World Food System Center, ETH Zurich

Sweet chocolate without sugar? 🍫 🍩 Yes! ETH Zürich researchers and Koa Switzerland & Ghana have developed a whole-fruit #chocolate using cocoa pulp juice concentrate to replace traditional sugar from sugar beets.   In every cocoa pod, the yield of dry beans for conventional chocolate is only about 10%. Thus, increasing the use of other parts of the cocoa pod, such as the pulp and cocoa pod husk, could contribute to income diversification for farmers as well as reduce the environmental impact of cultivation.   👩🍳 *The process* To create this new, whole-fruit chocolate, researchers combined many parts of the cocoa pod: The endocarp is extracted, dried, and milled to a powder. The #cocoa bean pulp is harvested, pressed for its juice, and concentrated. The cocoa pulp juice concentrate and the endocarp powder can be mixed and heated to a gel that is added to cocoa mass from cocoa beans.   🍫*The product* The researchers had to find the perfect balance between sweetness and texture using this gel. The product has an increased fiber content of about 20%, while the saturated fat percentage is reduced by about 30%.   “Fiber is valuable from a physiological perspective because it naturally regulates intestinal activity and prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly when consuming chocolate." Says lead author Kim Mishra.   Read article: https://lnkd.in/dqDM9jUD ETH Zürich news: https://lnkd.in/diif-HUi Authors: Kim Mishra, Ashley M. Green, Johannes Burkard, Irina Gubler, @Roberta Borradori, Lucas Kohler, Johannes Meuli, Ursina Krähenmann, Jotam Bergfreund, Armin Siegrist, Maria Schnyder, Alexander Mathys, Peter Fischer & Erich Windhab Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), ETH Zürich 🍽️ #scienceonyourplate: Each week, bringing you #FoodSystems #research from ETH Zürich. Interested? Planted gebana ag Coop Migros Max Felchlin AG Sustainable Agroecosystems Group, ETH Zürich

📣 Save the Date 📣 🍏 ⚡ 🌳 05 December 2024- The Response Symposium shines a spotlight on the importance of the science-policy interface for discussions of sustainable food, energy and land use. Join us! https://lnkd.in/ejrtwWza With Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Energy Science Center, ETH Zurich, & World Food System Center, ETH Zurich. #symposium #Zurich #events

From Vision to Reality: A Network for Alumni 🌱 This year marks the beginning of an ambitious 5-year journey for The World Food Systems Network. What started as a group of friends staying connected has blossomed into a professional organization that fosters a sustainable and equitable food system. Read more in our Alumni Stories: https://lnkd.in/d-4cBBqt #wfsceducation World Food Systems Network #alumni #alumnigroups #changemakers #foodsystemstransformation Roelinda Jongstra Laila Grillo Zaray Rojas Monika Siegrist Neelam Dutta Dr. Philipp Staudacher

Building capacity in laboratory testing of soil inputs 🔬 The safe use of soil inputs from organic and human waste streams is often hindered by the difficulty to accurately assess quality parameters (agronomic parameters, potentially toxic elements, and pathogens). 📓 Inconsistent data from various laboratories complicates comparisons with environmental regulations. 🌍 To address this, the #RUNRES project plans an inter-laboratory ring trial to build capacity across labs in different regions of Democratic Republic of #Congo, South Africa, #Ethiopia, and #Rwanda. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dyFzmayi Project: https://runres.ethz.ch/ #foodsystems #circulareconomy #savesoil ETH for Development - ETH4D Johan Six Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Mélanie Surchat Benabderrazik Kenza Ben Wilde

