DESIGN AND MARKET HEALTHIER FOOD PRODUCTS

In a circular economy, food products are designed not only to be healthy from a nutritional standpoint, but also in the way that they are produced. From breakfast cereals to takeaway meals, a significant proportion of food eaten today has been designed in some way by food brands, retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and other providers. These organisations have shaped our food preferences and habits for decades, particularly in cities, and can now help reorient them to support regenerative food systems. One example is for food designers to innovate new plantbased protein options as alternatives to meat and dairy, and encourage consumers towards them. Designers can also develop products and recipes that use food by-products as ingredients, and that can - for example by avoiding certain additives - be safely returned to the soil or valorised in the wider bioeconomy. In this way food designers can play their part in designing out food waste. Marketing can position these delicious and healthy products as easy and accessible choices for people on a daily basis.