Project description: The aim is to design and prototype a smartphone application (app) to reduce food waste. While existing applications enable the distribution of (almost) expired food, this app focuses on the food in the possession of consumers. Users can scan food and then see other users' experiences of how many days after the best-before date (BBD) the product was still edible. This crowdsourcing approach is intended to help consumers become more aware of the best-before date and its importance. Many foods (especially meat, sausages, eggs and milk) are still thrown away after or even before the best-before date instead of using the "see - smell - taste" method to check whether the food can still be consumed.

Project participants: University of Hohenheim
Runtime: 10.2022 – 09.2023
Funded by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research, funding guideline for the ideas competition "New products for the bioeconomy" as part of the "National Bioeconomy Strategy"

Project description: The NOcsPS system describes a cultivation system that does not allow chemical-synthetic plant protection (csPSM), but instead enables the targeted use of mineral fertilizers. This could complement existing cultivation systems and thus represent an agricultural system of the future that is associated with higher-quality food, increased ecosystem services and valuable agricultural landscapes. NOcsPS products will only establish themselves on the market if there is consumer acceptance and a corresponding willingness to pay more. Before launching NOcsPS products on the market, it is therefore important to gain consumer acceptance and determine their willingness to pay. Therefore, the willingness to pay for NOcsPS products (milk, butter and cheese) is determined by means of a representative online-based consumer survey and the size and characteristics of a potential target group are analyzed. The data collection is limited to the German population.

Project participants: University of Hohenheim, Georg August University Göttingen, Julius-Kühn-Institute
Runtime: 01.2022 – 12.2022
Funded by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The NOcsPS project is an innovative research project as part of the "Agricultural systems of the future" funding line.

Project description: The agricultural and food sector offer great potential for social transformation in favor of greater sustainability. In particular, a significant reduction in food-related greenhouse gas emissions is expected from avoiding the consumption of food of animal origin. Nevertheless, the development of consumer habits points to a trend in the opposite direction: On a global level, the demand for animal products is increasing. This is accompanied by demand for animal feed components - above all crude protein, which has so far been provided primarily by soy production in North and South America. However, this must be critically scrutinized from an economic, social and ecological perspective. Identifying and analyzing suitable alternative protein sources for human and animal nutrition is of central importance in order to meet the growing demand for protein to feed the world's population. Against this backdrop, the joint project "Sustainability Transitions in Food Production: Alternative Protein Sources from a Sociotechnical Perspective", which was funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture from 2014 to 2019 as part of the "Science for Sustainable Development" measure, focused on assessing the potential of algae and insects as alternative protein sources for the European agricultural and food industry. The approach of the joint project focuses on the change of socio-technical systems towards a higher sustainability of production and consumption, in the sense of the "sustainability transition". The socio-technical transition towards an increase in sustainability is examined in terms of several dimensions - technological, material, economic and socio-cultural.

Project participants: Georg-August-University Göttingen, University of Vechta, German Institute of Food Technologies e.V.
Runtime: 09.2015 – 11.2020
Funded by: Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (VW-Vorab)

Analysis of opportunities to realize higher production costs on the market

Project participants: Georg-August-University Göttingen
Runtime: 06.2015 – 01.2016
Funded by: Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Project description: The aim of the innovation project is to develop, test and evaluate a market-oriented, cross-stage animal welfare program for the production of pork. It is being developed on the basis of the criteria catalog of the German Animal Welfare Association, which was designed together with partners from agriculture, consulting, research and the food retail trade (LEH) in the Göttingen initiative group. The aim is to further develop animal welfare on the basis of existing systems without overburdening producers and consumers with excessively high costs or price increases. In order to achieve a lasting qualitative and quantitative improvement in animal welfare in pig farming, animal-related indicators are being developed to record animal welfare. The concept is based on core requirements for greater animal welfare, such as space, occupation and no castration without analgesia. Stable design concepts and pilot farms are being adapted accordingly. Various application-related research activities are being carried out at the farming and slaughtering levels; in addition, a robust and transparent testing and certification system is being developed. The work is accompanied by research into consumer acceptance.

Project participants: Georg-August-University Göttingen
Runtime: 12.2011 – 09.2014
Funded by: Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food / Program for the Promotion of Innovation of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture