We are at a decisive moment in food production.
The ways we grow, process and consume food have brought humanity to the edge of ecological and social breakdown. At the same time, they provide the greatest opportunity to redesign our systems. Food is not only sustenance; it is the most powerful lever we have to influence climate, biodiversity, water use, public health, and social equity.
The food system impacts nearly every environmental and economic indicator, yet it has long received less attention than energy or transportation when it comes to sustainability strategies. At Beyond Impact, we seek out scalable B2B solutions that are humane, decarbonising and regenerative across nutrition, ingredients, pharmaceuticals and materials.
This article examines how technology can transform the food system into a sustainable and resilient economy.
The global food system is in crisis
The global food system is at a tipping point. Agriculture consumes over 90% of the world’s freshwater, occupies 43% of habitable land, and accounts for 26 to 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial livestock production has already breached five of nine planetary boundaries, according to the Stockholm Resilience Centre. These include greenhouse gases, freshwater use, biodiversity loss, and nutrient cycles. If every person ate like the average American or European, humanity would require three to five planets to sustain itself.
Yet, hunger remains a daily reality. Approximately 800 million people go hungry while two billion are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, one-third of all food produced is wasted, roughly 1.3 billion tons each year. This waste contributes 8 to 10% of global emissions. Water use is another critical issue. Producing one kilogram of beef consumes more than 15,000 litres of water, enough to fill a small swimming pool. By contrast, making one kilogram of lentils requires just 1,250 litres. Methane emissions from ruminants, 84 times more potent than CO₂ over 20 years, remain a major contributor to climate change.
Agricultural runoff fuels algal blooms, dead zones, and biodiversity loss in rivers and oceans. Ammonia and particulate emissions from livestock farming contribute to thousands of premature deaths each year. Over 70% of antibiotics are used in animal agriculture, accelerating antimicrobial resistance. The system is also inefficient: half the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture, yet 80% of that land supports livestock, which provides less than 20% of the calories.
The current system is unsustainable, inefficient and inequitable. The scale of these challenges underscores the urgent need for innovation, investment and systemic transformation.
The opportunity for transformation
Transforming the food system is a critical ecological need and a massive economic opportunity. The combined market for animal-protein, functional ingredients and animal-free materials exceeds $2.7 trillion. Biotechnology is key to capturing this value, enabling the production of proteins like insulin and collagen without animals. Alternative proteins alone could represent over $300 billion by 2035, with mainstream adoption possible by 2030 through supportive regulation and investment.
The opportunity extends beyond food. Materials derived from fermentation, mycelium or algae offer the potential to replace petrochemical or animal-derived inputs in textiles, packaging, and coatings. Geltor is pioneering the synthetic biology (synbio) frontier by engineering animal-free collagen for cosmetics and wellness. A new wave of material innovation is successfully decoupling industries from their reliance on animal and unsustainable inputs. Leading the charge are PLHYDE, with its zero-plastic leather made from upcycled produce, and Human Material Loop, which offers hotels a wool alternative from hair waste at competitive prices — collectively slashing the environmental footprint of their sectors.
Innovation in ingredients
The foundation of change lies in the ingredients we use. Advances in biotechnology, upcycling and sustainable inputs create new opportunities to decouple food production from environmental harm.
Precision fermentation enables microorganisms, such as yeast and fungi, to produce animal-like proteins, fats, and enzymes. The EVERY Company has scaled the production of authentic egg proteins through precision fermentation, utilizing a patented process to deliver its EVERY® Real Egg Protein — entirely without the need for chickens. Similarly, Paleo leverages precision fermentation to produce bio-identical heme proteins, such as myoglobin, with applications in the food, nutraceutical, personal care and pharmaceutical industries. These technologies reduce emissions by up to 90%, water use by 99%, and land use by more than 95%. They eliminate animal waste and the need for antibiotics.
