed ledgers (DLTs), which can also aid in tracking a product's environmental effects, can be used to digitize and exchange information.