Taxpayer money invested in boosting climate resilience of Christmas dinner

Taxpayers’ money alongside other forms of finance has been invested in projects that can help to safeguard Christmas dinner staples from the impacts of climate change and other growing challenges, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has said.

The science funding body has been supporting innovators on work that will help the festive meal stay on British tables for future generations – as well as making it healthier and tastier.

This includes the development of alternative proteins, bioengineered super spuds, innovations to reduce antibiotic needs in farmed animals, and food that requires lower energy to cook.

The projects have been supported through bodies like the Technology Missions Fund, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Innovate UK (IUK).

Food security

It comes as a major Government report was released last week warning that long-term declines in the natural environment and worsening climate change pose serious risks to UK food security.

Stella Peace, interim executive director at IUK and UKRI’s food champion, said: “Food is at the heart of so many cultures, bringing people together to share traditions and create new memories, as well as delivering nourishment and health.

“As friends and families come together in the coming weeks, our opportunity is to make sure that the food we share is healthy, nutritious, and sustainable through research and innovation.”

Alternative proteins will be a delicious and nutritious replacement or addition to turkey as the main course’s centrepiece, UKRI said, as it highlighted scientific players making advances in this space.

This includes the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre in Leeds, the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub in Bath and the Imperial College-led UKRI Engineering Biology Microbial Food Hub.

‘Super spud’

For the trimmings, B-Hive Innovations based in Lincoln has been developing the “super-spud” by leveraging gene editing for improved potato varieties that are healthier, bruise resistant and cook faster, reducing energy.

The research hub is also working on projects aimed at keeping potato farming sustainable.

For the Brussels sprouts, increasingly extreme weather in the UK is threatening the supply of these love-them-or-hate-them veggies in recent years.

But UKRI said the John Innes Centre in Norwich is working to reduce the vulnerability of the UK’s supply chain of brassica crops – which include sprouts as well broccoli, cabbage and kale – to fluctuations in climate change.

For the starters, the public body said festive feasts could begin with SuperSoup, a soup developed to support metabolic health, healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels that was launched in 2022 by Smarter Naturally, a spin-out company from the Norwich-based Quadram Institute.

Elsewhere, researchers at Queens University Belfast’s Institute of Global Food Security are studying how animals fed with seaweed have a reduced need for antibiotics, which UKRI links to pigs in blankets.

For more festive nibbles, “cheese from peas” has been developed by researchers from the University of Nottingham spin-out The Good Pulse Company.

The team use new techniques to turn yellow peas grown in the UK into a sustainable plant-based cheese with similar properties to dairy cheese without the need to use high levels of fat.

Wheat varieties

Wheat varieties, being developed as part of the Delivering Sustainable Wheat programme, will be more resistant to climate change to ensure we still have crackers and bread for our cheeses, UKRI said.

For the festive tipple, artificial intelligence firm Deep Planet has been working with Sussex-based Rathfinny Wine Estate to use remote sensing and AI to help wine growers better predict the health, yields and maturity of their crops.

The company is also working with wine growers around the world to help improve the health of wine grapes across several key wine-producing regions, with wider aims to improve supplies and bring down costs.

Sushma Shanker, chief executive of Deep Planet, said: “We are excited to be a global leader in driving sustainability into the age-old tradition of wine growing.

“VineSignal’s AI models support wine growers in the UK and globally to adapt to the changing climate and make the critical decisions needed to achieve the best quality wine, while driving environmentally friendly outcomes through reduced chemicals and increasing carbon storage in the soil. UKRI’s support and funding have been invaluable in helping us achieve this.”

Jeff Brunstrom, academic lead at Consumer Lab, said: “We seem to care more about food at Christmas than ever before. Brussels sprouts – do we love them or hate them? Choosing food seems simple, but it isn’t.

“Flavour and texture can guide our decisions, but food composition is also important. We care about our health and the planet too.

“To improve our diet, we need to understand this complexity. That’s why Consumer Lab is building a community of researchers to study how we interact with everyday foods.”