Submitted by filosoful t3_z3r3nd in Futurology
Comments
10degnorth t1_ixo6wrm wrote
There so many good ideas in writing in and beyond Sci-Fi. Ok’ Bucky Fuller was pushing the idea of “Do more with less” in the 60’s.
Goldenslicer t1_ixonclx wrote
So you farm... yeast tanks?
WorldWarPee t1_ixorboi wrote
Algae farms are nuts too
twisted_cistern t1_ixpcepf wrote
That's what r/Amyris does. They have 200klitre tanks and are installing 600klitre tanks.
Goldenslicer t1_ixqfe9h wrote
Lol my joke was too subtle. I was suggesting people farmed yeast tanks, as in, plant yeast tank seeds in the ground, then after you water them, the yeast tank saplings grow into mature yeast tanks, which you then harvest.
Y'know, yeast tank farming.
twisted_cistern t1_ixrjcs1 wrote
I am an aficionado of the too subtle joke
ChannelingBoudica t1_ixtr6bj wrote
They also mention Yeast Vats as the futures only real food source in Travelers the TV show! I thought it was awesome!
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Fritzi_Gala t1_ixnnjn6 wrote
Hey man listen, if it’s cheap and tastes good I will ABSOLUTELY eat bug. It doesn’t hurt my pride to eat insects. They are the most plentiful biomass on Earth after all, so it just kinda makes sense.
I just haven’t seen any preparations of insects that are remotely appetizing… Honestly I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen like, bug nuggets or something. Just grind up the insects into a paste like we grind up chickens into “pink slime,” slap that shit in a nugget mould, put some breading on it and BOOM. Bug nuggets. Mmmm.
PeanutoD t1_ixnztjv wrote
A german grocery store had bug burger patties on sale for a little while a few years ago (2019 or so I think). They weren‘t bad, tasted mostly like whatever seasoning they put on it.
Fritzi_Gala t1_ixojymg wrote
I wish our grocery stores here in America had that! I really want to try something like that, and I’ve been on the hunt for good substitutes for traditional meats. Primarily for cost & health reasons, but the reduced environmental impact is appealing too. Veggie patties and tofu don’t really do it for me lol, I’m hoping insect meat products are closer in taste and feel to beef, chicken, etc.
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Riversntallbuildings t1_ixo9uct wrote
Chapul Farms had a protein bar for a while but they had issues with consistent distribution and retail.
They pivoted and are making animal feed and fertilizer with bug protein instead.
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Illustrious_Map_3247 t1_ixo9az5 wrote
If you draw the line at “gross”, do yourself a favour and remain ignorant about slaughterhouses!
filosoful OP t1_ixndijg wrote
>The developments I find most interesting use no agricultural feedstocks. The microbes they breed feed on hydrogen or methanol – which can be made with renewable electricity – combined with water, carbon dioxide and a very small amount of fertiliser.
>They produce a flour that contains roughly 60% protein, a much higher concentration than any major crop can achieve (soy beans contain 37%, chick peas, 20%). When they are bred to produce specific proteins and fats, they can create much better replacements than plant products for meat, fish, milk and eggs. And they have the potential to do two astonishing things.
drop_database_run t1_ixotrju wrote
Lunar gateway food supply: solved
An interesting idea of it can be used to create non perishable disaster/ famine relief supplies. Would the next step not be integrated hydroponics facilities to reduce our overall sprawl in first and second world nations?
RanCestor t1_ixpea4v wrote
I want that outerspace weed of yours.
drop_database_run t1_ixqrar3 wrote
My name is Alex Hawthorn, and I Amy be a smuggler, but that doesn't make me good at sharing
lightknight7777 t1_ixp7dpq wrote
Really wonder what it tastes like. That's so interesting and the possibility of culturing so many other designer food could be fascinating from a culinary experience. This version might not be very good or just fine or even normal. But the future could be food that doesn't just compete with our natural food but leaves it behind.
twisted_cistern t1_ixpc8a1 wrote
My guess is it tastes like you tell it to taste
MadDog00312 t1_ixpi7a5 wrote
Not a food scientist (just a scientist), but my understanding is that your guess is correct. They literally sample the protein they want directly from the food source they want to copy. It was only relatively recently (last few years) that the technology moved from a lab to a factory.
Apparently the real trick was being able to do it at the cost and scale required to make it viable.
RadioFreeAmerika t1_ixpdmaq wrote
Thanks, but no. I'm waiting for lab-grown meat.
MadDog00312 t1_ixphcft wrote
Funny you should mention that: the FDA just approved lab grown meat last week. The US is the second country in the world to approve lab based meat. Singapore approved lab based chicken in Dec of 2020 (although it’s still pretty restricted).
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RadioFreeAmerika t1_ixqbbss wrote
Not in the US, but I am actually following the developments quite closely, as I can't wait to buy it in my local supermarket. It will be the ideal substitute for "real" meat.
jaylem t1_ixpqm5b wrote
I don't understand attitude, surely it's just neophobia like the article suggests? Like how is eating something that an animal had to live a miserable life and die to provide you in any way better than something produced in a factory like a damned snickers bar?
RadioFreeAmerika t1_ixqb5fs wrote
No animal will have to die for lab-grown meat. It is made from stem cells in incubators. And it is actually quite close to introduction into the market. Some is already sold in pilot projects. In a few years, it will basically be indistinguishable from "real" meat. It also consumes far fewer resources than "real" meat and can be produced much faster and cheaper. Further down the road, it might even be possible to grow meat from extinguished species like mammoths or make things like wagyu meat for a fraction of the costs.
filosoful OP t1_ixn38v9 wrote
Precision fermentation could produce new staple foods, and end our reliance on farming
Precision fermentation is a refined form of brewing, a means of multiplying microbes to create specific products. It has been used for many years to produce drugs and food additives.
But now, in several labs and a few factories, scientists are developing what could be a new generation of staple foods.
didumissme12 t1_ixnei3f wrote
Wish you included "precision fermentation" in the headline.
filosoful OP t1_ixnowkb wrote
Indeed, but unfortunately it's the original title
didumissme12 t1_ixnpf40 wrote
Alright. Thats fair. And you included a write up comment which was pretty nice.
But I gotta ask, why the click bait title? I mean you must've known how cheesy it sounds? Why not fix the title yourself so we all know what they'll talk about?
I didn't downvote or anything. I just oppose click bait journalism because it teaches journalists to sell their stories rather than TELL their stories.
gokussj3anon t1_ixnror4 wrote
I'm not OP but I thought it was pretty common practice to just keep original article titles when sharing papers/articles on reddit in general.
Ironically to avoid people claiming you are "spicing up" the title for clicks (journalists usually do that for ya though so no need lol)
MadDocsDuck t1_ixpiupa wrote
Bro has discovered biotechnology. I think this idea will die because people won't adopt it. If people knew how most drugs were produced there would probably be a bunch of people that didn't want them anymore. You can already see this in small things like microbial rennet that is equal to animal rennet in all relevant properties and yet (at least in Europe) you still see a lot of animal rennet and at least from my observation the percentage of animal rennet in higher quality cheese (the ones that aren't pre packaged but still available in supermarkets) has risen in the past years
Tombfyre t1_ixn84sh wrote
Buckle up chooms! We got some grade-A SCOP coming our way. Seriously though, if it tastes good, is safe and nutritious to eat, and costs less, this technology will likely take over a lot of sectors. I can still see demand for conventional farming for a lot of things, but perhaps less of it.
lefangedbeaver t1_ixng0tq wrote
This and mushroom cultivation is always what I imagined we would need to switch to, to prevent a collapse of our systems. Food production is the only thing required to keep most of us alive, and our food production methods have killed everything else on this planet and now it’s getting to us.
It’s absolutely terrifying though, because it is hard to ever see a plan on this scale come to fruition locally, nationally, let alone globally. People won’t trust it, won’t give up their land, livelihood and traditions. The push back from governments, corporations and anyone they can rally will stall this solution until it again too late.
KK_274 t1_ixngugn wrote
> Food production is the only thing required to keep most of us alive
Clean air and clean water has left the chat
lefangedbeaver t1_ixnh4dy wrote
We fuck that up making food and bullshit to keep occupied between meals 🤷♂️
monofloyed t1_ixngv08 wrote
Also they found insect that can eat Styrofoam & that fungus can degrade plastics at rapid rates
kaushik_11226 t1_ixofpvk wrote
>It’s absolutely terrifying though, because it is hard to ever see a plan on this scale come to fruition locally, nationally, let alone globally. People won’t trust it, won’t give up their land, livelihood and traditions.
I think you are overestimating the power farmers have. Major meat distributors are the ones who make contracts with farmers in order to get the meat. If major meat distributor's change their ways, farmers have no power to object
revolution2018 t1_ixntlzh wrote
I think there is good reason for optimism on this. It's not just steaks, it's everything that uses anything derived from animals. Things that won't get any pushback because people won't notice it happened. It'll be cheaper to use fermentation, which means every corporation that makes food will use it for everything they can.
This alone is more than enough to send the animal agriculture industry into a death spiral. It doesn't matter what people think, the choice is going to be made for them. Unless they raise animals themselves they're going to get their protein from precision fermentation. Soon.
Lightning_SC2 t1_ixp5s0g wrote
That’s true… but money talks. If this is cheap, it can spread fast and take root well enough to reduce how much people are buying traditional food. And then if profits for traditional food fall, say, 50%…
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lefangedbeaver t1_ixnqsl1 wrote
What makes you say that lol
databeestje t1_ixo081r wrote
The same brain damage that also made him an antivaxxer, presumably. Somehow clicking through to someone's comment history is never surprising.
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lefangedbeaver t1_ixnruv0 wrote
Are you high?
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GTholla t1_ixo2st8 wrote
watch out, or I'll send you a Deep-State Microdot that contains a mental virus that makes you get vaccinated
stop it Patrick you're scaring him!
MpVpRb t1_ixnpn09 wrote
>most important green technology ever
The hypemongers must be working overtime
Jackandwolf t1_ixp5htl wrote
Anything to distract us from the possibility of politicians and the media spreading lies about nuclear.
Nothingtoseeheremmk t1_ixod4mc wrote
Nah that’s just The Guardian
kushal1509 t1_ixneca4 wrote
Green hydrogen will never be used as a fuel but it will be used to make food like mentioned in this article. So all the research money spent on making electrolyzers will prove to be really useful but not for the purpose it was intended for.
Rooboy75 t1_ixo5ysi wrote
Why will it not be used as a fuel? Already a load of companies doing so with great efficiency
kushal1509 t1_ixokjqt wrote
Infrastructure required to store and transport hydrogen is costly and complicated to build. It will never be used as fuel at scale because electric is just cheaper in most cases.
Rooboy75 t1_ixomah4 wrote
So was fuel station infrastructure originally.
It is heavily used already as a fuel in maritime and transport.
kushal1509 t1_ixp9j16 wrote
>It is heavily used already as a fuel in maritime and transport
What's your definition for "heavily" here? AFAIK there have been some trial runs that won't even be 0.001% of the total fuel consumed by those industries.
Rooboy75 t1_ixpdatn wrote
Of course it is not a high percentage yet, but there are companies like FMG / Future Fuels industries have developed conversions for dump trucks and rail.
Ferries in Norway running fuel cells. Bus companies in the US running fuel cells for some time already.
Battery is great, but not always practical on a larger scale. Elon fanboys all rave that battery is the only solution, which is why technology development stalls due to opinion based investment influences.
kushal1509 t1_ixq8oqi wrote
I am not saying battery will replace everything. The things where battery alternatives aren't viable would be replaced by bio fuels or e-fuels. Transporting and storing hydrogen is complicated you either need very high pressure tanks or cryogenic storage to get any useful energy density out of it. A few trial runs don't prove economic viability, they prove technical viability. The latter is relatively very easy to achieve.
