Have Your Beer and Eat it Too!
By Allie Arnell
Have your beer and eat it too? …Is that the old saying? It is for upcycling innovators NETZRO and AURI (Agricultural Utilization Research Institute), who are paving the way for using spent brewer’s grains and other byproducts. Through the upcycling process, food waste that would otherwise end up in landfills is given a second life.
Upcycling not only extends the food’s use and preserves food production resources, but it also infuses additional nutritional value back into the food supply chain. Spent grain specifically is high in protein and fiber. It can be dried and milled into protein-rich flours.
“It’s inspiring to be able to connect the food system in a beneficial way,” said Sue Marshall, founder and CEO of NETZRO
NETZRO is a food upcycling company that creates technology for reducing, recovering and re-harvesting food byproducts into new upcycled ingredients. AURI, a publicly funded non-profit, provides NETZRO with affordable access to food industry research and guidance with food safety, labeling compliance, and more.
These two Minnesota-based groups have partnered to identify upcycling opportunities and applications and to coordinate their supply chain development. They have worked to understand the nutritional characteristics of spent grains to determine how to effectively process them for reuse.
New Sustainable Avenues
Recently, NETZRO and AURI have collaborated to promote the growth and upcycling of a grain called Kernza with significant environmental benefits. Kernza, a perennial crop with a considerably large root system, has a unique ability to leave its ecosystem better off than before. Kernza functions as a groundwater filter and a soil erosion buffer. It can be harvested, used, and upcycled similarly to wheat.
AURI has promoted Kernza production among Minnesota farmers as an environmental circularity story: Growing resources are protected and preserved. Grain utilization can be extended. And perennial roots remain intact for future production and protection of farmland.
“When you upcycle spent Kernza grain, you get the full environmental benefit of planting a perennial crop,” Jason Robinson, business development director at AURI, explained.
“Not only does food go to its highest end use, but you also minimize the total carbon footprint throughout the grain’s entire lifecycle.”
Consumer-dependent Strides
Cutting-edge upcycling advances have the potential to extend the life of grains with significantly fewer environmental impacts. But the meaningful work being done at NETZRO and AURI depends on having invested parties at every step of the food supply chain, including at the dinner table and in the grocery aisles.
“We need a community that sees the value in powering food forward and a system that supports it,” a NETZRO representative said.
Become a part of the upcycled food movement and learn how you can build the sustainable food system of the future.
Allie Arnell (she/her) is a content creator/snack chef to three. When she’s not chasing toddlers, she’s making a mess in her Memphis kitchen.
