From Production to Processing to Packaging: Innovations in Agriculture for a Sustainable Future

To leverage agricultural commodities, low-value co-products or wastes from food processing and bioprocessing operations or fermentations as sources of compounds, materials and/or end products of value to industry and consumers.To stimulate, contribute to and participate in sustainable circular economies by diverting agricultural wastes toward valuable end uses while simultaneously reducing the need for landfilling, incineration and other inefficient, costly and environmental burdensome methods of disposal (economic and environmental sustainability).To explore the use of new crops and to improve crops, microorganisms or their products in order to enhance yield, recovery, functionality and/or human and animal health and safety benefits. These improvements may be realized through breeding, selection, genetic, metabolic or synthetic biological engineering or editing of organisms, or through chemical, enzymatic and physical processing of materials derived from these organisms. Use of ancient, heirloom or less-frequently cultivated crops having novel functional, health or safety benefits may also be explored (economic and environmental sustainability).To develop new technologies and processes aimed at improving and determining the safety, behavior, functionality and/or nutritional quality of water, foods, feeds, food packaging, fuels and/or biomaterials. Approaches will include development of preventative measures, such as novel food animal vaccines or physical and chemical processing methods intended to reduce or eliminate pathogens and spoilage organisms or to preserve the structure, function and nutritional availability of important food biomolecules. Advances in packaging technology will maximize nutrient retention during storage and enhance consumer acceptability. Methods for the separation, concentration and rapid detection or quantification of microbial pathogens and spoilage organisms will also be developed, as will approaches for detecting impurities such as toxic metals in post-consumer recycled plastics (PCR) destined for use in food packaging. These technologies and processes will promote energy independence, ensure the safety and regulatory compliance of foods and recycled packaging materials, increase the health benefits of foods and reduce negative economic and health impacts of food spoilage or microbial contamination (economic and social sustainability).Technology transfer: Identify, develop, implement and disseminate technology related to the processes and practices described above. Adoption of the processes and practices developed within this project will benefit the food, packaging, bioeconomy, bioproducts, diagnostics, health and medical sectors of industry as well as consumers and regulatory agencies. Benefits to industry and consumers will extend locally, nationally and globally (economic, environmental and social sustainability).