Ressources, INRAE's magazine
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment is launching its new magazine, Ressources. Every month, we offer you the opportunity to decode a society issue and renew your analysis with scientific knowledge and solutions, stemming from our research results.
Renew your analysis
We live in a world where the free flow of information is so quick, that reality and facts can sometimes become distorted. Ressources is a proposal for time and reflexion: once a month, we offer you the opportunity to renew your analysis and decode a thematic issue affecting society globally, with scientific knowledge and solutions stemming from our research results.
Our aim: to inform, decipher and give you food for thought!
Without being exhaustive, it sheds light on specific matters, to strengthen your knowledge, give analysis and perspective to global challenges on agriculture, food and the environment. We hope that during the coming months, this magazine will provide you with a monthly dose of resources, with science for life, people and the earth.
To be alerted when a new dossier is released every month:
The hidden power of fermented foods
The process of fermenting foods has been used for thousands of years in order to preserve food. It stops the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, thus, maximizing the conservation time of certain food products without using synthetic additives. With time, fermented foods were diversified at a global scale, to respond to a wide range of diets. Their benefits include providing vitamins and antioxidants as well as improving the gut microbiota and health.
As economic, social and environmental challenges are affecting global food chains, food demand is on the rise, making the transition to sustainable agri-food systems all the more crucial. In this context, fermented foods appear as a catalyst for sustainability and represent a source of innovation and competitivity with substantial benefits for the agri-food sector. For more sustainable diets, our intakes of plant proteins must increase, in order to reduce meat consumption. Fermenting vegetables could boost our consumption of them, with new tastes and textures. It could also help reduce the use of additives and food waste, such as discarded fruits and vegetables for their shapes and sizes. The development of co-products is a promising avenue for the agri-food sector.
INRAE is contributing to this innovative field of research at the national and European levels. In France, the launch of the "Ferments of the Future" Grand Challenge, a project funded by the French government (48 million euros), gathers research and industries around competitive projects, to create an innovation platform at the end of 2023. At the European level, our scientists federate a European network, Pimento, structuring the scientific and socio-economic communities working on fermented foods.
