As we move into the future, decisions on food purchases will increasingly be influenced not only by price and quality but by social and environmental factors, such as the sustainability of technologies used for food production and processing and their environmental and health impacts. Growing consumer awareness about the impact of processing and production practices on the environment, the high energy consumption of certain processes, health impacts of some of the technologies used in processing, and a heightened social and industrial consciousness to reduce the carbon-footprint are examples of factors influencing food choice. These factors have been made quite evident in the recent "buy-local", "fair-trade", and "certified organic" trends. As a result, farmers and food manufacturers will increasingly be interested in identifying and using greener economically viable technologies for food production and processing. Some producers are already responding with the use of organic inputs in processing, use of recyclable and good-for-the-environment packaging, establishing just employer-employee relationships, and reducing animal testing in product development.

Green Technologies in Food Production and Processing provides a comprehensive review of the current status of the agriculture and agri-food sectors in regards to environmental sustainability and material and energy stewardship, and provides strategies that can be used by industries to enhance the use of environmentally-friendly technologies for food production and processing. The book further provides an in-depth look at some emerging analytical techniques for research and development which reduce solvent, chemical, and energy use. In addition, technologies to reduce the generation of process-induced toxins are also reviewed. In the last section of the book, a critical analysis of some of the challenges associated with the use of agricultural resources to grow biofuelsand bio-based products are addressed. Furthermore, social factors that influence consumer perceptions about some of the current and emerging agri-food technologies, and the need and importance of biodiversity in maintaining sustainable diets of human populations are also discussed in detail.

Autorentext

JOYCE I. BOYE, P****HD, is a Research Scientist at the Food R & D Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) located in St Hyacinthe, Quebec. AAFC provides information, research and technology, and policies and programs to achieve security of the food system, health of the environment, and innovation for growth. Dr. Boye leads a comprehensive research study in value-added processing of plant-based foods and food allergies.

YVES ARCAND, P****HD, is a Research Scientist at the Food R & D Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) located in St Hyacinthe, Quebec. His areas of expertise include characterization and treatment of agri-food industrial effluents, biometric applications, system engineering, optimization of dehydration processes, and simulation and model building, including the design and building of an in vitro upper gastrointestinal tract model for nutritional studies.

Zusammenfassung

This book will review the current status of the agriculture and agri-food sector in regard to green processing and provide strategies that can be used by the sector to enhance the use of environmentally-friendly technologies for production, processing. The book will look at the full spectrum from farm to fork beginning with chapters on life cycle analysis and environmental impact assessment of different agri-food sectors. This will be followed by reviews of current and novel on-farm practices that are more environmentally-friendly, technologies for food processing that reduce chemical and energy use and emissions as well as novel analytical techniques for R&D and QA which reduce solvent, chemical and energy consumption. Technologies for waste treatment, "reducing, reusing, recycling", and better water and energy stewardship will be reviewed. In addition, the last section of the book will attempt to look at technologies and processes that reduce the generation of process-induced toxins (e.g., trans fats, acrylamide, D-amino acids) and will address consumer perceptions about current and emerging technologies available to tackle these processing and environmental issues.

Inhalt
Part I. The Food Chain.- 1. Introduction to the Global Agri-Food System.- 2. Key Drivers of Tomorrow's Food Chain.- Part II. Life Cycle/Environmental Impact Assessment.- 3. Life Cycle Assessment and the Agri-Food Chain.- 4. LCA of Crop Production.- 5. LCA of Animal Production.- 6. LCA of Processed Food.- Part III. Green Technologies in Food Production.- 7. Managing Nutrient Cycles in Crop and Livestock Systems with Green Technologies.- 8. Environmental Performance of Organic Farming.- 9. Food Transportation Issues and Reducing Carbon Footprint.- Part IV. Green Technologies in Food Processing.- 10. Supercritical and Near-Critical CO2 Processing.- 11. Green Separation Technologies in Food Processing : Supercritical-CO2 Fluid and Subcritical Water Extraction.- 12. Electrodialysis in Food Processing.- 13. Enzyme-assisted Food Processing.- 14. Emerging Technologies for Microbial Control in Food Processing.- 15. Green Technologies in Food Dehydration.- 16. Green Packaging.- Part V. Environmentally-Friendly Approaches to R&D and QA.- 17. Microtechnology and Nanotechnology in Food Science.- 18. Bead-based Arrays: Multiplex Analyses.- 19. Green Research and Development.- 20. Massidea.org - A Greener Way to Innovate.- Part VI. Health and Social Perspectives.- 21. Reducing Process-Induced Toxins in Foods.- 22. The Fallacy of Bio-based Materials and Biodegradability.- 23. Green Food Processing Technologies: Factors Affecting Consumers' Acceptance.- 24. Food Biodiversity and Sustainable Diets: Implications of Applications for Food Production and Processing.