Food Systems Archives

Developing Multifunctional & Durable Agro-based Food Packaging to Reduce Toxic Plastic Waste & Sustainably Advance a Bioeconomy

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $445,585

Total award amount $445,585

Location Lubbock, TX

Grantee Institution Texas Tech University

Single-use plastic packaging releases microplastics that pollute land and water and cause cancer and other illnesses. Plant-based, single-use food packaging are an alternative but this packaging is not as strong as plastic and is not as resistant to water and grease. Rajan’s research seeks to overcome these challenges by developing high performance, plant-based packaging. Using plant residue from agriculture production, Rajan is enhancing the durability, strength and processing ability of bio-based packaging.

Award Winner

Water & Soil Sustainability for Nutritious Rice Production

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $427,120

Total award amount $427,120

Location Oneonta, NY

Grantee Institution State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta

As cultivable land faces growing pressure from soil degradation, salinity and a changing climate, rice is increasingly grown in suboptimal conditions, raising the risk of lower grain nutrition and increased arsenic and cadmium contamination. Maguffin’s team at SUNY Oneonta studies how irrigation practices shape redox dynamics in rice paddy soils, influencing nutrient availability and toxin mobility. Using controlled growth chambers, they simulate future climate scenarios to examine how irrigation, salinity and elevated carbon dioxide interact with pore water, soil and rice genetics. Their work supports sustainable practices that improve food safety and grain nutritional quality.

Award Winner

Perennial Grain Staple Foods Program

Year Awarded 2024

FFAR award amount $448,928

Total award amount $657,514

Location Salina, KS

Matching Funders The Land Institute

Grantee Institution The Land Institute

Perennial grains, which are planted once and harvested over several growing seasons, help preserve soil health and add variety to our food supply, decreasing risks from extreme weather, pests and pathogens. Craine and the Land Institute are working with stakeholders from local communities and industry, as well as farmers, chefs and consumers, to introduce perennial grains into our agricultural system. Research priorities include making grains edible, nutritious and appealing and building supply chains from farms to plates.

Award Winner