The Role of Innovation Labs in U.S. Food & Beverage Companies

A little chain of hotels in London, UK, Centenary Hotels had a good occupancy rate all year round. Regarding room revenue, the board of directors expressed more than satisfaction with the hotel performance. For the food and beverage division, the same cannot be stated, though. In terms of customer attendance, the hotel restaurants appeared to be performing poorly; just 15% of hotel occupants would dine there, and a very limited number of outside patrons would ever visit. They chose to overhaul all of their five-star restaurants and commit a significant sum of money to guarantee that a modern design was applied in every one of the establishments and a new executive chef had rebuilt every one of their menus. These days, every restaurant had separate access to the high street to avoid attracting possible outside patrons.Food safety issues in an urban food system will need to be taken into account across the farm to fork continuum stretching from how the food is produced, stored, transported, sold and eaten, as in all food production systems. Regarding food safety, urban farming brings advantages as well as difficulties. Among these benefits are improved traceability and less food miles that might stop food spoiling and hence lower food loss (Despommier, 2011). Published research suggests that consumers could view locally grown food as safer than product imported from other countries (Khouryieh et al.

Indoor urban farms can lower uncertainty of weather.

Which is becoming more erratic owing to climate change, and avoid foodborne diseases originating from wildlife (deer, birds, feral pigs) getting access to produce as it can happen in open fields Jay-Russell, 2011. The following addresses some food safety issues related to urban farming that must be taken under account. Issues resulting from urban agricultural soils A very crucial food safety issue is where an urban farm might be located since land use in metropolitan areas can result in polluted soil legacy. Thus, it is crucial to be aware of the past of use of the ground where vegetables will be cultivated. Urban soils might contain several pollutants at different levels.In aquaculture, vertical fish farming is a recently developed method whereby fish are raised in a vertical, multitrophic, mostly closed-loop system. Urban regions where land is limited or even offshore can have these structures developed (Tatum, 2021). The safety of the generated fish will not only depend on how such systems manage and dispose of effluents from fish and apply antimicrobial agents; but, other public health concerns such possible eutrophication in neighboring waterbodies would be influenced by their use. Urban foraging: Although this brief addresses purposefully growing food in an urban environment, it would be negligent to exclude gathering or foraging for food in urban locations.20 Given the increased awareness that foraged foods are sometimes overlooked as a component of urban food systems, a better knowledge of possible safety issues and nutritional value connected with urban foraging is needed. MoreUrban agriculture under fast expansion is causing significant changes in agrifood systems driven by growing urbanization.

Still little study has been done on possible human health hazards.

Resulting from eating food created especially in metropolitan areas. Among the areas that also define the success of urban agriculture are improved availability of fit-for-purpose land/space and water, access to markets, greater capital and operating funds, chances for technical training to improve the knowledge basis of urban producers and their agricultural skills, and development of appropriate regulating frameworks and strategies. Infrastructure for hygienic intra- and interurban processing, storage, and transportation as well as integration of urban food production into urban planning should also receive more attention to guarantee land allotments are at a safe distance away from main road and other contamination sourcesso facilitating safe food production in urban areas. Urban agriculture's further growth depends on more access to land, which can inspire initiatives to restore brownfields. Turning brownfield lands into safe and fit for food production, however, is not easy and usually calls for research mid-term.The idea of building a "circular city" is attracting interest whereby varied organic waste from different sources are recycled as resources to support agricultural output in metropolitan regions (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Skar et al. Care must be taken, then, to guarantee that the inputs into such a closedloop bioeconomy are safe to use and that sources of contamination are not introduced since, in the absence of sufficient monitoring and treatment processes, concentration of contaminants can be facilitated.

Thanks to developments in digital technologies urban farmers may.

Be able to "farm from afar," meaning that several urban farms may be accessed remotely, for instance to adjust conditions – soil pH value, nutrient level, light intensity, among others – as needed or even to sound alarms if manual interventions are necessary. Digital innovators and persistent pollution on Earth (Dris, Agarwal and Laforsch, 2020). Some of the very qualities that make them valuable for particular uses also make them resistant to degradation when they reach the end of their intended use allowing them to accumulate in our environment for decades or longer. Plastics left behind or disposed in landfills can be found in soils (FAO, 2021a) or find their way into rivers by rain or wind and finally wind ends in the ocean. Every year, an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic garbage wind its way into the ocean (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021). But plastics' endurance depends on their surroundings; hence, at different vertical farms, ations can help with periodic testing for foodborne diseases and improve traceability systems to allow identification and removal of contaminated produce before it becomes a public health concern. Good governance (mechanisms, capacities, policies, financial assistance) particular to urban food systems will be needed if cities are to successfully address difficulties and develop inclusive, nutritious, safe and sustainable urban food systems. Local governments, civic society, the business sector as well as municipal, provincial and national governments must participate in this transdisciplinary domain holistically (Knorr, Khoo and Augustin Ramaswami et al., Tefft et al. Nonetheless, several studies have found that lack of appropriate legislative systems to control urban agriculture has been a hindrance to market development Sarker, Bornman and Marinova, 2019). Urban agriculture would call for significant resources, and many LMICs lack the institutional framework and tools needed to oversee.