Waste into Abundance - Capture lost foods via smart dehydration technologies! by Cornucopia Group
Pitch
If integrated into a country ranking of top CO2 emitters, FOOD WASTAGE would appear 3rd, after the USA and China. We seek to mitigate that!
Description
Summary
Our company Cornucopia Group has acquired the exclusive distribution rights for a Safe (GRAS/FDA approved), Natural, GMO free, protein coating for food products that allows for smart dehydration without using costly, energy intensive, and wasteful dryers, freezers or chemicals. Our protein coating shields the foodstuffs being dehydrated from bacteria, while allowing moisture to escape.
We are applying this technology to nutrient rich "waste" streams such as the peels left over from juicing oranges, or sweet potatoes that are undersized, or funny shaped (but still perfectly good to eat).
Over 2.9 TRILLION (yeah, with a "T") lbs of food is wasted annually before it even gets to the stores shelves.
By capturing and utilizing pre-store food waste, we can reduce the wastes of energy in producing the food in the first place, and also in the production of more to make up for the past unnecessary losses.
Please comment in order to help refine this proposal to include the answers to your questions. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend to Climate CoLab Crowds and Climate Conference in 2015 as the winner of the Buildings category (3D Printing Hempcrete, project still alive and well). One of the most valuable parts of the whole experience was the interaction right here on the colab proposals comment sections, so dont be shy mates, chime in I treasure your thoughts!
Chad K.
Category of the action
Reducing emissions from waste management
What actions do you propose?
We will continue to seek new "waste" streams of needlessly lost nutrients. We seek opportunities to capture the stuff that most food producers/processors are throwing away or giving away for pennies on the dollar, or in some cases are paying to get rid of...Because more often than not, its that portion of the foodstuff that has a majority of the nutrition.
Example: Oranges. When oranges are juiced, the peels are either tossed on the ground to rot somewhere, or they are sold for next to nothing to be made into cattle feed, or other such "low value" use. The funny thing is, the peels contain vastly more nutrition than the orange fruit itself. So what we have managed to do is capture orange and other citrus peel before it is tossed out, dehydrate it using our PS Coating, and then mill it into any particle size that's needed.
Since our citrus peel ingredients are not ever exposed to intense heat or cold or UV radiation, and are protected from bacteria and oxidization, they maintain significantly better appearances, nutritional and flavor profiles than similar products produced using contemporary technologies.
We primarily seek funding at this stage, as we have many exciting projects lined up with very interested parties (many of whom are companies we have all bought products from most likely at some point). Generally we see a lot of interest, but the companies are unwilling to put for the the capital to set up a facility to handle their bi-product, but if we were to do so, they would be happy to provide us with as much raw material as we could get our hands on. Which, if the model is able to spread, would allow us to significantly supplement the worlds food supply, relieving pressure on current producers. While generating additional and unexpected revenue for food producers.
Also I would love to assemble a true group of Abundance Advocates to join me in a social/new media blitzkrieg to build public demand for an answer to agricultural waste, and food wastefulness. To help us prove that scarcity is an illusion if we start utilizing more of what we already create.
Here is a little more info on PS Coating and how it works:
How does it work?
PS Coating works by creating a virtually undetectable and safe (GRAS, FDA Approved) barrier that rejects microbial attack and prevents oxidization, while allowing moisture to escape. We coat food products that will be dehydrated, then spread them out on racks inside a covered room with large fans at either end to facilitate significant airflow. Within 8 to 16 hours the product is fully dehydrated (depending on the starting moisture content of the material being dehydrated). Exactly how it works is a proprietary property at this time. However we can comfortably say (and demonstrate) that the coating when it is dry constitutes a one-way membrane that allow moisture to escape one way (internal to out) but limits external moisture from entering (external and in). Furthermore it prevents oxygen from contacting the product.
Why does the protein coating not get eaten by hungry bacteria? how does the protein coating dehydrate?
Bacteria need moisture to flourish. The surface of the coating is bone dry and the coating dehydrates to a glass hard surface which means there is no cozy environment for bacteria to live in.
What is the cost of the protein coating?
Cornucopia Group has identified, and acquired the worldwide exclusive license to PS coating, the cost to coat food products is between , the cost to coat food products is between $12.50 and $18 per Kg Usage is 0.5-1.0% . For a mix of 0.5% the cost per ton at $16.00 per Kg is $80.00 per ton or 8 cents per Kg converted to lbs this equals 3.6 cents per lbs of food dehydrated.
