National Academies Press: OpenBook

Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop (2020)

Chapter: 5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems

« Previous: 4 Innovations in Alternative Food Production and Implications for Food Systems
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

5

Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems

Session 4, moderated by Helen Jensen, Iowa State University, focused on innovations in food distribution and their implications for food systems.

INNOVATIONS IN LOGISTICS

Michelle Miller, University of Wisconsin, led off the session by exploring current innovations in food transportation and logistics.

A Brief History of Food Distribution

Miller began with a quick overview of food distribution in the past 50 years. She stated that in the 1960s many small companies were involved in food distribution, but by the 1970s volatility in fuel prices had led distributors to seek efficiencies. Vertical integration of entire supply chains accelerated in the 1980s in what she described as an adaptive response to the increasing risk in the system as gas prices became more volatile. In the 1990s, she continued, big box stores further improved the efficiency of distribution and took market share from corner grocery stores; in the 2000s, consolidation in the food industry accelerated. According to Miller, consolidation trends reduced competition while disadvantaging regional food systems and creating unintended environmental disruptions. To illustrate this point, she referenced research documenting increased concentration of distribution that has crowded out mid-sized companies and suppressed

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

innovation (Howard, 2016). In the past decade, she observed, climate volatility has further disrupted the food production and distribution system.

System Characteristics and Food Flow

Miller referenced a 2015 Institute of Medicine and National Research Council report identifying the food system as a complex, adaptive, self-organizing system (IOM and NRC, 2015). In such a system, she explained, as certainty decreases, as with fuel and labor prices or climate change, agreement within the system must increase to keep it self-organizing (Parsons, 2007). She went on to say that complex systems may also be understood according to the system properties of diversity, flow, non-linearity, and aggregation (Monostori and Ueda, 2006). Regional and local food systems are relatively unorganized, she added, while the predominant vertically integrated food system is organized. She suggested that as climate change leads to more uncertainty in the system, more agreement becomes necessary. In self-organizing systems, she explained, agreement results from democratic processes and governance, as well as through ownership of the system.

Miller continued by observing that farmers and markets moved away from regional crop diversity because of seasonal volatility, with most fruit and vegetable production migrating to the “fruitful rim” states of California, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, and Washington (Aguilar et al., 2015). The result, she explained, was a highly efficient production and distribution system with unintended environmental and social consequences. Miller pointed to ecological research identifying a need to optimize diversity and efficiency (Goerner et al., 2009). She pointed out that optimizing diversity in products and in supply chain ownership supports food system resiliency, but stressed the importance of balancing diversity with efficiency in distribution and logistics.

Regarding food flow, Miller referred to a 2016 study that found 123 nodes of distribution in the United States, 9 of which are critical to system function; of those 9, 3 are in the Midwest (Lin et al., 2014). She added that food warehousing is concentrated in the Chicago region, which can be considered the “epicenter for private food warehousing” in the United States.

According to Miller, smaller food distribution systems face unique challenges. She explained that last-mile distribution through public terminals is particularly important for regional supply chains and that small wholesale supply chains lack analytics, a capacity that is commonplace for large companies, such as Walmart. She observed that collaborating through public terminals can give small supply chains access to analytics.

Miller went on to point out that food supply chains are nonlinear, because systems must adjust for seasonal production, geographically based

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

routes (e.g., accounting for congestion and landscape features), and different segments of the supply chain where ownership and product custody change (Guerrero Campanur et al., 2018). In supply chains, she noted, agreement is reached through trust, communication, reduced risk, and vertical integration.

Logistics for Supply Chain Segments

As described by Miller, the logistics and opportunities to improve market access and food access are different for each segment of the supply chain. She outlined the key logistical segments as first mile (farm to processor or warehouse), over-the-road or regional (dependent on the distance to wholesale market), and last mile (within the destination city) (Pullman and Wu, 2012). Logistics involve monitoring and control of product movement through a system. Miller has documented concerns for food transportation in her research (Miller et al., 2016), which has shown that key factors shaping supply chains include who owns the product and pays for the distribution at each step along the supply chain, the amount and diversity of supply to be transported, and the distance of each segment.

For first mile, Miller continued, the distance from the farm to the aggregation point should be as short as possible. At that point, she noted, the product may be sold to a distributor, processor, or packer. If the farmer continues to own the product, she observed the farmer will continue to incur costs for moving the product along the supply chain.

