One of the main approved actions in this cross-border project is the restoration and optimization of a constructed wetland in Flores de Ávila, a small municipality in Castilla y León. This waste water treatment system allows the flow of purified wastewater back to the river Trabancos, with enough quality as not to modify the native ecosystem.
This activity has the aim of demonstrating that the proposed solution (the constructed wetland in this particular case) effectively improves the efficient integral water management. This demonstrative pilot experience will allow constructed wetlands introduction as a natural strategy for diversifying wastewater treatment technologies and will check its application for emergent contaminants in urban wastewater at the same time that could provide other environmental advantages in the selected sensitive locations.
The new installation will be a submerged surface flow constructed wetland with five different plant species sited in 10 cells separated by a sheet of water. 5 cells will be seeded with Phragamites australis, and the other 5 cells will be in parallel to the first 5 with different plant species for the analysis of the wastewater treatment effectiveness of the two different configurations and the various species.
This purification system will be supplied with caudalimeters for measuring the input and output flow of water and evapotranspiration and, furthermore, a weather station to collect climate data during the pilot working time.
During the project development, physico-chemical and microbiological data will be collected and analyzed. Monitoring of each cell will allow testing the effect of plant biodiversity over microbial communities responsible for wastewater treatment. Finally, metabolic activity and bacterial species effect over priority and emergent contaminants removal will be assessed.
These tasks will permit information gathering about this wastewater treatment usefulness as an integrated solution in a natural ecosystem. The location of the pilot was chosen in order to demonstrate that constructed wetlands could be integrated in ecosystems with extreme weather conditions, especially considering raining patterns. The area near river Trabancos is affected by the seasonality of its flow, due to drought and flood periods in the river channel. This river hosts the endemic species Achondrostoma arcasii (vermillion), and the study of this species evolution will be a key indicator of this wastewater treatment integration in the natural environment.
Who has not practice “trashcooking” in his kitchen? Aren’t you? It is high time to start. Keep on reading to know how.
“Trashcooking” is the new concept to call the old law of “the food is not pulled” coming from our grandmothers or what today could be called “the circular economy of food” in any article of an R & D + i magazine. That is, reusing the leftovers of one meal to make another or take advantage of the remains of an ingredient to make a new recipe. Some easy examples are cannelloni or croquettes with the leftover meat of the stew, the puree with the vegetables that the child did not want to eat the night before or the colorful and sweet fruit salad made with the fruits about to spoil of the fruit bowl.
Currently, the “trashcooking” especially in vegetables, but also in low-priced fish and meat, is putting to the test the knowledge and techniques of the best chefs to take exquisite dishes in which everything is used and nothing is thrown away. This way of proceeding has increasing support both of the heavyweights of haute cuisine who bet on sustainability through creativity, as well as consumers.
This incredibly beneficial initiative for the environment, it would be much more if it began to become fashionable in all European households as up to 88 million tons of food are wasted every year in the EU. These figures are alarming when we value them on the total: 20% of the food produced in the EU ends up spoiling. Food is wasted during all phases of the food chain, from agricultural production to final consumption. However, it is in households (53%) and in the transformation process (19%) where the most food waste is produced.
On average, a European citizen throws away 173 kilos of food a year. With the Netherlands at the top of the list (541 kg of waste per inhabitant per year) and Slovenia as the country that best manages the use of food (72 kg of waste per inhabitant per year). Spain is below the average (135 Kg), in place 17 of the list of a total of 27 countries. However, there is still a long way to go in improving the management of food. (Eurobarometer and FAO data, 2010 estimates).
And it is not the accumulation of waste itself that is solely responsible for the damage to the environment, but that wasting food also supposes an unnecessary use of scarce resources such as land, water and energy. For every kilogram of food produced, 4.5 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) is thrown into the atmosphere.
Faced with this worrying situation, the European Parliament is proposing measures to reduce these 88 million tons of food waste by 30% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030. Among the proposals include facilitating food donations, allowing VAT exemptions, or to emphasize the need to put an end to consumer confusion between the labels of preferential consumption and the expiration date.
