Over the past 10,000 years, we have systematically resurfaced the face of our planet in order to feed our species. This has led to massive deforestation, rerouted rivers, half the habitable land on the earth covered with monocultures. In our efforts to feed ourselves and increase crop yields, our land has been depleted. But it has also led to an abundant food supply that feeds over 8 billion humans.
What would be required to achieve sustainable transformation in our food system? Just as the energy transition from fossil fuels requires scalable, cost-competitive alternatives like wind, solar, and nuclear, transformation in our food system cannot proceed without scalable, alternative methods of food production. A range of new sources and methods for producing food have entered the scene---crop modifications, fermentation, cell cultivation, thermochemistry. We’ll dive into how a number of these methods work and compare them on performance, economics, technology challenges, potential for impact, and consumer acceptance.
