Plant-based food innovation and ecological sustainability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand plant-based food innovation and its impact on ecological sustainability. Across a period, the broader impact of humanity’s developmental surge was not considered outside of economic gain. As time extended and resources were bankrupted, scholars had to consider the relationship between social gain and natural capital loss. The balance sheet represented a power bias, as human evolution was all-pervasive. The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 established the foundation for addressing the disparities and positioning sustainable development on an adoption trajectory as a global imperative. These global forces necessitated innovation. Food production and consumption were articulated as a cause for concern and listed on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. Advancement in technology that adopted an inclusive conservation approach could liberate humanity from the clutches of its desire and ramification on global resource depletion. Extensive technological changes in a paradigm would result in a cumulative effect on the constructs of sustainability. Fundamental shifts in the economy, the environment and social domain would likely occur. This study assessed these changes resultant from plant-based food innovation, through a dual case study approach. Plant-based food innovation is considered a viable tenet of the multidimensional food production economy.