At CARTIF, we have been thinking about circular economy for years, not yet in your kitchen, but in the revaluation of the by-products of livestock, agriculture and industry and its use in the elaboration of other components of added valued that might be used in human, animal, cosmetic, energy generation, etc. Now it’s your turn, you’re in charge of practicing “trashcooking” in your kitchen and helping our environment.
Perfect for decorating, giving, perfuming, infusing… and why not to eat? A few days ago we talked about “Realfooding”, an initiative that is fortunately taking positions in social networks and at the tables of many houses. For those who need a little more variety, color, taste or simply visual impact in their culinary preparations of real food, today we bring you this post in which we explain how to use this maximum exponent of “Realfooding”.
The use of flowers as part of our cuisine dates back centuries. Specifically known is the use of the pumpkin flower in Mexico, the violets in Roman culture, or in India, where the rose petals are part of the decoration of their most typical desserts. In Spain, this practice has not been so common, although perhaps unknowingly we are already using them in our kitchen because the cauliflower, artichoke, broccoli or chamomile are considered flowers.
Currently they have been in vogue thanks to international chefs who are introducing them in their creations, so that now it would not be strange to find as a starter of a menu a roasted artichoke perfumed with pink garlic flower, as a main dish a lamb shank confit with potato flower or as dessert a violets ice cream. And what a good idea! Because flowers, besides giving the dishes a great variety of colors, flavors and different aromas, improving the organoleptic characteristics, also help to increase the nutritional value of the meal.
Flowers are vegetables, with a water content higher than 80% and therefore have a low energy value, but with a high nutritional value, as they provide vitamins such as A, C, riboflavin or niacin; and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron and potassium. In some publications, flowers have been considered functional foods, since they contain bioactive substances such as phenolic compounds, carotenoids or anthocyanins with antioxidant properties.
There are more than 55 species of edible flowers known, with many applications and utilities at culinary level, both in salads and soups and accompanying white and red meats, fish, pasta and rice or desserts. For example, the seeds of the poppy are used to flavor pastry products and their petals for wines and oils; the chrysanthemum confers different colors and bitter taste to salads and sauces; or jasmine, with white and sweet flavor is used in bird or fish dishes. Of course, all of them “Realfooding 100%”
But beware! Not all flowers are edible. There are some toxic species such as belladonna, hemlock, oleander flower, aubergine flower or dulcamara, among others. Although there is not much regulation in this regard, in Europe they are considered traditional foods (EFSA Journal 2016; 14 (11): 4590) and as such, in order to be used in food, flowers must fulfill certain characteristics regarding their chemical composition and the form of cultivation (free of pesticides, herbicides and non-organic fertilizers) as well as being microbiologically harmless. Regarding the use of pesticides, edible flowers must follow Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on the maximum residue limits for pesticides in food and feed of origin plant and animal, which has been modified by EFSA on two occasions to change the maximum residue level of ametoctradin (fungicide) to 20 mg/kg and that of flonicamide (insecticide) to 6 mg/kg (EFSA Journal 2017; 15 (6):4869).
The impossibility of using pesticides and herbicides, together with the highly perishable nature of edible flowers, means that this product has a short shelf life and that during its cultivation, preparation and packaging it is necessary to take care of every detail. The temperature is one of the factors that most affects the quality of the flower, existing different needs between species. In general, refrigeration extends the shelf life of the product, but some species may be sensitive to cold. Another factor to consider is the reduction of perspiration to avoid losses due to dehydration. The high relation between the surface and the volume of the flower, and also the thin cuticle of the petals, makes it highly susceptible to the loss of water. Likewise, packaging will be important, which should be rigid, similar to that of strawberries and other delicate and highly perishable products.
