Food insecurity and a large amount of food’s carbon print have been the most significant concern in food systems for decades. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has reported that one in three people had insufficient access to adequate food, with an increasing prevalence of people out of reach from healthy diets. In order to address the current problems of food security and sustainability, the concept of “smart food” has been introduced. Smart food is food that fulfils all criteria of being nutritious and safe; good for the environment and sustainable; and that possesses high yield and resilience.
A food system includes all aspects of production and delivery of food. Smart food systems, with minimal generation of food loss and food waste, are critical for resolving food insecurity, alleviating poverty, and providing adequate nutrition. Such systems play an important role in building resilience in communities responding to a rapidly changing global environment, helping to satisfy the demands of a growing population.
This Article Collections aims to provide a collection of approaches and strategies that have been pursued in relation to smart food systems, highlighting advantages, limitations, and current challenges. Authors are invited to contributes both original research articles and reviews covering a broad range of technical solutions related to smart-food systems, including but not limited to:
- Climate-smart food systems
- Smart food packaging
- Detection and deactivation of food-borne pathogens
- Nutrition and diet
- Food security and sustainability
Professor Sze Shin Low is an assistant professor in the division of life science & healthcare at the China Beacons Institute, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China. She received her PhD degree in biosensors from University of Nottingham in 2018 and was a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Biomedical Engineering at Zhejiang University. Her present research focuses on the design and development of DNA-based electrochemical biosensors, portable wearable biosensing platforms for early detection, effective disease diagnosis and drug delivery.
https://research.nottingham.edu.cn/en/persons/sze-shin-low
