Vegan meat and chocolate from the printer: What kind of food awaits us in the future
On days when it seems that any information is available to us, Paradoxically, we are far from knowledge of the products that we eat: we have no idea what animals ate or where the apples bought in the supermarket grew. Food habits also change: we live quite differently than our ancestors, which means that we eat differently - not to mention globalization and the availability of products that are not typical for our native places. Eating is not only getting the necessary substances for survival - it is an essential part of our social life.
Technological breakthroughs of the last hundred years have greatly influenced the relationship of people with food: on the one hand, fast food has appeared, on the other - a lot of people have attended to a healthy lifestyle. Some people think about responsible consumption, while others suffer from eating disorders. In some countries, the prevalence of obesity is rapidly increasing, in others hunger continues. Doctors are concerned about the chaotic diet and problems with the formation of good habits, and scientists are asking more ambitious questions: how to feed humanity when the resources begin to lack? We tried to sort out promising innovations in the food world and look into the future.
To think about the possibility of growing meat or creating milk in the laboratories of scientists makes not so much pity for animals as the lack of resources: almost 850 million people in the world do not eat enough, and a third of children's deaths in developing countries are associated with hunger. The technique of cultivating tissues from individual cells has long been known, and now a variety of organizations have begun to grow, for example, the muscle tissue of a cow — in other words, beef. In the Dutch University of Maastricht, the Cultured Beef project works: meat grows in a nutrient medium from muscle cells obtained from a live cow. This allows you not to kill animals, spend a hundred times less space and significantly reduce the impact on the environment.
There are many such undertakings: a group of biohackers is working on modifying yeast cells, so that these cells can produce cheese. This is not about a substitute like tofu, but about real cheese - for its production, you need to embed part of the cow's DNA encoding milk protein into yeast. Perfectdayfoods also plan to launch the creation of milk without the participation of a cow. The purpose of the startup New Wave Foods - artificial shrimp, which look and taste identical to the present, only deprived of allergens, do not contain antibiotics, and their use is not accompanied by the killing of living beings or harming the oceans. Finally, Just came up with a vegan substitute for eggs - a mass of mung beans that can be whipped into exactly the same omelets, and most importantly, with the flavor that is indistinguishable from eggs.
What many dream of: a drink with a pleasant taste that helps to relax and improves communication, but without toxic effects on the liver and heart, and also without the risk of poisoning, hangover or dependence. British professor David Nutt is developing a tool called Alcosynth - and he believes that by 2050 this analogue of alcohol will completely replace the original from the world market. While testing several molecules similar to benzodiazepines (drugs for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety).
It is assumed that the drink will improve mood and create an effect similar to intoxication, but without consequences in the form of a hangover or a negative impact on the internal organs. In addition, it may be possible to take a pill after the party, which quickly neutralizes the effect of the drink - for example, to get behind the wheel and safely return home. Apparently, while Alcosynth is supposed to be used in cocktails, it is unknown what his taste will be.
The idea of eating insects is not new, and many travelers have probably tried fried larvae in Mexico or Thailand. While it is difficult to imagine insects not as exotic, but as everyday food - but it is possible that as the Earth’s resources are depleted in developed countries, government programs will begin to encourage the transition to this source of protein. Back in 2010, Marcel Dicke spoke at the TED conference about the efficiency of insect production as food: ten kilograms of feed can create only one kilogram of beef or three kilograms of pork, but as many as nine kilograms of insects. Moreover, when growing plants for human consumption, more animals can suffer (for example, rodents) than in insect breeding factories — that is, from the point of view of vegan ethics, insects are more preferable than plants.
By itself, the process of growing insects is more environmentally friendly and takes up less space, and their use has long been known: insects are a source of lean protein, vitamins and minerals. It remains only to overcome disgust, but for this it is worthwhile to look with different eyes at the food to which we are accustomed. Crustaceans (lobsters and shrimps) and insects are subtypes of the same biological type of arthropods, and eating them does not cause horror in most Europeans. In addition, according to Dicke, we annually consume about 500 grams of processed insects - for example, non-ideal worm tomatoes can be used to produce tomato sauces.
