Summary
This review examines technological advances that could substantially reduce land requirements for food production, including vertical farming, industrial synthesis of foods from inorganic precursors, animal protein alternatives (plant-based and fermented), and cellular agriculture. The authors assess the current state of these potentially disruptive technologies and analyse how they may interact with endogenous and exogenous food system factors to reshape future demand for agricultural land. The paper contributes to understanding pathways towards more land-efficient food systems.
UK applicability
The findings are directly relevant to UK food policy and agricultural planning, particularly given pressures to balance domestic food production with land use for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and other ecosystem services. UK adoption of land-sparing technologies could inform strategies to meet food security and environmental targets simultaneously.
Key measures
Land area footprint per unit of food production; comparative land efficiency of conventional versus alternative food technologies
Outcomes reported
The paper reviews emerging food production technologies (vertical farming, food synthesis, plant-based and fermented alternatives, cellular agriculture) and their potential to reduce land requirements for food production. It explores how these technologies may interact with systemic factors to affect future agricultural land demand.
Topic tags
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