There are already companies that grow, prepare and package flowers for use in gastronomy. Are you one of them? Do you need to expand your product portfolio, improve the performance of your process, change the packaging or increase the half life of your product? In CARTIF we can help you, contact us.
If on the contrary you are not interested in edible flowers at business level, from CARTIF we encourage you to make your own floral menu and to enjoy the real real food. Bon Appetite!
Oceans have become plastic soups and garbage patch, where 8 millions of tonnes of plastic are discharged every year and consequently remains floating in the seas, moreover tonnes of this material are accumulated in dumps. Plastic gets to forests, rivers and are found in the farthest nooks of the planet.
This residue in which we are drowning and for what we are the only responsible ends up in the environment through different ways but the origin is always the same, the unnecessary and excessive use that humanity has made of this material since it was popularized in the 50’s.
Our life has been overrun by plastic, we use it daily and in every activity (clothes, kitchen, cleanliness…). In many cases, plastic is necessary and difficult to replace, but other times it is unnecessary and a sustainable alternative which does not jeopardize the environment exists.
More and more people are aware of the problem that this waste represents, and claim for a radical change that involve management and government policies, but also a lifestyle change, from the production to the way we consume. Several initiatives are being launched by collectives and individuals to encourage responsible and sustainable consumption, respectful with the planet.
The same though has crossed everones minds’ when our trash bins fill to overflowing everyday and nobody wants to contribute to this squander and unnecessary use of plastics. One of the most ridiculous uses is the fresh food plastic packaging, being very striking in fruits and vegetables. Is it necessary to protect with trays and plastics oranges, bananas, onions, etc? NO, their skins and peels are the best protection they have against spoilage. Have we become so lazy not to peel garlic, cut a tomato in half or an apple in dices so that these products have to be over-wrapped this way? (Real examples view in supermarkets)
This same consideration was launched in the Spanish blog “La Hipótesis de Gaia” some months ago, by Isa its author, who proposed making photos of fruits and vegetables with ridiculous plastic packaging under the hashtag #desnudalafruta (“nake the fruit”) and spread them through social media. Other similar actions with the same aim are #BreakFreeFromPlastic or #RidiculousPlastic.
“Plastic attack” is a kind of organized event where angry customers, after taking and paying for groceries in shops, free them from plastic packaging, put every waste together in fully trolleys and give them back to supermarkets with the only aim of showing that food can be bought without creating waste.
But the first step for reducing plastic waste is the self thinking, being aware of the use and overuse that we make of plastic and avoiding buying unnecessary things or purchasing non contaminant alternatives. Groceries in bulk, cloth bags for shopping, not to use disposable plastics searching others options. We can start saying goodbye to disposable cutlery and straws, plastic containers, bottled water, etc. ..we already have more sustainable and less contaminant options available in the market. This initiative is a good example.
However, some plastics are difficult to replace, or it doesn’t exist an alternative nowadays. In this case, R&D is taking the initiative to the development of bioplastics, polymers that come from natural resources and which are biodegradable.
Bioplastics are produced from biomass, agricultural by-products or even from used plastic bottles and other containers. These materials are processed by microorganisms and through their fermentation they are converted in monomers that will be used to obtain new polymers like PLA and PHA (polilactic acid, and polihidroxialcanoate acid) from which all kind of products can be made: packages, bags, plastic films, etc.
This kind of material is a promising alternative to fossil-fuel plastics so they are biodegradable and they are derived from renewable raw materials. Current research and new technologies are allowing getting bioplastics with the same properties and applications that the plastic obtained from fossil-fuel sources.
In short, research in new plastics and in more environmentally friendly processes will be our allies to make a planet more sustainable, but only if they are accompanied by a change in our lifestyle, being more responsible in our consuming way and in our relationship with the environment.
The Augmented Reality (AR) after some fairly lukewarm beginnings is being seen as a technology with a promising future. Much of this change of image comes from the Pokémon Go phenomenon that about two years ago showed the augmented reality to the general public in a natural way through the characters of the famous video game. This bombshell has served for many programmers that have realized the many possibilities offered by this technology lunging to develop simple applications like in this game, that allow you to use the picture taken with the camera phone and / or GPS position to incorporate 2D and 3D scenes and models to the physical world through mobile screen.
