Title: founder
Association/Company: CEA Proteins Ltd
Biography
Mark has been involved in the Vertical Farming industry for around 10 years. He is the Founder & Chairman of UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT), bringing together the leading companies, universities and individuals in the UK urban agritech industry. He is also the Founder of CEA Proteins, and does freelance consulting work across the industry.
In his work he has dealt extensively with industry standardisation, sustainability certification, vertical farming education and vertical farming policy. His expertise is in building networks and associations that maximise value for their members, and for the industry as a whole. Mark’s primary interest is in taking a systemic overview of how vertical farming can be integrated with other systems, to deliver on its promises of regenerative food production and resilient societies.
Speech session
Innovation in Mycoculture
Speech
The Bigger Picture: Integrating Controlled Environment Grown Alternative Protein Crops
Abstract
Fungi are one the great unsung heroes of natural ecosystems! They also have tremendous potential when grown in controlled environment growing systems. But if we really want to see their true potential in that environment, we need to mimic those natural ecosystems as much as possible. Mark’s presentation will give an overview of how the growing of mushrooms and fungi could be integrated with other controlled environment alternative proteins crops – such as plants, insects, algae, and precision fermentation – the potential benefits, and the common challenges of taking this more circular approach.
