Food insecurity around the world has meant that millions of people are unsure of where their next meals are coming from. Yet in America, 40 percent of food that is bought is thrown away and 26 percent of the produce doesn't even reach grocery stores. When these figures are reflected against how many regions suffer from drought and uneven food production, the need for a balanced food sustainability and management program seems more imperative than ever.

To address these issues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a $5.2 million investment toward nanotechnology research to increase sustainability, improve food safety and combat food waste. The investment will be spread across 11 premier universities that will receive grants to research plant and animal health improvement, ways to manage agricultural pests and increase crop yields via nanotechnology solutions along with enhancing renewable fuels.

All of these will combine to increase food sustainability and prevent further environmental damage. The awards were granted under the USDA's Agriculture & Food Research Initiative (AFRI), a peer-reviewed and highly competitive grants program in the nation for fundamental and applied agricultural sciences.

For years now, the USDA has funded and enabled large-scale and in-depth research that has touched and influenced not just American lives, but that of the global populace as well. Cutting-edge scientific studies have focused on developing and transferring solutions to agricultural problems and on producing an abundant food supply.

"Nanoscale science, engineering and technology are key pieces of our investment in innovation to ensure an adequate and safe food supply for a growing global population," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Innovative research in the field will not only ensure food safety but also improve and sustain rural economic growth, address important issues like water availability, and even make ground-breaking discoveries to combat childhood obesity. Each university will be focusing on different areas of nanoscale research.

For example, the University of Massachusetts project is focusing on a superior platform for pathogen detection in foods, while the University of Georgia project is focusing on disease-specific, bio-nanocomposites-based, electrochemical sensors that will help detect fungal pathogen induced volatiles in crops.

Mississippi State, on the other hand, will focus on how to use nanochitosan as a combined fire retardant and antifungal wood treatment. Auburn wants to improve multiple and simultaneous pathogen monitoring throughout the food supply chain through a user-friendly system.

The University of Wisconsin will use the grant money to develop nanoparticle-based vaccines for poultry in order to prevent emerging poultry infections, a phenomenon that has led to much health issues and food waste, therefore economic devastation. They plan to converge the areas of vaccines and poultry diseases with nanotechnology and molecular biology to prevent such incidents in future.

Other studies will range from mitigating the impacts of climate variability, finding new sources of energy to enhancing resiliency of food systems, among others. These studies will form the foundation of food production in future and prevent food waste.