Who isn’t aware of
Willy Wonka’s crazy candy innovations? Our childhood classic truly had some
innovative ideas of future candies decades ago. Fifty years down the line,
those food possibilities now seem to be relatable, like the Three-Course Dinner
Gum seems an interesting possibility for the future of food. With innovations
like a drinkable meal, 3D printed food,
and lab-grown meat the future of food is
here already! Science has been working hard to bring us food which is not only
convenient to use and cheap but is also capable of catering to sustainability
issues for a greener future. Alternatives to food to feed the increasing world
population and coping with the ever depleting resources is becoming as crucial
as it was never before.
Here’s a list of few
foods that are most probably going to be there on your dinner table three
decades down the lane. Not-too-far, eh?
Lab-Grown
Meat
Lab-grown meat is a
muscle tissue developed from a stem cell taken from an animal and is affixed to a sugar molecule where it develops between
two points, and with a continuous supply
of nutrients, it can grow into complete muscle tissue. It is combined with
proportions of fat and minced to eventually get a patty for a hamburger. The taste tests of this meat claimed
of it is edible but not delectable.
Scientist Mark Post is leading this project at Maastricht University. Is
working on developing the taste of this meat. But it still needs 10-20 years
more for its mass production possibilities.
Bugs
As cringe-worthy as it sounds, you’d be surprised to know that
approximately a population of 2 billion people are already consuming insects,
as reported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. We now know that Bear Grylls (Don’t know him? The guy
from the extreme survival shows on NatGeo, go ahead use your internet via Spectrum internet
plans and look him up, you definitely will recall his face as familiar) isn’t
the only person comfortable with ingesting insects conveniently for their high
protein, fat and fiber contents. In the future,
we sure will need to get comfortable eating bugs, as they might form a
considerable proportion of our meals. Pasta
and food bars made with cricket flour are already available for sale in the market. Crickets, grasshoppers,and mealworms are the most favorable insects
for human consumption with a 100 gram serving good enough to give 13-21 gm of
protein. In addition to that, insects are claimed to taste quite good if cooked
the right way.
Algae
As gross as it may
sound to us, algae is a low tech yet extremely healthy alternative to meet our
future food needs. Algae are known to have greater amounts of protein, iron,
vitamins, calcium, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants as compared to the fruits
and vegetables we know and use. Algae can be a great option for feeding the
world sustainably, as it can be cultivated in pools with fish and it causes
lesser damage to the environment. Experts from the sustainable food industry
claim that Algae farming could become the largest farming industry. Algae are
known to utilize carbon dioxide just like other plants and develop into something
with the highest amount of nutrients including vital fatty acids like Omega 3. Soylentis already using algal products
in its drinkable meal bottles. Fun Fact: it is estimated that there are
approximately 10k types of seaweed that all can taste differently, so there is
a wide variety to satisfy out the palette.
Genetically
Modified Food
Genetic modification
isn’t something new to the food industry.
The genetic modification did sound like a
nightmare or scary thing to many but historically no adverse cases have been
reported ever. Biotechnology sure is going to come to mankind’s rescue in
providing more sustainable alternatives to food scarcity. Like flood-resistant
Rice, non-allergenic peanuts, herbicide-resistant
soybean, tomatoes with longer shelf life, and virus-resistant papaya, etc. are
some of the genetically modified food varieties already being consumed by the
human population in a great quantity.
Drinkable
meal
As the future
generation is getting busier every day, people need more quick and efficient
alternatives to food, especially breakfast! Products like Soylentand Schmilkclaim
to provide a solution to it. With it, you can scoop, shake, and drink your breakfast or a 3-course dinner. Sounds weirdly cool, isn’t it?
Edible
Packaging
Skipping Rocks Lab, a
tech startup based in London is already producing water containers made out of
seaweed that is edible with no taste at all and is completely biodegradable. It
is a no-waste alternative to plastic containers aiming to reduce plastic
consumption and wastage which is adversely impacting the environment. This
technology can grow in future to be used in the packaging of soft drinks, and
cosmetic products. Another benefit of such packaging is, it is relatively
cheaper to make such packaging with extremely low emissions.
Pseudo-Fish
Just as the meat, Lab-grown
fish is also a phenomenon, first experimented in 2002 by scientists from Touro
College created small fish fillets by putting a goldfish muscle in a serum
called ‘Fetal Bovine Serum’. Some companies have also claimed to have made a
shrimp out of red algae. Attention people! The world of “fak-er” things is coming close.
Tell us, which products
came to you as a surprise?