With respect to the over-the-road and regional trip segments, Miller explained, the distance to wholesale market is the most important factor. While companies of all sizes are still involved, she pointed to a reduction in medium-sized businesses in transportation, farming, and retailing due to the concentration at all points in the system. Depending on whether the segment is over-the-road or regional, she added, efficiencies can be realized with tractor trailers. For instance, regional trip segments do not require use of a sleeper car and may use alternative fuels since the route is short enough to allow for refueling at home base.

Miller identified supply of the product as another key factor in supply chain efficiency. Efficiency, she explained, requires enough of a single product to fill at least a single pallet and enough pallets to fill a truck. At the same time, she observed, diversity of products is important to meet consumer demand and serve wholesale buyers.

Turning to last-mile distribution, Miller stated that the focus is on distribution within a market area, such as a city. She pointed out that small farmers who choose to drive their own product into the city for direct or wholesale distribution need to consider the distance traveled to be fuel efficient. Also important, she said, are access to short-term cold storage

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

warehousing and appropriate truck size to navigate congestion and city streets. She noted that which party pays for the last-mile distribution varies and may be the consumer, wholesaler, retailer, or farmer.

Miller stressed that challenges with last-mile distribution have made it difficult for small businesses to compete, although there has been a movement toward solutions that allow them to remain in business. For example, she said, e-commerce with a single point of pickup, such as a buying club or grocery store, is increasing in popularity. She noted that public food terminals that sell to business wholesale were much more common until many closed in the 1990s and 2000s. She pointed out that public food terminals can be key components of last-mile distribution, especially for small businesses that serve unique populations with specific food preferences, such as natural foods and foods commonly consumed by people of particular ethnicities.

Sustainability as an Emergent Property

Miller referenced the book The Great Mindshift, which offers a conceptual framework whereby ecological, organizational, and technological responses are all important to consider (Göpel, 2016). She emphasized that “all wealth lies with the land,” and that environmentally sound and socially acceptable agriculture builds on that idea, creating economic viability. She suggested redefining sustainability as an emergent property whereby operating within environmental limits makes it possible to create community and support health and well-being with a robust economy.

Miller identified several barriers to innovation in the food system, which may include scale disconnect, ownership issues, a lack of equitably shared risk and reward through a supply chain, and asymmetrical access to information and technology. Looking to the future, she envisions system redesign to improve access to regional markets and foods while reducing waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Returning to regional supply chains, she argued, has the potential to create resilience. She pointed to the increased interest in public food terminals that meet public and private goals as one organizational solution when combined with improved rural broadband, potentially opening the door for small businesses to use open-source technology with compatible platforms and other technological innovations to reduce uncertainty in the supply chain and improve information flow. Such technological innovations, she explained, might include machine learning, distributed ledgers (discussed in an earlier session), multitenant applications (applications on a single server that are used by different customers), digital twins (which allow virtual observation and forward planning), and engine and vehicle innovations such as the use of telematics and hybrid electric or renewable energy.

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

Miller then described how CR England, the largest cold chain distributor in the United States, developed, first with the assistance of public terminals and then with its own distribution centers. She explained that the company has won numerous awards and recognition of its efforts to improve efficiencies by separating the over-the-road and last-mile segments. She added that the company has been able to adopt technology to reduce fuel costs and improve labor conditions. Moreover, drivers are paid differently for the two segments: over-the-road drivers are paid as most drivers are (by the mile), while those navigating the last mile and its variable congestion challenges and dock conditions are paid an hourly rate. As another example, Miller cited the Ontario Food Terminal, which supports small- to medium-sized farmers, truckers, and wholesale buyers so they can make a profit in a regional market.

Final Remarks

Miller concluded with suggestions for systemic changes to improve food access. These suggestions included recognizing that food should be a right and not a privilege, increasing both physical and economic access to food, increasing the flow of food through the supply chain before establishing grocery sites, establishing food terminals as a public utility, and promoting logistics in the public interest through increased funding for federal data collection and analysis.

INNOVATIONS IN FOOD PACKAGING

The second speaker of the session, Claire Sand, Packaging Technology and Research, LLC, spoke about innovations in food packaging. She began by acknowledging that packaging will always have an impact on the environment, but asserted that it can be made more sustainable. She identified as one such opportunity improving the collection and sorting of recyclable packaging, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic water bottles, noting that only 15–35 percent of recyclable PET water bottles in the United States are actually recycled.

Sand cited two main types of innovation in food packaging: design innovation and science innovation. She noted that food waste has been at approximately 30 percent for the past several decades, and suggested that there are opportunities to improve sustainability and reduce waste throughout the supply chain. A focus on the circular economy also fuels a desire for more sustainable food packaging, she added.