Important to note RE nutritional degradation due to dehydration processes:
Most of the degradation during dehydration processes comes from either heat or UV-light exposure. Since our PS coating system is based on low-no heat, and takes place in a UV protected dark room, there is little to no degradation.
In other words it is NOT true that dehydration in itself degrades the product, it is actually the source of dehydration that degrades the product: (typically heat/freezing/UV light etc which our process avoids).
As an example, Vitamins A and C are decreased if they come in contact with air (oxygen) or heat. This does not apply to our PS coating process. Vitamin A is very light sensitive and so is Beta-Carotene, the different enzymes in food products should be safe with temperatures under 115 degrees.
Who will take these actions?
Cornucopia Group,
as well as Natural World Ingredients (one of our subsidiaries that focuses on the acquisition, production, and distribution of high end and organic food and beverage ingredients.)
Also of course we hope that MIT will join us in taking our projects to the next level via its incredible network of outstanding alumni and cohorts!
There will always be a need as well for good folks who believe in creating abundance, and are willing to help spread the word, and connect us to decision makers at food producers/processors/farmers/ingredients distributors/spice and tea makers/any entity or person who could do something better with their unused but nutritious food byproduct than throw it away. Are you one?
Where will these actions be taken?
We currently are engaged in projects in Mexico, and Texas. Also we are in talks for projects in CA, WA, CO, OR, AK, IL, Canada, and elsewhere.
Once we get our current project online (Sweet Potatoes in Texas), we shall be able to focus on the next ones. There are millions of pounds of wasted salmon parts that we hope to capture and upcycle. As well as Tilapia in Mexico and the Caribbean.
As our company progresses, we will be investing in launching projects in places that need it.
An additional benefit to our processes is that they can be implemented for a much lower capital investment, and operating cost than conventional commercial scale food dehydration systems. also, PS Coating is a much more consistent, and sanitary method for dehydration as opposed to sun-drying etc. But due to its nature, it is relatively cheap and easy to scale up using off the shelf equipment and local materials and labor. Creating jobs, and stimulating local economies as well.
In summary, these actions shall be taken worldwide, anywhere food is being needlessly wasted. We are open to leads! chad@cornucopiagroup.org
What are other key benefits?
Another benefit to our processes is that we have opportunity to capture the very pure potable water that is recovered via dehydrating, and utilize it on site for drinking, or bottle it, or recycle it into the system. We capture upwards of 300 gallons of excellent potable H2O per hour in many cases. This is a great way to recapture some of the water used in agriculture.
How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?
Heres some perspective:
In 2010, 1.5 Gtonnes of CO2 was emitted by the entire USA transportation sector.
That same year, 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 were emitted by world FOOD WASTAGE. (from wasted energy expenditures from producing all the wasted food).
Imagine if this could be eliminated! We have a method to attack this problem. We would be honored to have your help!
What are the proposal’s costs?
Costs for implementing our processes vary greatly from case to case, based on a number of variables. But our technology allows us to utilize all easy to obtain, off the shelf, and local materials.
Some projects can cost 50K, others 5M. But in the right locations (anywhere central to agricultural production), and circumstances (we have buyers for all the material, which we usually do), our facilities can act as central hubs for collecting and preserving food that would otherwise be wasted.
Folks tell their kids to think about starving kids in 3rd world countries when we want them to eat broccoli and not waste it, but someone really needs to say the same thing to big agriculture apparently. And we would like to be that someone. Except in our case we are offering people the opportunity to get paid to not waste their byproducts. It's as if a mother told her picky eater of a son not to waste his brussle sprouts because there were starving children somewhere else...but then said that actually, if he wasn't going to eat them, he could literally give them to someone who needed food...and then get paid too.
Time line
We currently have projects under way, and so the timeline for us is Now - 'till whenever we manage to capture, preserve, and distribute 100% of the worlds nutrition that is needlessly lost through waste.
We are ready now for introductions to folks interested in investing in the future of food security technology, and helping us take a bite out of waste.
Related proposals
References
http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf
-UN FAO's Food Wastage Footprint Impacts on Natural Resources report. (2013).
By:
Cornucopia Group
