A Better Route For Food

First Lego League

Project

Firstly, we brainstormed as a group.

Each of us thought up an idea/problem.

Our main ideas were:

1. Packaging and preparing food while it is being transported.

2. A worldwide link of tunnels to transport food quickly.

We choose to combine our ideas because:

1. They could be linked together.

2. We were interested in all of the topics.

3. We wanted to learn more about how food is transported and distributed.

Processing food while it’s being transported

We considered how food gets to a shop and what happens during each stage of the process. We found out that every time food is transported, nothing productive is happening. Food goes from being harvested, to a factory where it’s prepared and packaged, to a shop. Recent research has shown it is possible to grow certain foods while they are being transported eg. mushrooms. There is a prototype version of this, carried out by Agata Jaworska. This eliminates the need to farm, harvest and package the food. However, most foods cannot be grown in these conditions.

Processing food while it’s being transported

Solution:

We discovered that many foods don’t need a lot of preparing but are still sent to factories. Some just need to be packaged. Instead of this, the packaging could be completed in transit. This would eliminate the need to send the food to a factory. The food would be less likely to become contaminated because it spends less time in transit.

Tunnel transportation

The majority of food is transported by trucks. These containers create traffic jams. Food transportation causes 60% of the worlds carbon footprint. Most shops import food from distant countries because it is cheaper than buying it from local farms. Only a small fraction of the food in large shops is produced locally. Some foods, however, cannot be grown in certain countries due to climate. It takes huge amounts of energy to import these.

Solution:Our idea is to have a series of tunnels connecting different countries. Containers of food would be propelled by air through the airtight tunnels. Once in the country, the containers would be collected and distributed by truck or train. This would use very little energy and be powered by solar panels. This would massively reduce the world’s carbon footprint. Although this idea may sound impractical the Romans built Aqueducts across Europe. At the time these would have seemed impractical to build but they proved to be successful.

Tunnel transportation

Connection:Our two ideas would work well together. The food could be transported quickly between countries via tunnels. Once in the country the food would be prepared and packaged while being distributed.

Foods that benefit from our idea

Packaging food while in transit would greatly benefit perishable foods that need to be delivered quickly.

These foods need minimal packaging and processing.

Examples: Fresh fruit (these might also have to be transported long distances “idea 2 “)Milk needs to be pasteurized and packaged which could be done in transit.

Unnecessary Food Transportation

Most global food transportation is completely unnecessary.

Countries will export most of their food and import the same food, even if that food is grown locally.

This is because the food is cheaper to import from other countries.

If large food suppliers bought food from local farms, and only imported what was necessary, it would reduce the worlds carbon footprint significantly.

Agata Jaworska

Agata Jaworska, a recent masters graduate from Eindhoven, developed a thesis showing that some foods can be grown while being transported e.g mushrooms.

Mushrooms need warm and dark conditions to be grown. The heat radiating from the truck and the naturally dark conditions are perfectly suited for growing mushrooms.

Her thesis has also opened up new possibilities. Now, more varieties of mushrooms can be

produced because they spend less time in transit.

Thank You for Listening!