Sand explained how food packaging has multiple purposes, including making food affordable, convenient, and more sustainable; preserving the moisture content; and ensuring food safety. She then outlined several food

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

packaging innovations. One such innovation is responsive packaging, which can identify and respond to a change in pH in the product. Other types of innovative packaging improve water barriers, incorporate edible microbials such as cinnamon (see below), and use in-store modified atmosphere packaging that can reduce food waste and the resulting economic impact.

Design Innovation

Sand identified three opportunities for design innovation: (1) recycle-ready packaging, made of chemically recyclable polymers; (2) single-component materials; (3) and redefined packaging.

According to Sand, recycle-ready packaging, which denotes packaging that can be recycled using existing systems, can be created using a variety of different methods and products, including polyethylenes. She used chemical recycling—whereby a product can be broken down to the monomer level in PET, for example—to illustrate the potential of this type of packaging innovation, suggesting that further innovation could help make this sort of recycling more economical.

As an example of a single-component material, Sand cited a high-density polyethylene milk jug that provides a barrier using nanoparticles of high-density polyethylene. She argued that more research and innovation are needed in this area as well.

Finally, Sand gave an example of redefined packaging: interior packaging that is recyclable but provides for a shorter shelf life, contained within a large outer paper package to be opened at a restaurant or food store. She noted that this form of packaging is already being used in the meat industry and could easily be used for other products as well, such as chips. She suggested that the concept could be expanded by making the packaging more sustainable and returnable into the system.

Science Innovation

Sand described two types of science innovation: active packaging and intelligent packaging. Active packaging, Sand explained, fulfills a function, such as moisture and odor containment or reduction of bacterial growth. One type of active packaging absorbs oxygen, which negatively affects food, and emits CO2. Another example is use of edible antimicrobials, such as cinnamon, in packaging to reduce microbial growth and increase product shelf life.

Turning to intelligent packaging, Sand explained that it may have time, temperature, microbial, or oxidation indicators that provide information to consumers about how fresh a product is or by when they need to consume it for it to be safe. The indicator may be activated when the package is opened,

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

providing information on when it will go bad. To illustrate, Sand cited the time–temperature indicator, which uses information about both time and temperature to determine how much longer a product will be safe to eat. The amount of time remaining adjusts according to the temperature at which the product is stored (e.g., in the refrigerator or outside on a hot day). According to Sand, one use of the time–temperature indicator could be to determine whether a product was properly chilled throughout the supply chain, offering customers more confidence in the safety of their food. A microbial indicator, Sand continued, measures the change in CO2 in a product, which is a sign of a reaction within meat products or the amount of volatile gases, which impacts the product’s pH level. And another type of indicator measures the presence of bacteria. Sand noted that all of these types of indicators are already on the market, and that many have existed for several decades.

Sustainable Packaging

Sand explained that her company recently completed a large study on sustainability, food waste, and food packaging. The study found that, with the exception of water, the impact on the environment of food waste is much greater than that of food packaging, and noted that this is the case whether one is considering GHG emissions, water use, or other metrics. She suggested that increased focus is needed on how food packaging can be better used to reduce food waste.

Collection and Sorting

Sand next emphasized the importance of investment in the collection and sorting of recyclable products including the collection of products in such places as oceans, landfills, and city trash cans and removal of nonrecyclable items from recycling bins if the circular economy is to be effective. She added that such organizations as the Sustainable Packaging Coalition have undertaken consumer-directed communication initiatives designed to educate consumers on how to recycle properly. She also acknowledged that much of the plastic and packaging in the world’s oceans originates outside the United States, particularly in developing countries. She concluded by asserting that while much more work remains to be done, innovation in food packaging is moving in the right direction.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE USE OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES AND DRONES IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD DISTRIBUTION

The final speaker of the session, Brent Heard, University of Michigan, spoke about the sustainability implications of the use of connected autonomous

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

(self-driving) vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in food distribution. He began by stating that self-driving vehicles and drones have the potential to either improve or impede the sustainability of the food system, depending on how they are used and the conditions surrounding their adoption. He cited two motivations for addressing the use of self-driving vehicles and drones within the food system: that the current food system is unsustainable, contributing 19–29 percent of anthropogenic GHG emissions, and that nearly 12 percent of U.S. households are food insecure.

Heard defined sustainability as encompassing environmental, economic, and social impact. He expects that the food distribution industry will be an early adopter of self-driving vehicles and drones because of their ability to deliver perishable food quickly; help reduce food losses by decreasing food distribution and storage times; increase capacity through the potential for 24/7 service; and lower marginal costs through fuel savings, improved logistic efficiencies, and reduced driver wages. Heard argued for use of a system sustainability approach to consider the impact of the technologies, an approach that involves assessing how they may affect or be affected by consumer behavior and public policies in addition to their direct environmental, economic, and social implications.

