80
additional research needs to expand further knowl-
edge on the interactions of biological cycles to
enhance traditional food production, radically
different primary food production systems may provide
additional sources of food to traditional food
production. Biotechnology may be used to produce
desired crop biomass in a targeted way, and to provide
plants with better sensory, nutritional and production
properties. Further fine-tuning of production sys-
tems through precision farming and other high-tech
solutions could increase the efficiency of primary
food production. Alternative systems for animal
husbandry should be evaluated, including the
dimension of animal welfare.4.4 Recycling and valorization of food industry
surplus, by-products and wastes
Food industry raw materials, surplus, by-products
and wastes/wastewaters are mostly wasted, and
this reduces significantly the sustainability of the
food industry.
The same matrices and products might become,
after a proper pretreatment with biological or chem-
ical/physical agents, cheap sources of fine-chemi-
cals (antioxidants, vitamins etc.) and natural
macromolecules (cellulose, starch, lignin, lipids,
plant enzymes, pigments etc.). Their constituents
might be also converted into more sophisticated
chemicals (flavours, amino acids, vitamins, microbial
enzymes etc.), biofuels (i.e. bioethanol, biodiesel, bio-
gas and biohydrogen) and biobased products, such
as biopolymers, fertilizers and lubricants, after tai-
lored biocatalytic conversions or fermentations in
suited biotech processes. The production of such a
large array of high-value biomolecules and products
from the currently wasted food industry surplus, co-
products, by-products and wastes will markedly con-
tribute to increase the overall sustainability and
economics of several food production chains.Conclusions
Improvements in sustainability have long-range
benefits for the food industry in terms of reduceduse of resources, increased efficiency and better
governance.
The “Italian Food for Life” Technology Platform
seeks to profitably provide citizens with safe, high-
quality, health-promoting and affordable foods
whilst meeting the increasing demands for sustainable
food production as perceived from the economic,
environmental and social perspectives.