What are your research topics?
I investigate how to improve the environmental sustainability of food production and consumption. My central research method is lifecycle assessment, which is used to assess the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycles, from raw material procurement to waste processing. Lifecycle assessment makes it possible to study several categories of environmental impact, including the carbon footprint, waterbody eutrophication, the effect of water scarcity and biodiversity loss.
My research group investigates the environmental impact of food production by comparing products, portions, diets, agricultural production methods and global food systems. We are also developing new methods to, for example, consider soil carbon in agricultural lifecycle assessment and better methods for assessing biodiversity in organic farming.
A particular interest of my research group is the potential of new technologies and foods to make food systems more sustainable. We focus particularly on cellular agriculture, where cell culture techniques are used to produce agricultural products. For example, meat can be produced by cultivating the muscle cells of domestic animals in steel tanks using a nutrient solution. And milk and egg proteins can be produced with microbes, entirely without domestic animals.
We are also investigating alternative protein sources in insects, algae, fungi and plants. From among new food production techniques, we are also studying vertical farming, where plants are cultivated under artificial light in stacked layers in a controlled environment.
Where and how does the topic of your research have an impact?
While food systems are one of the biggest causes of environmental change, agriculture is also considerably negatively affected by, among other things, climate change. Food systems must therefore both reduce their strain on and adapt to changes in the environment.
Research-based knowledge on the environmental impact of different options is important for decision-making. Decision-makers and investors are currently very interested especially in research on new technical solutions and food sustainability. Sustainability assessment is also used in developing new technologies and products to ensure they are produced more sustainably.
The environmental sustainability of food products was considered for the first time while drawing up the recently released Nordic and national nutrition recommendations. In this, lifecycle assessment studies on food and reports provided by expert working groups were used as background material. Lifecycle assessments are also important for corporate environmental reporting and consumer communications. Environmental labels based on lifecycle assessment are already attached to food packaging. In a project headed by Natural Resources Institute Finland, we recently published a recommendation for assessing the environmental sustainability of Finnish food products and related communication.
What is particularly inspiring in your field right now?
The development of novel food production techniques and new foods is currently very rapid. It is interesting to continually learn about new, innovative ways of producing different food products. I have been among the first to try out certain new products, such as cell-cultured meat and microbially produced milk.
It is fascinating to study the potential of these new food products to improve food system sustainability. I am particularly interested in investigating the possible unwanted effects of these products besides their benefits. This requires systems-level examination that considers, in addition to food production, other factors such as energy production and land use changes. Consideration must also be given to consumers’ willingness to eat new foods as well as the impact on other operators in the food chain, such as farmers and food producers. It is interesting to keep up with changes in food systems and the success of individual new food products.
Hanna Tuomisto is the professor of sustainability science at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry.