As it becomes clear that we are asking too much of our planet to produce the food we need for our ever growing populations, we have to start coming up with smart solutions. It is estimated that by the year 2050 we will need to feed 9 billion people on the planet. Each eating about 1.4kgs of food a day... Yeap that is a lot of food!
The growing size of our population means that lately governments have upped the scale of production: giant farms require less staff and bio industry means a lot more meat can be produced in shorter amount of time.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/
Why the current industry is not going to work in the future
Currently these large scale farms manage to feed a lot of people. However, they deplete the planet, are vulnerable for diseases because of mono-cultures and are animal unfriendly. As the human population keeps growing this industry is also reaching its end capacity and with no more land to turn into farms we are reaching the end of this mass production industry. The main problem with the meat industry is the sharp rise of demand for meat and the fact that in order to meet this demand all these chickens, cows and pigs also need to be fed and watered, making meat and dairy products taking up a lot more products that need to be grown on.... farms. (Starting to see the cycle here?)
So what solutions are currently being thought of?
Besides the growing call for people to eat more locally, eat less meat, become plant-based eaters or growing your own food it is clear that something needs to change on the large scale. Currently there are two serious options being looked at by scientists:
1. Vertical Farming The idea of vertical farming is that you can grow a lot more if you use the space well. Instead of spreading out on the ground, why not go up into the sky?
Many countries are in fact already experimenting with this. Vertical farming uses LED lights and a certain atmosphere for humidity, using less energy and space than traditional greenhouse farming. The main challenges are how to provide the perfect climate (temperature and humidity) over the whole space, giving each plant equal chances to grow. Another one currently is still the amount of electricity used, since it doesn't use the biggest energy source of all: the sun.
2. Cultured Meat You may remember that beef patty made of cow cells a few years ago. But they have not stopped there. The idea being if you can grow burgers in a lab, you would save a lot of animal abuse and food/space to rear the animals. As the estimate is that our global demand for meat will increase by 2/3rds in the next 40 years, you can see why this is a potential outcome.
Some of the issues? Well it is still very expensive to make cultured meat. The solution for that would be doing it on a larger scale as that would bring down the costs. Another major problem lies in the meat itself: our steak on our plates is not just meat, but also muscles, fat, hormones etc. Currently scientists have a real challenge in trying to replicate all of these in creating cultured meat.
What about you?
The main question of course is: would people buy and consume these things? Will we change our behavior and eat differently? Will countries fund these projects? I look forward to hearing what you think!