This has meant that we can now find numerous animations using augmented reality in commercial catalogs, advertising panels, tourist applications or educational games for children, among other applications.
Large companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft or Facebook do not want to miss the boat and are taking positions to make the most of the great possibilities provided by the use of augmented reality. At the end of 2017 all of them have been showing platforms and software tools for incorporate augmented reality to their devices.
Google: ARCore is the Google platform that allows you to create augmented reality experiences. In the Google I / O held in May, new applications have been presented, especially for collaborative environments. ARCore is currently available for devices with the latest versions of Android.
Apple: ARKit, included in devices with the iOS11 operating system, allows developers to easily create augmented reality adventures that integrate virtual objects in the real world by combining data from cameras and motion sensor information.
Microsoft: Windows Mixed Reality development kit is a mixed reality platform that allows you to create virtual and mixed reality presenting virtual holograms together with real elements. It is fundamentally developed for the Microsoft Hololens smart glasses.
Facebook has launched AR Studio to create augmented reality effects on the captured images and that people can place 3D objects in their environment and interact with them in real time. The last thing presented is the AR Target Tracking that lets you start the experiences of AR pointing to an image, creating persistent experiences.
Beyond games and entertainment, a very interesting future for AR from the point of view of CARTIF as a research center is the development of applications for professionals in their work environment. Access to information anywhere and on-the-go assistance can make a big difference in speed and efficiency when performing certain tasks. All these tools are intended to reach users through the devices they already have: Smartphones, Tablets or PC. The incorporation of this technology to the work environment (industry, health, logistics…) often comes up against the requirement that workers have their hands free to carry out their work, which they cannot do with the aforementioned devices. In this sense, the Smart Glasses are presented as the most suitable device for this type of environment although after the disappointment of Google glasses launched in 2013, the supply of physical devices of this type on which to develop the applications is scarce.
Despite this, according to a study by Forrester Research, it is estimated that 14.4 million American workers will wear smart glasses to develop their work in the year 2025. CARTIF bet that the incorporation of these devices to industrial processes occurs gradually and workers become accustomed to use these devices as a working tool. Through the use of smart glasses, employees can access detailed instructions and content about the task in question without interrupting their work.
In the industrial environment there are many processes that can provide information in the form of augmented reality quickly and non-invasively. CARTIF, within the HABITAT-RA project, is working to bring this technology to SMEs, using augmented reality for three different aspects:
Monitoring: visualization of information about the state of a machine or process.
Industrial Maintenance: Obtain information and alerts about the periodic tasks of preventive maintenance in machines.
Occupational Risks Prevention: Obtain information and alerts about risk areas and safety perimeters in industrial environments.
In MARCA project, integrated in the water treatment and distribution sector, CARTIF has worked on the development of tools that allow the access of a maintenance operator to advanced support resources based on AR, and advanced intermodal communication using smart glasses.
Finally, in the PUMAN project, an Augmented Reality interface is developed for manual assembly positions in the industry through the guidance and presentation of information on assembly steps in an immersive way. It also informs about the safety risks of the operator.
Although it is still in an incipient phase, the incorporation of augmented reality in the performance of many tasks in the industrial environment can make a big difference in speed and efficiency. There are many factors to improve: the technology is still not mature enough, the high cost of producing augmented reality content or technical limitations of the devices to provide fully immersive experiences. In any case, this technology is in continuous growth. The large companies are betting on it little by little and users are becoming used to having content in the form of AR. The future is to have a device that combines a high optical capacity with communication technologies and the characteristics of a wearable, and whose price allows a massive distribution.
The macrobiotic diet, dissociated, pineapple, onion soup, detox … are infinite diets that have become fashionable since the issues of food and nutrition began to interest me. And it’s not to start in a destructive way but none of them has convinced me from the point of view of a Dietitian-Nutritionist who has always believed in moderation and a balanced diet.
