One of the greatest challenges of sustainable development is integrating environmental sustainability with social wellbeing and inclusive growth (UN Environment, n.d.). This translated into actions that tackle simultaneously the planetary and social boundaries, the only way to ensure long-lasting and inclusive prosperity. The current production model is based on extraction and depletion in enormous amounts which undermines the earth´s balance and is causing severe environmental degradation. Earth’s resources are finite in nature while our production model is based on infinite natural resources (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017: a).
Looking at the food industry, one-third of the food produced gets wasted throughout the supply chain, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes of food. At the same time, about 1 billion people are undernourished and suffer from hunger while 2 billion people are overweight or obese. Moreover, the whole food industry amount to 22% of the global greenhouse gas emissions which are mainly caused by deforestation for livestock farming (UN DP, 2020). Together with the food industry, many more undergo severe inefficiencies. The 12th Sustainable Development Goal aims at ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns.