On the Future of Food Production

By Dr. Irwin Adam Eydelnant

FIVE WAYS WE’RE TRANSFORMING FOOD PRODUCTION

1. Cellular Agriculture

Not as scary as you think. In fact, the majority of lab-grown food is made using technology that we already use for products we consume every day. The most important part of lab-grown eating is that it addresses the need to develop alternative protein sources. Today, we are consuming animal proteins that require 70% of the earth’s total arable land to produce. The processes for producing meat are often inefficient and, at times, unsafe. Taking the pressure off mass production and diversifying our protein consumption has the potential to do right by our health and our environment. With the effort from organizations like New Harvest, the first forays into these products are coming in the forms of lab-grown meat — Modern Meadow, egg protein replacements — Clara Foods, and animal-free gelatin — Gelzen.

Gelzen uses microbes — and not animal scraps — to make gelatin. See them inside the “In the Field” exhibit at Food Loves Tech.

2. 3D Farming

Not all of us understand the difference between hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics, but technologies pushing each of these growing techniques are producing better and healthier produce in a faster, safer and more efficient way closer to home. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants without soil in a mineral-rich solution, aeroponics technologies grow plants in air under mists of nutrients, while aquaponics combines hydroponics with aquaculture — the raising of aquatic animals such as fish. When we transform our farms into vertical structures, we reduce the footprints needed to feed our cities. When we bring these farms into our cities, we reduce the footprint of transporting food around the globe. Large-scale operations are steadily coming online fuelled by businesses like EdenWorks and Aerofarms. These technologies not only have the potential to transform how food is grown, but also can be tuned to produce the tastiest of produce.

See the produce made in AeroFarms’ vertical garden inside the “In the City” exhibit at Food Loves Tech.

3. Entomophagy

That’s right. We’re talking about eating insects. Some of the more popular ones are crickets and mealworms, but there thousands to choose from. This isn’t all that new, as people have been eating insects since early humanity, but now we’re realizing that feeding our cities with insect protein has the potential to transform the impact we have on our environment. Crickets require far less feed than traditional protein sources: six times less than cattle, four times less than sheep, and two times less than pigs and chickens. With these benefits, the United Nations has determined insects are an important solution to feeding the planet as our global population increases to 9 billion in 2050. In the meantime, insect farms are growing in the U.S. — particularly in the south — and insect proteins are finding their way into everything from from protein bars by EXO and pasta sauce by One Hop Kitchen, to reimagined tofu by C-fu.

Taste One Hop Kitchen’s pasta sauce, made with crickets and mealworms, inside the “In the Home” exhibit at Food Loves Tech.

4. 3D Printing

The on-demand printing revolution has definitely put out its fair share of Yoda heads, but just like printing in plastic has found a use in customized product creation and rapid prototyping, printing food is gaining traction. The novelty products were needed for the development of the basic technologies needed to extrude food products into 3D formats producing beautiful sugar structures, impossible chocolate formations, and customized pancakes. Now the technology is positioned to make inroads into nutrient customization, complex product construction, and even transform the way astronauts prepare food in space. We’re looking to companies like BeeHex, Natural Machines and 3D Systems to continue pushing the boundaries in printed food.

3D-printed food is a real thing, and BeeHex is helping lead the way. See them in the “On the Horizon” exhibit at Food Loves Tech.

5. AgTech

At the end of the day, the majority of our food comes from the earth and farmers need the technologies to allow them to keep pace with the rapidly changing food market. Agriculture is seeing the impact of tech investment with the creation of drones for crop monitoring — senseFly, automated robots for crop maintenance — RowBot and CNC technologies for seeding and addressing individual plants — FarmBot. These technologies combine not only to better inform farmers on the condition of their crops, but also to give them a new generation of automated tools to farm 24/7.

FarmBot is one of the many leaders of the Ag-Tech revolution. Catch them inside Food Loves Tech’s “In the Field” exhibit.

*Get a peek at how food and technology will work together to revolutionize what we eat, how we eat, and where we eat at Food Loves Tech, June 11–12th at the Waterfront in NYC.