However, there is currently a movement in motion (notice that I say movement and not diet) that is changing my mind: the movement “Realfooding“. Of course, with some nuance.
According to Carlos Ríos, creator of the initiative, “Realfooding” is a lifestyle based on eating real food and avoiding ultra-processed ones. It aims to improve the health of the population through food.
And what is “Realfooding”? By real food is known all those minimally processed foods or whose industrial or artisanal processing has not worsened the quality of the composition or negatively interfered with their naturally occurring healthy properties. Specifically they are vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, tubers and roots, vegetables, fish and seafood, eggs, meat, whole grains, virgin oils, quality dairy products, coffee, cocoa and infusions, herbs and spices. Also considered as real food is the “good processed” which are those with an industrial or artisanal processing beneficial or innocuous for the quality of the food with respect to its healthful properties. The “good processed” are the second-range foods (real foods in canned and semi-preserved), third range (real frozen / deep-frozen foods), fourth range (real foods packed in modified atmospheres), fifth range (real cooked food dishes and vacuum packed).
The movement “Realfooding” is also based on avoiding ultra-processed foods, which include: soft drinks, energy drinks, packaged juices, sugary milk, pastries, white bread, processed meats, commercial and pre-cooked pizzas, cookies, refined grains and bars , chips and snacks, sweets and ice cream, diet products and commercial sauces.
The pillars on which the movement “Realfooding” is based are:
The excess of overweight and obesity in the population
To be healthy: Eat real food
Real food does not focus on calories or nutrients, but on food
Real food is cooked
More market and less supermarket
Real food does not have conflicts of interest
Ultra-processed products are bad for your health
The “Realfooding” initiative encourages people to participate in #challengeamonthwithrealfood, which consists of being a month eating only real food and no ultra-processed food. In this way, the initiative aims to challenge the population to test how they feel by maintaining a healthy eating style. “Realfooding” makes available to the “Realfooders” a series of tools that help them meet the challenge, such as support teams in social networks where they can ask questions, tell their experiences, difficulties and achievements; publication of recipes with real food, etc. You can find all the information on its web.
“Realfooding” could mean the beginning of the change of eating habits that population needs to reduce the high rates of overweight and obesity that currently exist; for that reason it should not be left only in a temporary fad diet but in a practice that lasts over time; a fashion that has come to stay.
Obviously, this initiative does not mean that all lesson learned so far in terms of education campaigns in food and nutrition is useless, but is another tool. Therefore, if you intend to do the “Realfooding” challenge, remember the following keywords:
Variety: In addition to choosing foods within the group of real food, these must be varied, that is, we can not always and only eat meat or rice or natural yogurt, however much it is real food.
Balance: Our body needs nutrients in greater quantity than others and those nutrients are found in different amounts in food. This is the reason why some foods should be consumed more frequently than others. This reminds us of the famous balance diet pyramid of which we spoke in the previous post “malnutrition by excess”.
Culinary technology: It is important to process the chosen foods correctly; for example, the potato is a vegetable considered real food, but better roasted or cooked than fried.
Moderation: beware of the quantities! the fact that the eggs are real food, does not mean that it is beneficial to eat 3 eggs a day.
With respect to the food industry and the regulatory bodies in terms of food, nutrition and health, we must highlight the effort and investment made dailyin the improvement of food safety, in the diversity of packaging, presentations and formats to maintain quality of these foods, more adapted to current society, in the creation of culinary alternatives for people with food intolerances and allergies, etc. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of improving the nutritional profile of food, the regulation of labeling, etc.
From CARTIF we congratulate the creators of “Realfooding” for the initiative and we support real food as the basis of a healthy, varied, balanced and moderate diet but always in the hands of the food industry and the regulatory bodies, who every day work and invest to give food products of higher quality and safety to all population groups.
