Evaluation of crises suitability of food systems: a comparison of alternative protein sources

Global crises affecting food security have kept increasing for four years in a row, with almost 350 million people expected to suffer from food insecurity in 2023, more than double the number compared to 2020. This draws attention to the importance of finding food capable to feed a population under such conditions. In this research criteria were developed to gain comparative insights into crises suitability of food system’s food security. Four principal criteria – production characteristics, intrinsic attributes, supply chain efficiency, and feasibility of conversion – were identified to encompass this crises suitability, and translated into measurable indicators tailored to protein foods. A multi criteria analysis (MCA) was developed which enabled the assessment of different alternative protein sources – insects, cultured meat, mycoproteins, algae, and plant proteins – on the basis of equal importance of the crises suitability criteria. Chicken meat, being currently the most efficient protein source in times of crisis, was used as a reference protein source. Based on the suitability criteria, insects and cultured meat resulted from the comparative study convincingly as the most suitable to replace chicken meat. Although the systems of the other alternative protein sources did not emerge as suitable options to replace chicken meat in a crisis, algae, mycoproteins, and plant proteins could support chicken meat as complementary sources of proteins if embedded in the food supply. When adopting these criteria, the type of crisis needs to be taken into account to judge the relative importance of the criteria, as a basis for decision making on the crisis suitability of food stuff’s systems. The methodology applied allowed to identify a clear distinction between crises suitability of alternative proteins systems, and has therefore potential for application to other food systems. Then, the indicators for the criteria need to be tailored towards the nature of the specific food system.