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["queried_object_id"]=> int(79) ["request"]=> string(1101) " SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS hy_posts.ID FROM hy_posts LEFT JOIN hy_term_relationships ON (hy_posts.ID = hy_term_relationships.object_id) LEFT JOIN hy_term_relationships AS tt1 ON (hy_posts.ID = tt1.object_id) WHERE 1=1 AND ( hy_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (2) AND tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (79) ) AND ((hy_posts.post_type = 'tribe_events' AND (hy_posts.post_status = 'publish' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'acf-disabled' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-success' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-failed' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-schedule' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-pending' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-draft')) OR (hy_posts.post_type = 'post' AND (hy_posts.post_status = 'publish' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'acf-disabled' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-success' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-failed' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-schedule' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-pending' OR hy_posts.post_status = 'tribe-ea-draft'))) GROUP BY hy_posts.ID ORDER BY hy_posts.post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 9 " ["posts"]=> &array(5) { [0]=> object(WP_Post)#13642 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(1986) ["post_author"]=> string(3) "547" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2019-04-05 13:46:42" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-04-05 13:46:42" ["post_content"]=> string(6953) "In spite of the rise of vegetarianism, we still consume about 500 million tons of meat each year. Large quantities of natural resources are needed for meat production, and these resources deplete our planet. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only problem facing us. Because of the continuing population growth, increasingly more meat will have to be produced. How can we increase meat production without causing too much damage to our planet and our live stock?

Synthetic meat

Several companies (such as Modern Meadow) and scientists specialise in transforming human and animal stem cells into tissue. This technique allows them to grow synthetic meat, often referred to as cultured meat, separate from actual animals. Stem cells from living animals are placed in a growth medium of amino acids, fats and sugars, in which they naturally multiply and transform into muscle tissue.

Valuable

High resource costs and environmental degradation Producing meat requires plenty of natural resources. It involves live animals who require specific food. This food needs to grow, and therefore, needs water. To harvest the food, machines are needed. To turn the food into animal feed, resources are needed. To transport animal feed, fuel is needed. Live stock requires outdoor or indoor living spaces. If animals are kept in a barn, then that barn will need electricity. When animals are ready for slaughtering, they need to be transported, which again requires fuel. Electricity is used during the slaughter procedures, and the transport of meat to shops and wholesalers leads to even more fuel consumption. On top of that, livestock such as cows produce high amounts of methane and other greenhouse gases. These gases contribute to global warming and all of its negative effects. It is obvious that the production of meat requires a significant share of our limited resources. Nature Cultured meat reduces the amount of water and land needed by 95%. If fewer animals are needed for meat production, we can give more land back to nature. Besides that, cultured meat needs far less hormones and antibiotics, which means fewer negative effects on our health. Growing demand The demand for meat is growing, despite the trend of vegetarianism. This is partly because of the increasing world population. It is expected that a lot more meat will be needed in the future, particularly in countries such as Russia, China and India. Increased mass production will lead to an increased strain on resources and, quite likely, a deterioration in animal welfare as well. Animal welfare On the other hand, cultured meat will improve animal welfare. Fewer animals will need to be killed for their meat, so there will be no more need for mass production and, as a result, animals will have a higher quality of life. Tailor made Tailor made meat isn’t something that will be available right away, but in the future, it could be possible to have a variety of meat types for different types of consumers. For instance, certain vitamins could be added that are not naturally present in regular meat. Status A hamburger made from cultured meat has already passed the taste test in London. Steak chips, made from cow muscles, have been tested as well, with good results. It will take a while before you’ll find them in the supermarket though, due to the laws that will have to be approved first. Usually this process takes about eighteen months. During this time, the producers will have the opportunity to prove that their product is safe and healthy. Because an ever-growing number of companies are starting to see the potential of cultured meat, the amount of research being done is increasing. This can help bring cultured meat to the market faster than was expected initially. Based on current predictions, it could be as early as 2021, with some companies even aiming for 2020. Organisations Currently, there are companies worldwide researching cultured meat. One Dutch company doing just that is Mosa Meat. Its owner launched his first cultured burger in 2013. Although the burger was a bit dry, Mosa Meat is trying to create juicier meat now, and on a large scale. It will be sold as a luxury product initially, at sixty euros per kilo. Right now, they are growing the meat in the foetus of a slaughtered cow, but if the company wants to turn this into a success, they’ll have to create a better solution. After all, the principle is to produce meat without the need to slaughter any animals. The dilemma that the cultured meat industry is facing, is that consumers obviously want to know what they are eating, while the producers want to keep their recipes out of their competitors’ hands. American NGO New Harvest is financing five universities to research the options for a wider offer of cultured meat, including turkey and lobster. In the US, Finless Foods and Blue Nalu mainly research cultured fish, which is a cheaper process because fish cells require a lower temperature and therefore less electricity.

Barriers

At the time of writing, it is difficult to predict the long-term effects of cultured meat, simply because it is not yet being produced and consumed in large amounts. Current research shows that it is still too early to determine if cultured meat is the ideal solution for the environment. In many cases, the required electricity will still be generated through fossil fuels. On top of that, more water will be needed than was initially expected. Cultured meat doesn’t have an immune system, so it will have to be sterilised, requiring large quantities of water. Not all animal ingredients and animal products can be replaced by cultured meat, such as ingredients in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, and other useful commodities such as leather. These products are much more difficult to replace than actual meat. We still need to do a lot more research if we wish to replace all animal products completely.

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving." ["post_title"]=> string(38) "Meat or not meat, that is the question" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(14) "synthetic-meat" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2019-07-11 09:04:10" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-07-11 09:04:10" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(33) "https://www.happonomy.org/?p=1986" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [1]=> object(WP_Post)#13638 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(958) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "55" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2016-01-02 00:00:00" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2016-01-02 00:00:00" ["post_content"]=> string(7262) "  The year 2050. Megacities. A population of 9 billion people. Lack of land and water. How could there possibly be enough food for everyone in the near future? Aren’t there limits to straining our current conventional way of farming? Yes, there are. Is there a radical, disruptive innovation that can give us a sustainable alternative? Thank goodness, yes, there is.

Grow! Grow! Grow! (in a completely different way)

Is it possible to conceive an agriculture that is up to 50 times more efficient? An agriculture without pesticides and which uses only 10% of the water conventional agriculture needs? With plants that taste much better and never catch a disease? Sounds like science fiction? Then science fiction is already here today. We do have the technologies to enable this 21st century version of the Garden of Eden. The type of agriculture we are talking about, comes by different names: indoor farming, urban agriculture or vertical farming. But, what’s in a name? Where’s the real revolution?

Think like a plant! (but, hey, keep your wits)

In the late 80’s two companies, in two different parts of the world, took on to the same idea. Plant physiologists of both the Japanese company Mirai (meaning The Future) and the Dutch company PlantLab, understood that plants, in general, do not grow to their full potential. And that’s quite an understatement. All plants evolved in time to be able to survive in harsh natural conditions: heat, cold, heavy rain, winds, blistering sun… Traditional agriculture soften these conditions by growing crops in controlled environments, such as green houses. A giant step and much better for the plants, of course, which results in bigger yields. Artificial lighting further advanced this growth process by giving plants light during the night. Now take another giant step. Think like a plant! What would you really need, if you were a plant? What would you need for your optimal growth? This fundamentally different question led to a very new perspective of our common understanding of agriculture.

Glow! Glow! Glow! (LED there be light)

The sunny Earth may seem like paradise to us (at least: most days, hopefully), but it is a dreadful place for plants. More than 20 years of research reveal that each plant has its own ‘software’, its own optimal parameters to thrive (temperature, O2, CO2, light, water, nutrients…). One of the astonishing results is that plants actually don’t need sunlight to grow, especially green light which they reflect. On the other hand: plants do love blue and red light, with a little bit op far infra-red light for the heat. Thanks to the remarkable advancements in LED technology, we are able to expose plants to exactly the light they need. Glowing LEDs for growing crops. LED lighting has very compelling advantages: it gives the exact color and intensity of light the plants needs, at a fraction of the power consumption high intensity discharge (HID) lamps currently burn away in greenhouses. The results are wondrous. The lighting revolution now enables us to grow affordable high quality food anywhere (your basement will do), anytime of the day, without diseases and without using pesticides. All in all, the LED revolution leads to a much more efficient way of farming, near where you live. Forget about lengthy and fuel absorbing transportation. Excellent news for farming, but also for foodies: the ‘software’ of each plant can be tweaked for a remarkable, much better taste end product. LED Light indoor farm

Nothing new under the sun?

Sounds like organic farming? Well, it isn’t. This is a whole new type of farming. Whereas organic farming still uses pesticides (yes, it does!), this type of farming does not. To be 100% correct: organic farming uses pesticides if considered natural, which excludes synthetic pesticides, GMO treatments and antibiotics. Another very different feature is that organic farming requires more – not less – acreage than traditional agriculture, due to lower yields.

A song for the deaf?

There’s a huge difference between ‘can do’ and actually doing. So, is this revolution really happening? Is it more than a song for the deaf? Yes. The world is moving towards this new type of agriculture. Several companies, from plant physiologists to LED systems manufacturers, from universities to large electronic companies, are focused on this development. In Japan, after the Fukushima disaster, Toshiba and Fujitsu allocated their old clean rooms to indoor farming. In Singapore, Panasonic is supplying fresh vegetables for this land-scarce city-state. In China, the cities are assigning entire floors under the parking lot in new buildings for controlled environment farming. In Korea, you can already buy in-supermarket-grown food. MIT has recently launched the Open Agriculture project, providing an open source platform where everybody can share and discuss their findings, aiming at providing a sustainable future for agriculture, for all of us.

Conclusion: the future of farming is already here

Earth’s population may continue to grow, there is a way of feeding us all. And isn't it beautiful: it can be done in a sustainable and affordable way. The LED driven agriculture can be done anywhere, anytime. Consuming up to 50 times less land. With 90 percent less water. With 0 pesticides and 0 diseases. And isn't it tasteful: the crops prove to be much more delicious. So LED there be enough and healthy food for everyone.   With thanks to Dirk Remmerie for his contribution to this article.

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving." ["post_title"]=> string(43) "LED there be light! (and food for everyone)" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(18) "led-there-be-light" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2019-07-16 12:26:38" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-07-16 12:26:38" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(55) "https://www.happonomy.org/creativity/led-there-be-light/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [2]=> object(WP_Post)#13639 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(935) ["post_author"]=> string(3) "547" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2015-02-19 00:00:00" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2015-02-19 00:00:00" ["post_content"]=> string(7372) "Water makes life possible. Even when we use our telescopes to explore the vastness of the universe, one of the first things we look for is water. This precious liquid is key to our survival as it is largely involved in all food production. Drip irrigation systems represent modern concepts of making good use of the water we have. They are highly effective and they can provide excellent results with very limited supplies of water. A drip irrigation system can make arid and sandy soils suitable for food propagation, which suggests that these systems may hold a possible solution to world hunger.

How do They Work?

Drip irrigation systems are quite simple. The main components are pumps, tubes and emitters. Pumps supply the water pressure, the tubes distribute the water across the field and the emitters or drippers deploy the water to the right location. Other components like valves, connectors and filters are also used to aid the process. Drip irrigation  

Over or Under

Drip irrigation systems can be placed over the ground or in the soil. The main idea is to get the water as close to the roots as possible, so underground systems may lead through the crop roots.

Conquering Uneven Terrain

Uneven terrain possesses no problem for the drip irrigation systems. Since the water is delivered straight into the soil, there is a low risk of uneven terrain affecting the water distribution. There are some limitations, but compared to sprinkling, this method of delivery is a lot more accurate. With these systems, farmers instantly gain more surface for food propagation and they save money that would previously be used to flatten and clear the area.

Fertigation is the Way to Go

Efficient crop growing entails the use of fertilizers as well. The method of adding fertilizer in the irrigation system is called fertigation. Drip irrigation systems are an excellent option for fertigation as the flow control allows farmers to carefully dose the amount of fertilizer they use.

Increasing Yields

Achieving perfect growth rate is another way to combat famine. The drip irrigation systems can provide the right combination of fertilizer and water to maximize growth. If soil is also a scarce resource, making the most of what you have can make a huge difference.

Discourages Weeds and Disease

Applying water directly where it is needed prevents the appearance of weeds on your fields. Weeds make the land less fertile and stem the development of your crops. Dripping water near the roots also keeps the humidity levels in check. Avoiding high humidity protects the crops from mould and other diseases.

Slowing Down Salinisation

The drip irrigation system also decreases the rate of salinisation. Salinisation is saturation of the ground with salts that occurs when a field is being watered. The water-soluble salts accumulate in the soil, hinder the development of all plants and make the field unusable after a while. Drip irrigation and other techniques that use less water in food production, allow farmers to work their fields longer and produce larger quantities of products before this happens.

The Prospects of Using Recycled Water

Our very existence entails the production of large amounts of waste water. Modern technology allows us to re-purpose it, rather than simply dumping it at a convenient spot. The daily production of waste water combined with a drip irrigation system, creates a small ecosystem that can be very efficient. Of course, the waste water has to be processed before reuse and there have to be strict regulation and control. Still, this is a viable solution for regions where water is not easy to come by.

Cutting Expenses to Provide Cheaper Food

Installing a drip irrigation system cuts down on labour and energy expenses. The whole system is usually centralised and it can be operated by a single worker. Dripping systems also require less pressure than sprinkling systems, which in turn significantly reduces energy costs.

Expensive Investment for Low-Value Crops

Still, the initial investment is nothing to sneeze at. If you take out water scarcity from the equation, growing low-value crops with the aid of a drip irrigation system is quite expensive. However, in regions where water and food are hard to find, it is well worth it.

Adding Tech Makes it Even More Efficient

Adding humidity sensors and connecting them to a smart watering system can further increase efficiency. Since most of the action with a drip irrigation system happens underground, these sensors can provide valuable input regarding the current situation. Propagating this information to a central computer allows the system to regulate the drip to perfection. Building this system with decentralised pumps can also allow users to regulate irrigation locally and plant crops with different water requirements.

Success Stories

There are many success stories that show how useful a drip irrigation system can be. Africa pops up regularly, as there are many regions where drip irrigation is the only option for food propagation. BBC News did a story on how drip irrigation and micro-dosing can be used to grow food even in the most challenging regions. Inhabitants of Niger have used this technique to convert deserts into fertile land and successfully address the hunger issue. Non-profit organizations like Rooted in Hope show that these systems even have some unexpected benefits. Their water conservation project in Kenya, allows children to spend less time collecting water to survive and more time in the classrooms.

Conclusion

The existent drip irrigation systems have already proven that they are highly effective food production systems. They have also offered an option of dealing with population growth and inefficient use of water in some regions. As the prices of these systems drop and they become more present around the globe, we may see a day when famine will no longer be an issue.

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving." ["post_title"]=> string(38) "Drip Irrigation to Solve World Hunger?" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(15) "drip-irrigation" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2019-07-16 10:07:32" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-07-16 10:07:32" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(52) "https://www.happonomy.org/creativity/drip-irrigation/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [3]=> object(WP_Post)#10102 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(926) ["post_author"]=> string(3) "547" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2015-02-17 00:00:00" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2015-02-17 00:00:00" ["post_content"]=> string(5543) "805 million. That is the number of people who still live without sufficient food to maintain their health. Of these people, over 100 million are underweight, and three million of them are children that will die due to hunger and malnourishment complications.   The sad part? It only takes €0.20 for the World Food Programme to give a hungry schoolchild a cup of nutritious food. €40 can provide a child with school meals for an entire year.   While many people believe that the world’s hunger problem lies in the fact that food is not readily available, investigations show that more than enough food is grown and produced to nourish each and every person on the planet.

Where is the Problem?

The biggest issue today lies in getting the available food from the producers to those who need it most. A lack of food, aside from a financial issue, is mainly a logistical problem. Developing countries often have fewer options for food transportation. Roads, when available, are rarely maintained properly, and railroad lines are often scarce. To make matters worse, the budgets for these capital-heavy investments are often unavailable. Additionally, the available food is often perishable and prone to disease if not consumed in time, and there are many occasions when it does not get to the people who need it most before it expires.  The result is a trickle-down effect where farmers fail to generate a liveable income from farming, and thus the individuals needing the food the farmer is meant to be producing end up starving, or surviving off only a meagre and inadequate diet.

Drone Grids...Say What?

Thankfully, we now have the technology to offer a solution and the technology to rescue these individuals from malnutrition and starvation. One of these technological solutions comes through the use of 'drone grids'. Drone grids are basically a set of drones that are charged with covering a certain part of the earth’s surface, forming a grid. Each drone is then programmed to deliver food to a certain part of its assigned grid. The use of drone grids accurately and swiftly serves to solve the tricky logistical conundrum presented by countries suffering from food availability, production, and delivery issues. You may already have seen the Amazon video featuring their vision of drone grid package delivery, but did you know that there are already companies using food delivery drones in real life? Francesco Pizzeria Company, a company in Mumbai, India, uses drones to deliver pizza at home. Yes, it really does. If you’re interested in building a food delivery drone yourself, take a look at the Burrito Bomber, where you’ll find a detailed manual of how to build a system that does exactly what it promises: deliver food using a drone.