Preretail Food Distribution

Heard presented a visual depiction of the food supply chain, which shows food moving from agricultural production to the regional distribution center, to preretail distribution, to grocery store retailing, and finally to last-mile transportation, which often involves a consumer traveling to and from the store. He expects that autonomous trucks could replace long-haul trucking in preretail food distribution and that both drones and self-driving vehicles could be used in the last mile of the supply chain to deliver food to the customer. He suggested that connected and autonomous vehicles, which both communicate with other similar vehicles and with cooperative communication technologies and drive themselves without the need for a driver being present, could provide efficiency and environmental improvements by optimizing routing, speed changes, transport time, and other technical aspects of food transport and reducing road fatalities. He gave the example of platooning, in which a series of vehicles closely follow each other to reduce aerodynamic drag, which could reduce the energy use of heavy trucks by 10–25 percent (Wadud et al., 2016). He also cited cooperative communications within a vehicle fleet, which could reduce CO2 emissions by about 12 percent (Barth et al., 2014). He added that 71 percent of the total transportation emissions associated with the U.S. food supply come from preretail food distribution, typically involving trucks (Weber and Matthews, 2008).

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

Heard pointed out, however, that the environmental benefits of autonomous vehicles might not be realized in certain circumstances. For example, if autonomous vehicles traveled faster than conventional vehicles, or increased energy were needed to facilitate their communication and self-driving capabilities, fuel consumption could increase. Heard noted, though, that experts consider these situations unlikely. He also emphasized that while optimized logistics in the preretail supply chain could reduce the time food is in refrigerated storage, thereby reducing emissions and food loss, the energy and water needed for the data communication centers required for these vehicles should also be considered. In addition, he observed that if autonomous vehicles replaced rail or inland water transportation with lower carbon or energy intensity than that of traditional trucking, emissions could increase. An emissions rebound effect could also occur, he added, whereby the reduction in emissions due to behavior change would result in an increase in trip lengths or numbers of trips, reducing the lowering of emissions that could otherwise be expected. Heard cited one study that estimated a rebound effect of about 30 percent after fuel efficiencies were realized for U.S. tractor trailers (Leard et al., 2015), meaning that 30 percent of the fuel efficiencies were offset by an increase in distance traveled. He noted further that, according to a UK study, the rebound effect may vary widely, from 21 percent to more than 137 percent (Sorrell and Stapleton, 2018), adding that rebound values of more than 100 percent reflect an increase in emissions due to increased vehicle miles, eclipsing any efficiency gains.

Heard also described the potential economic and social sustainability implications of the use of autonomous vehicles. One potential benefit he cited is a reduction in road fatalities due to human error while driving. He highlighted the importance of this benefit by reporting that there were nearly 5,000 deaths from crashes involving large trucks in the United States in 2017, and overall, fatalities from such crashes increased 12 percent over a recent 10-year period (NCSA, 2019). Heard also expects that distribution companies adopting autonomous vehicle technology are likely to see increased profits due to efficiency savings, the potential for increased sales volume, and reduced costs of driver wages, noting that, for example, 36 percent of truck operating costs currently are attributable to driver wages (Grenzeback et al., 2013), costs that could be displaced by self-driving vehicles. At the same time, Heard acknowledged that an adverse effect of the reduction in drivers could be an increase in unemployment, not only for truck drivers, but also for related businesses, such as food and lodging stops along the highway. He pointed out that the U.S. tractor trailer driving industry for food distribution employs more than 63,000 people (BLS, 2018), and that while new jobs would likely be created in their place, such as in food distribution or warehousing, they would potentially require different skills, necessitating retraining for displaced workers.

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

Last-Mile Food Distribution

For last-mile food distribution, bringing food to the ultimate consumer, Heard observed that drones have become advanced enough to be able to find and scan a barcode on a package and know where to deliver it. He then described the environmental impact of delivery using drones—battery-powered unmanned aerial vehicles that may be either remotely or self-piloted—in comparison with truck delivery. Research has found, he observed, that the impact varies based on the size of the package being delivered and the size of the drone.

