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FoodTech: A Miracle Solution ?
Credit: @Leonardo AI
Technology isn’t only in your computers or smartphones, it’s everywhere around, even the Food you’re eating. Companies are constantly looking for solutions to make the food cost less, look and taste better. However, recently, it’s the environment that’s been the most prominent concern for everyone.
To make the food industry more eco-efficient, foodTech has become central, but it’s not talked about that much. So, here’s a quick catch-up session on what really lands on your plate.
Credit: @Leonardo AI
Cultivating Meat is a Thing
Technology has evolved to the point that we can now cultivate meat, and it’s not a niche thing either. A British startup called Higher Steaks, rebranded as Uncommon recently and raised $30 million. Moreover, such meat is already sold and served in countries like Singapore, so startups like Uncommon are just waiting for the FDA and the EU to wake up and let the business start for real.
Of course, these people will be more than happy to sell some meat that didn’t require raising and caring for cattle. However, these companies don’t have to reveal everything they put inside it, and antibiotic use is still not as transparent as it should be. Furthermore, they’re working with cells without an immune system to protect them. So, the risks of fungal or bacterial infection are high, but also mycoplasma and various pathogens can appear during the process and potentially be dangerous.
Credit: @Leonardo AI
The World Economic Forum Solution
The World Economic Forum is one of the most important meetings worldwide. During this event, the biggest names you don’t know meet to talk about the future of the world and discuss how to achieve certain goals. Food is a concern for these people, since it’s the biggest market ever created. The latest trend they’re slowly setting is making people eat bugs. You may think it’s surreal, but it is happening.
During this forum, you can hear scientists and experts discuss possible solutions to solve the food problem. Outside of eating bugs, the general idea is to reduce meat in general, according to them, would be to make people allergic to meat. This would reduce our species size, and make the increasing population easier to feed.
Credit: @Leonardo AI
Automatization at Work
FoodTech not only touches on lab stuff, it’s also assisting (or killing, depending on how you see it) farmers. Gone are the days of the little farmer in his crop, tending to his corn or sheep, entertainment maintains the illusion, but they’re slowly dying. If you’ve watched Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon, you’ve seen that behind all the joking around, the series shows the human side of the people providing food to the world, and how unfair they’re treated and taxed by governments.
The rise of automatization has upsides, since it has dramatically increased food production with a better product quality. Harvesting, seeding, fertilizing, many activities can now be automated for more yield per crop. However, more yield per crop also means more strain on the grounds and natural resources needed to make healthy food, and this technology comes at a steep price.
As a farmer, you’d have to pay this price to be competitive with big companies, and even then you’d still need the manpower they have to even have a chance to exist, and sell your products at a below average price, not even covering your bills.
Credit: @Leonardo AI
The Wrong Solution to The Right Problem
It’s a little discussed fact, because companies obviously want to make a profit, but we actually produce enough food to feed the entire world. The problem is that a huge part of what we produce is either transformed, like corn, or wasted. Americans waste ⅔ of the food they produce every year.
Furthermore, this food is then left to rot in junkyards, which generates methane (incredibly more than a flock of cows), and creates more greenhouse gas. Our problem isn’t to produce more food, it’s to distribute it fairly.
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