How to obtain more sustainable foods

The first webinar of the second edition of the Donostia Sustainibility Forum addressed the challenges and opportunities for achieving more sustainable food models.  The talk was given by Jaime Zufía, coordinator of the Department of Efficient and Sustainable Processes at the AZTI technology centre and an expert in initiatives related to eco-efficiency and sustainability in the food chain.

Pharmaceutical contamination: the invisible pollution that threatens the environment

The presence of so-called emerging pollutants in the environment is nothing new. Pesticides, pharmaceuticals for human and animal use, cosmetic products, nanoparticles from industrial activities, micro and nanoplastics and illegal drugs often appear in the environment, usually through water pollution, and their effects on ecosystems are just beginning to be studied. 

The role of livestock in maintaining biodiversity is not taken into account in the climate change debate.

Whether or not livestock currently have a role is the question. "We researchers would be very pretentious if we were to claim that it does. Some people say it doesn't on the grounds that, if we want to tackle climate change, we should all go vegan. Meanwhile, others say it does because there are more and more of us and we demand and need more food".

"If the 20th century was the century of human rights, the 21st must be the century of the rights of nature".

Biomimetics (bio=life, mimetics=imitation) as a techno-science is in full development. Aristotle and Plato already spoke of biomimetic approaches and Leonardo Da Vinci designed flying devices imitating the flight of birds. Now the discipline is experiencing a "new dawn" in how to translate its philosophy into praxis. Transferring to artificial intelligence how to learn that information. It is a techno-science under construction. It's like a child learning to run. "We have to do it soon because of the environmental problems we have.

Subscribe to