| Beer with sugar kelp, canned plant-based ready meals or bread made using flour from regenerative wheat farms. These were some of the "nature-minded" products being showcased at one of London's upscale Fortnum & Mason stores this week. They're part of the Big Food Redesign Challenge, an initiative by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which invited entrants to design foodstuffs in line with nature and the desire to eliminate waste. UK retailer Waitrose is set to sell a bulk of them at 22 sites from next month. Rethinking how food is produced is important, both in terms of feeding a growing population and doing so sustainably. From farm to fork, food systems make up about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions and are a substantial drag on biodiversity, land and water resources — with livestock a major driver. At the same time, huge amounts of food end up in landfill or get wasted even before reaching stores, while bad diets also contribute to ill health. Most customers haven't heard of regenerative farming — a set of climate-friendly growing practices. Yet "they will be interested in rivers they can swim in and the bees and birds, and the health of their family and the health of themselves, and being part of the climate solution rather than part of the climate problem," said Andy Cato, the co-founder of Wildfarmed and half of DJ duo Groove Armada. "These are all the things that we can offer today to people through their food choices," Cato said at the event at Fortnum & Mason on Thursday. (You can read about Cato in this profile by Bloomberg News' Charlotte Hughes-Morgan.) Supermarkets have a role to play when influencing consumer behavior and driving change. They can also cut their indirect emissions and save money, according to a recent report from Madre Brava, which studied German retailers. Beyond the UK, European retailers are stepping up sales of plant-based goods in an effort to curb emissions from livestock products. Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize, which owns supermarket chain Albert Heijn, this week said it's targeting 50% plant-based food sales in Europe by 2030. Lidl also aims to boost sales of plant-based foods this decade. The cost of groceries remains a key determinant for consumers who are still struggling with the impact of food inflation of recent years. But it's becoming evident to more people that cheap food has come at an unacceptable cost to health and the planet, according to James Bailey, executive director of Waitrose. "We have to convince our customers that it is worth valuing the food they're eating," Bailey said at the event. "Understanding that customers have to pull more expensive, more valued food through is a really important part of this process." —Agnieszka de Sousa in London | 
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