JeremiahBoogle t1_ixxrgsw wrote
You're swimming against the current if you mention Hydrogen will be used as fuel on this subreddit.
Advanced-Depth1816 t1_ixp8by2 wrote
It could have already been saving us all of the media didn’t ignore the future of renewables and stop promoting oil on tv. People in Florida think gas is the way because the politicians they follow. Florida politics continue to promote oil while every large sugar and orange farm(in Florida)are setting up an equal amount of anchorage for just solar panels? Wake the hell up people you literally drive by these new solar farms on the freeway
IdealAudience t1_ixntgv5 wrote
a few videos on this channel are a good intro, I think - https://www.youtube.com/@theflexitariantimes8140
cybercuzco t1_ixp0dtv wrote
No one technology will solve the climate crisis. There are enough sources of GHG that even completely stopping one like from power or transport will not get us to the point where natural processes will start reducing net carbon in the atmosphere. We need to do all the things plus direct air capture and sequestering. We
Producteef t1_ixpw3bk wrote
I feel like this should read that the microbes are fed with hydrogen that “could” be produced with renewable electricity. We are not really at a place where we can produce low carbon hydrogen yet.
pogolaugh t1_ixp34l3 wrote
Any idea what this could mean for gluten free flours? Is the flour they’re making now have gluten?
ultimatec t1_ixqll73 wrote
The solutions are already available but greed is on top so we're doom
FuturologyBot t1_ixn80q8 wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/filosoful:
Precision fermentation could produce new staple foods, and end our reliance on farming
Precision fermentation is a refined form of brewing, a means of multiplying microbes to create specific products. It has been used for many years to produce drugs and food additives.
But now, in several labs and a few factories, scientists are developing what could be a new generation of staple foods.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/z3r3nd/embrace_what_may_be_the_most_important_green/ixn38v9/
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Semifreak t1_ixr4jhr wrote
You could have added "Precision fermentation" in the title.
Vague titles aren't the best.
twisted_cistern t1_ixrj7e0 wrote
Check out r/Amyris for a company that is doing industrial scale precision fermentation. They have 200 000 litre tanks and are upgrading to 600 000 litre tanks
_one_lucky_redditor t1_ixnsvrz wrote
"If you close your eyes, it almost feels like you're eating runny eggs..."
BitcoinsForTesla t1_ixopbc3 wrote
I’m not a fan of processed food, as it reduces your gut microbiome diversity, which often results in disease. We need more whole foods, with natural fiber, not less.
druidjax t1_ixng6po wrote
everyone does realize that the microbes used for fermentation...produce CO2, right?
Isn't that one of the main things climate change environmentalists complain so much about?
And let's not forget the starchy foodstuffs that have to be grown to feed those microbes.... seems like we are adding more to the system then we needed to add.
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porcupinecowboy t1_ixpfkx0 wrote
“Re-wild” our farmland? Wasn’t it populated with methane-producing herbivores like buffalo and pre-domesticated cows before agriculture?
Really, I can’t believe the arrogance that this next technology will solve all the problems from previous solutions. Just create a carbon tax and let the market actually fix it in hundreds of millions of unique ways. Nope, we just keep wasting all our resources on greenwashed technologies like spending 60 to 90,000 miles of gasoline energy to build an electric car, and burning a gallon of oil to make a gallon of “renewable” ethanol.
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Pwncak3z t1_ixodiic wrote
We’re not top of the food chain. Mother Earth will fuck us all up in a real way if we don’t figure out how to love here without killing the planet lol
KungFuHamster t1_ixn87fw wrote
Asimov wrote about yeast tank farms to feed Earth's struggling population in Caves of Steel, published 1953. There may be other examples that predate it but that's the earliest I can recall offhand. There are still many good ideas in sci fi just waiting to be developed.