Can Europe afford to give that ace to Putin? 🇺🇦 Poignant new ETH Zürich #Zukunftsblog from Sebastian Dötterl focuses on the richness of the soil and mineral resources in Ukraine at stake in the current war, in addition to the human lives. 🌱 The extremely fertile soil of southeast Ukraine contains a uniquely thick humus layer. This type of fertile soil, referred to as “dark earth” is so widespread nowhere else in Europe as in southeast Ukraine and the neighboring parts of Russia. Africa and the Middle East benefit greatly from food exports from this small, fertile region. 🗺 With maps of mineral deposits and projected yield changes due to water availability in 2050, Dötterl lays out why "any country looking to safeguard its own strategic and geopolitical independence should do everything in its power to ensure that these regions remain in the hands of a reliable international partner." "I am concerned to hear a growing number of voices within Ukraine’s allies that would be willing to cede vast areas of land to Russia in order to achieve peace or at least a ceasefire. I’m convinced this would be a great loss, not only to the people of Ukraine but to all of us." comments Dötterl. Read blog: https://lnkd.in/dkcqhtcK Prof. Sebastian Dötterl is a member of the World Food System Center, ETH Zurich. #ScienceForUkraine #savesoil #foodsystems #blog #ukraine #standwithukraine Take a look! Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich Dmytro Sidenko Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association Swiss-Ukrainian Reconstruction Agency SURA Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL Collegium Helveticum UASAZ EU Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) U.S. Department of State FAO United Nations NZZ SRF - Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Insects to Feed the World 🐛🪰🦗 Updates from the Novel Protein for Food and Feed Flagship Project include new results from projects addressing food waste management using black soldier fly larvae and presentations at the Insects to Feed the World Conference. 🍎🪰Current research focuses on the microbial activity during the bioconversion process urban #foodwaste management using black soldier fly larvae. This activity was shown to strongly influence CO2 emissions, food waste temperature, and larval growth. Results could further show that this microbial activity by fungi and bacteria can be controlled by changing the initial physical characteristics like bulk density of the food waste. These findings are of great importance for food waste recycling with #insects, since it will help to improve the reliability and the efficiency of the process for a more #sustainable circular food system. 🇸🇬 The ETH Zürich Sustainable Food Processing Group & Singapore-ETH Centre took part in the Insects to Feed the World Conference 2024 in Singapore. Moritz Gold and Adrian Fuhrmann acted as Scientific Committee Chairs for the Conference. This conference is the biggest international conference of the discipline. The Group also presented their work focused on the efficient and reliable utilization of low-value and heterogenous #biowastes in fly larvae bioconversion, in order to achieve positive environmental change. Full news: https://lnkd.in/dAURFzvU Alexander Mathys Maja Lermark Schøn Dr. Daniela A. Peguero #circulareconomy #blacksoldierfly #BSF #novelproteins #feed

World Food Forum: Be part of the ETH Zürich Academic Delegation 🌱The World Food System Center, ETH Zurich Center is looking for students and researchers to join the ETH Zurich Academic Delegation to the Youth Global Forum of the World Food Forum on 14-18 October in Rome. The ETH Zurich Academic Delegation has the opportunity to: 🌱 Participate in the Youth Assembly to discuss youth-relevant policies in food and agriculture; 🌱 Take part in a side event focused on True Cost Food, co-hosted by HAFL, SDC, BLW and ETH Zurich; 🌱 Attend all the events hosted during the World Food Forum flagship week; Organize and/or participate in bilateral meetings; 🌱 Meet and network with youth and agrifood systems stakeholders from different backgrounds to exchange perspectives, gain new insights and forge new partnerships. Eligibility: Students and researchers of ETH Zürich, 36 years old or younger time of forum. Deadline: 10 July 2024 More information: https://lnkd.in/dmuTM7Bx Interested? SSC - Student Sustainability Committee of VSETH VSETH - Verband der Studierenden an der ETH VIAL at ETH Zürich Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), ETH Zürich Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich ETH-Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE)

☀ ⛱ Slow down this summer and take a look at our newsletter, full of updates on our research, education, and outreach activities. https://lnkd.in/dNNK3m-Z ☀ Highlights ☀ 👩🔬 New Member: Dr. Serina Robinson leads the Microbial Specialized Metabolism Group at Eawag. 🇮🇹 The Swiss National FAO Committee (CNS-FAO) spent three days in Rome in June at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 🦖 Our recent workshop, Feeding Scientific #Creativity, was designed to help participants unleash their creative potential, think outside the box, and approach their work with fresh eyes. 🔪 The Center joined the efforts with a visiting Girl Scouts Troop from Pennsylvania to chop vegetables for the dinner service at the #FoodSave Day, organized by Ernährungsforum Zürich & FOOD ZURICH. 📚 And we share member highlights and lots of new #foodsystems publications. Thanks to all for sharing their news with the World Food System Center, ETH Zurich community! World Food Systems Network #wfsceducation #futurefood #foodsystemstransformation FAO Alexander Mathys Johan Six #runres Peter Fischer Angela Bearth Dr. Christina Hartmann Greg Velicer Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), ETH Zürich ETH for Development - ETH4D Moritz Gold Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft BLW Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Ivonne Blossfeld Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania

Feeding Scientific Creativity 🍓🦖 Our recent workshop was designed to help participants unleash their creative potential, think outside the box, and approach their work with fresh eyes. Drawing inspiration from the concepts of Food Design, the 20 participants explored together the essence of creativity and its transformative power. 🍒🥣 Billie Maude Hauser introduced methods to increase creativity and allowed for time for new ideas to bloom in groups; each team was tasked with creating their own new food product idea for different foodies, be that children or workaholics. 🎨 Thanks to all for joining us. We wish you all a colorful summer full of creativity. More: https://lnkd.in/d6GCpeJt #foodsystems at ETH Zürich Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), ETH Zürich D-PHYS, ETH Zürich ETH PBLabs ETH Student Project House #foodie #workshop #fooddesign #foodtech #artscience

The CANALLS Project aims to drive agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa via multi-actor transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs. 🔽 Johan Six shares impressions from his recent trip to visit farmers in Mambasa, #DRC. #agroecology #agroecología #agroforestry #cocoa #livelihoods #livinglabs