Heard referenced a study that tested delivery of a half-kilogram package using a small drone and delivery of an 8-kilogram package using a large drone, modeling the impact of warehouse placement and operation to support drone delivery (Stolaroff et al., 2018). The study found lower GHG emissions for the small drone than for truck delivery with the small package. For the large drone, there was a 9 percent reduction in emissions when the drone was charged with low-carbon electricity, but a 24 percent increase when it was charged using the average U.S. electricity grid (Stolaroff et al., 2018). Heard noted, however, that use of either type of drone resulted in lower emissions relative to use of a personal vehicle to make a round trip to the store. He pointed out that a large drone similar to the one examined in this study is the type that would likely be used for food delivery, given its typical size and weight.

Heard believes that drone delivery will likely raise profit, employment, and crash considerations similar to those raised by autonomous vehicles. He added that flights in neighborhoods may also entail additional zoning and urban planning considerations, as more warehouses will be needed to support drones’ relatively shorter delivery range. For example, he reported that the delivery range of tested drones in the above study was about 4 kilometers, requiring 112 warehouses to support an area the size of metropolitan San Francisco (Stolaroff et al., 2018). Heard observed further that, as package delivery by drones is likely to occur in urban areas, locations for new warehouses will be particularly challenging to obtain. He explained, moreover, that the regulatory scheme for drone flight is still being established; package delivery by drones is currently approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on a pilot basis. He pointed out further that drones also have social acceptability issues, including the noise they produce and their military associations.

Heard went on to say that use of self-driving vehicles for the last mile of the supply chain is likely to have efficiency, crash, and employment impacts similar to those of the drones, including the possibility of an emissions rebound effect resulting from increased consumer purchasing. At the same time, however, they also have the potential to facilitate e-commerce

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

and stimulate increased home delivery of groceries, which Heard stated would reduce such burdens on grocery retailing as food loss resulting from overstocking and the need for refrigeration, while increasing options for healthy foods in places with limited access to such foods. He cited a study indicating that use of home delivery in place of round trips to a store could result in a reduction in emissions of 18 to 87 percent (Siikavirta et al., 2003), depending on the delivery mode. He pointed out, however, that if changes in delivery mode led to increased consumption of foods produced using high GHG emissions, adverse environmental and health effects could result. In response to a question from an audience member, he added that the extent of any gains would also depend on whether the drone or autonomous vehicle were delivering food to a single customer on demand or to a centralized location at a predetermined time.

Final Remarks

Heard concluded by highlighting that transportation is responsible for only approximately 11 percent of an average U.S. household’s diet-related GHG footprint, including all the emissions associated with food production, distribution, storage, consumption, and end of life (Weber and Matthews, 2008). In contrast, food production is responsible for about 83 percent of emissions. Therefore, Heard argued, changes in the type of food produced have greater environmental impacts than those due to mode of transportation.

In summary, Heard stated that while self-driving vehicles and drones could improve sustainability if used under the right conditions, these benefits may not necessarily be achieved without decarbonizing the electricity grid and limiting rebound effects. Additionally, he observed that potential emissions reductions resulting from e-commerce and home delivery are available without the use of new technology. Finally, he stressed that economic and social sustainability implications of self-driving vehicles and drones, including employment and zoning considerations and warehousing needs, must also be addressed.

AUDIENCE DISCUSSION

Jensen opened the audience discussion by asking Miller and Sand about barriers in food systems logistics and food packaging. Miller responded that one of the key barriers for organizational and technological innovations is scale, in that large, vertically integrated supply chains suppress innovation. She added that reaching agreement, making decisions, and sharing the risks and reward of innovations across complex supply chains are further challenges.

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×

In response to a question from Lindsay Smith, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Miller also highlighted the importance of the data analytics of large supply chains. She pointed out that smaller supply chains do not have the same information, and suggested that the government could play a role in providing access to data useful for both managing logistics and responding to emergency food situations. She gave the example of a disruptive weather event in which it would be helpful to know where food supplies are located, information that currently is proprietary and would require the purchase of expensive datasets.

An audience member asked Heard about the potential implications for social isolation in a society filled with self-driving vehicles and drones that would reduce the need for social interaction. Heard responded that existing research demonstrates the adverse health effects of social isolation and that technology may play a role in separating people from each other. Sand added that it may be possible to have increased remote interaction.

Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 37
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 41
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 42
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 43
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 44
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 45
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 46
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 47
Suggested Citation:"5 Innovations in Food Distribution and Implications for Food Systems." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25523.
×
Page 48
Next: 6 Innovations in Food Marketing and Food Value Chains and Implications for Food Systems »
Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $58.00 Buy Ebook | $46.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

On August 7–8, 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC, to review the status of current and emerging knowledge about innovations for modern food systems and strategies for meeting future needs. The workshop addressed different perspectives on the topic of food systems and would build on a workshop on the topic of sustainable diets hosted by the Food Forum in August 2018. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!