Burgers made of insects, farmers using satellites to track cows and sheep and personalised meals delivered to doorsteps by drones: these are just some of the ideas of how food could be produced in the future.

A major summit is being held by the UK’s food standards watchdogs this week to look at how changes to global food systems will impact on the country in the next few decades.

Around 200 experts will meet on Thursday at the Our Food Future event organised by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland to discuss issues ranging from the impact of climate change and volatile prices, to the problem of obesity and how technology could transform eating habits.

Dr Richard Swannell, director of sustainable food systems at waste reduction charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), who is speaking at the conference, said one major looming issue was the predicted increase in the world’s population.

He said: “We are moving towards a world by 2050 where there will be 9.5 billion people.

“The difference between now and then is about two billion people - and the world’s population in 1950 was pretty much two billion people.

“Between now and 2050 we have to find the food to feed those people and also do it in a way which fits within the current challenges we face on global warming."

Swannell said many developing countries were now adopting a more Western-style diet, including associated food wastage. Around 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every single year – which needs a land mass equivalent to the size of Mexico to grow.

He said other factors such as a more uncertain environment with increased flooding and drought events would also have an impact on food production, but pointed out technology could lead to more sustainable diets and health improvements.

A recent report on Food Futures by Wrap highlighted potential developments such as farms using satellites to track animals and monitor grazing behaviours and having alternative protein sources to meat which have less environmental impact – such as “laboratory-grown” meat or even insects.

Swannell added: “We are also looking for more convenience and more tailored solutions for ourselves as consumers.

“Part of the solution might be food that is more tailored to our particular stages of life, as well as particular dietary preferences, and potentially even delivered through the internet.

“You can imagine an app which would almost know about you as a person and your dietary preferences.

“You could say tonight I fancy some pasta – what sort of pasta options have I got which would give me the nutritional balance I need?

“And somebody might deliver it to our door - but it might be a drone rather than a pizza delivery van.”

Swannell pointed out insect protein was already being used in animal feeds and there was a range of potential alternatives to meat which may be used for human food in the future.

“We have already got mycoprotein on our shelves, the Quorn approach, but there are other things like algae, such as seaweed, and a range of potential proteins that may not just be for animal feed but also for us as humans," he said.

“These are ones that could be more efficient, but also ones that could give us a little bit more choice.”

Professor Charles Godfray, director, of the University of Oxford's Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, who will also address the conference, said one of the major issues for the future was around food and health.

“I think there has been a change in the way we see food – we very much think of the food system now, which is very encouraging as it is not just thinking about agriculture and not just thinking about health – it is trying to pull them together,” he said.

“There is the continuing crisis of people being overweight and obese, as well as the issue of reducing the environmental footprint of food and also looking at the resilience of the food system.

“We are waking up to the problems of overconsumption and in the past couple of years with individuals such as Jamie Oliver getting involved, we are really beginning to wake up to quite how much of our health depends on our diet.”