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IMHO, the Future of Food is incomprehensible to most...

ACESChrisACESChris Posts: 50 ✭✭
in Futures
People at the Agriculture conferences and events I go to often get mad when I say that the future of food will not include animals. Looking at work like Calysta and Unibio who exploit microbial conversions to make food components, I know this is true. Animals are simply too inefficient, and people are less and less willing to accept the cruelty that inherently comes with using animals. I am all in on the "Replicator" from Star Trek for our food. Truly though, we are living in a time of multiple exponentially accelerating technologies, and many leaders (governments more than any other) are still making decisions/planning based on looking backwards, and using linear models. I am ONLY certain of the fact that data driven resource efficiency, with a comprehensive true cost accounting program that looks at food,energy, water and health together is what it will take. Peak phosphorus is the single largest threat as I see it, because abundant clean energy will open everything else up through desalinization, and growing in closed containment. There is a fun video here, looking into the future from 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIJlLj1kF-o

Comments

  • ACESChrisACESChris Posts: 50 ✭✭
    Calysta is here. http://calysta.com/
  • ACESChrisACESChris Posts: 50 ✭✭
    Unibio is here. https://www.unibio.dk/
  • ACESChrisACESChris Posts: 50 ✭✭
    We just signed on a new strategic alliance with a company called Point 3 Biotech Corp. that ties it all together. A local Canadian group with some serious brainpower behind it. Pond Technologies just bought the little startup algae play out of the barn James Irwin was working from for $5MM! https://pt3.ca/
  • covillercoviller Posts: 2 ✭✭
    No doubt the way we raise livestock has serious sustainability problems. However, when considering if the future of agriculture will include animals or not, what about using natural ecosystems as a model for our agroecosystems? Silvopasture, an agroforestry technique, is a great example of this.
  • Amy_ProulxAmy_Proulx Posts: 16 ✭✭
    The future of the food industry is incomprehensible to most, because we have made learning about actual food processing and food science rather an opaque process. A recent survey in Canada identified that most people learn about their food from social media, rather than through vetted qualified resources. How do we encourage people to learn and develop when so much misinformation is pervading the conversation.

    I believe there will be a role for cell based agriculture, but I also believe there will still be people farming small scale and processing product at a community level using old technology. Small and big companies, minimal tech and intense tech. These are the quadrants we see consistently fluctuating for food manufacturing. And as entrancing as it is to focus on the tech quadrant to solve all our problems, we need each quadrant to be working for the others to succeed as well.
  • NickOttensNickOttens Posts: 899 admin
    I think that's worth delving in a little deeper, @Amy_Proulx, thank you for raising the issue! I've created a new discussion under Challenges to discuss (mis)information about food.
  • jonathankolberjonathankolber Posts: 22 ✭✭
    We can only let the emerging patterns of evidence lead our thinking where they may. Many who do not share our perspective do not understand exponential change, nor are they well-versed in the emerging technologies of food production.

    My just-posted Quora answer to a young person's question about how to enjoy meat without the moral concerns, and what the future looks like for meat substitutes:

    https://www.quora.com/Should-I-go-vegetarian-I-love-the-way-meat-tastes-but-I-care-so-much-about-the-environment-that-every-time-I-eat-meat-I-feel-sad-I-am-21-years-old/answer/Jonathan-Kolber
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