Although most packagings describe in detail the composition of the products, by and large, we do not know anything about what we eat - by the way, Zoe Deschanel dedicated her blog to this issue. Where did the potatoes from which the chips were made? What did the cow eat for yogurt? What is the soil on which the grapes were grown, the wine from which you drink for dinner? Although it is difficult to give specific answers to these questions, if you don’t ask them directly to the manufacturers, special scanners can help with the composition of the products, their caloric content and the presence of allergens - for example, Tellspec, which we have already mentioned.
Devices such as Tellspec or SCiO are designed for rapid molecular analysis of an object, be it a food product or a tablet. However, while they are very expensive, and scientists have to balance between increasing accuracy and reducing the size of the device to the pocket. Another similar undertaking is scanners that detect the content in food of a separate component, such as gluten or peanut. Perhaps, in the formation of healthy habits we will be helped by other devices - in the end, many pedometers taught us to move more and walk a couple of laps around the office at lunchtime. The HAPIfork smart plug can only be one of the first among the many devices that monitor how, when and what their owners eat. Developers follow the path of inclusion: for example, Liftware is spoons and forks designed for people with limited mobility of hands or with pronounced tremor.
We have been eating foods created with the use of genetic modifications for a long time - first of all, these are plants like potatoes and corn or sugar beet, from which sugar is obtained. Although many still scare the concept of GMOs, such products are harmless, and methods of genetic engineering only improve their edible qualities. Not so long ago, a new tool was created for the most accurate genetic modifications, CRISPR / Cas9. In 2016, the first eaten dish containing a plant that grew from CRISPR-modified seeds was reported, the researcher himself ate it.
In 2014, Dutch chemists first created an artificial living cell. This result was inspired by the artist Johanna Schmeer., to create the project Bioplastic Fantastic - enlarged models of microorganisms that could generate water, vitamins, fiber, sugar, proteins, fats and minerals due to artificial photosynthesis. Bioplastic is still a fantasy, but the fact that the future of food interests both scientists and artists, perhaps, speaks to the seriousness of this topic.
As data on which gene in our DNA encodes what function accumulates, it becomes possible to study not only rare diseases, but also such mundane things as food digestion, its tolerance, and the metabolism of its components. Nutrigenomics, a science that combines genetics with nutriciology, is involved in this. Over time, this knowledge is supposed to make it possible to create the most personalized power schemes - and the technologies will help to introduce it into our everyday life, when the application on the smartphone tells you which products to buy or what to choose in a restaurant.
A year ago, Habit launched a nutrigenomics-based service in California. To begin, the client must provide a number of parameters such as height, body weight and age, as well as donate blood for DNA analysis. In addition, you need to go through the so-called metabolic load - drink a cocktail with a certain content of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and then re-provide blood samples so that you can study exactly how these substances are transformed in the body. Based on the results obtained, Habit prepares individual nutritional recommendations. At the moment, the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics does not recommend using nutrigenetics as the basis for drawing up a diet - but who knows how much information scientists will have in their hands in fifty years.
Three-dimensional printers, “printing” food of the most fantastic forms, are already a reality. For 3300 euros you can buy a printer by the Dutch company By Flow, in which cartridges both sweet (for example, chocolate or frosting) and non-sweet foods such as guacamole or beef are loaded. By and large, it is - a new step in the molecular kitchen, which has long been mastered by Michelin's chefs restaurants. The product is divided into molecules, after which the resulting mass can be given any shape - the possibilities are limited by your imagination and software.
Another printer, currently available only on pre-order, is Natural Machines Foodini, on which you can even print a layer of half a millimeter of absolutely any product; the creators say that the devices of the first batch will cost about four thousand dollars apiece, but over time the price will decrease. But the Procusini printer is cheaper than the rest (it costs about 2,300 euros), but prints only from chocolate, marzipan and other sweets. At home, this is unlikely to be useful, and the creators position it as a device for pastry shops or restaurants.
Algae are also plants, and they also use photosynthesis, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Both freshwater and algae contain a lot of protein and fiber, and in some species polyunsaturated fatty acids are found (those most beneficial fats). And, of course, the world ocean seems to be an endless source of these plants - unlike land, the surface of which is already exploited almost to the maximum.
Do not forget about the weeds - or ordinary grass growing at the foot of each high-rise building. If you understand how to make the most common plants edible (eliminate bitter taste or poisonous effects), then you can practically save humanity from hunger. For the time being such undertakings are the lot of individual enthusiasts.
Photo:3D By Flow, Just For All, Hapi