Yes, there are Still Some Hurdles to Drone Delivery

There are currently two hurdles that are still blocking the path to drone grid delivery service as a solution to the logistics problems of hunger. The first is that legislation on unmanned aerial vehicles, like drones, is still largely under development in the United States, the front runner in applying drone technology. The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration has only recently put its framework in place for drone use, and Europe is still debating the different dimensions that unmanned aerial vehicles can take. The second of these hurdles revolves around technological specifications, such as battery life limits and flight radius. With a battery life of only five to forty minutes, drones cannot yet access the highly remote areas where food is usually most needed. However, it’s just a matter of time before more advanced batteries are developed, such as graphene supercapacitators, and are ready for deployment. This technology is already being developed.

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving.  " ["post_title"]=> string(32) "How drone grids can solve hunger" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(11) "drone-grids" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2019-07-15 14:59:01" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-07-15 14:59:01" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(48) "https://www.happonomy.org/creativity/drone-grids/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [4]=> object(WP_Post)#13712 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(929) ["post_author"]=> string(3) "547" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2015-02-17 00:00:00" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2015-02-17 00:00:00" ["post_content"]=> string(10391) "Could a new generation of synthetic drinkable meals be able to provide adequate and affordable sustenance to hungry or malnourished communities? While synthetic food has been available to consumers since the 1960’s, a new crop of entrepreneurs in a nascent meals preparation start-up scene in Silicon Valley, is now producing companies based on the idea of redesigning food itself to solve the problems of sustainability and healthy living. In 2013, 24-year-old software engineer Robert Rhinehart was struggling to launch his technology start-up and found maintaining a balanced diet during hectic workdays very challenging. Time spent preparing meals instead of coding was time wasted.  Furthermore, ordering healthy take-out was expensive. He wanted to get energy for his body more cheaply and with less waste.

Developing a nutrient-rich powder

After extensive biochemistry research, he purchased the thirty-five nutrients that are required for human survival in raw chemical form and mixed them in his kitchen to produce a powder. He then added water and a little oil to create a drinkable, nutrient-rich formula. Soylent was born! In the space of just one month, during which he lived entirely on Soylent, Rhinehart saw his energy levels rise, his physical appearance and condition improve and his mental performance increase. The time he spent on food preparation was minimised and his food expenditure radically reduced. He decided to launch a crowd-funding campaign to bring his drinkable meal to the masses, and managed to raise more than $2.1 million in pre-orders. By January 2015, his company received $20 million in funding. The success of Soylent and its apparent appeal to health-focused individuals who are looking to “hack” their way around the drudgery of cooking, has more recently prompted the launch of another drinkable meals company. Ambronite, an upscale organic competitor to Soylent, uses pulverised real-food ingredients and is marketed as an all-natural nutritious meal-drink for time-strapped professionals and adventurous travellers.

Fulfilling your daily nutritional requirements

Are these new products healthier than other available drinkable meals? Rhinehart suggests that by using Soylent, humans can be in peak mental and physical condition for less than $3 per meal”. His product is approved as a food by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), not a supplement and its nutritional makeup is optimised for the FDA’s guidelines; one package of powder mixed with an oil blend provides a daily dosage of 2,000 calories in the recommended Carbohydrate/Fat/Protein ratio of 50/30/20. Like Soylent, Ambronite aims to fulfil daily nutrition recommendations in two minutes”. Unlike its competitor though, it is made of 100% organic, often precious, ingredients. It is packaged in one-meal portions, each one providing 500 calories with 30grams of protein, vitamins, all fourteen essential minerals and fibre. Because Ambronite contains all-natural and hard to procure ingredients, it is more expensive; one portion costs between $8 and $9. Neither company advocates a liquid-only diet. The goal is for people to use these drinks as a fully nutritious replacement meal when they don’t have the time to cook or, in the case of Soylent, are trying to save money, and to continue to enjoy solid meals several times a week.

Can a nutrient-packed powder offer a solution for malnutrition?

If all the daily nutritional requirements are met, and cost is not a prohibiting factor, could a synthetic drinkable meal be used on a large scale to combat malnourishment in impoverished communities? The answer is not easy. A low-cost, nutrient-rich synthetic meal like Soylent is a healthier choice than cheap junk-food. However questions have been raised, about the extent to which synthetic food can emulate the beneficial effects accrued by eating from a variety of food sources. Soylent contains all the nutrients necessary for sustenance but excludes various compounds which, though not essential for survival, have been found to produce important health benefits, such as disease prevention.

The feasibility of maintaining a liquid-only diet

Drinkable mealsWhat's more, for a product to be successful in replacing cheap, unhealthy food, people must be willing to eat it. Reporters who have tried living on Soylent for a month have described it  as “bland”, and  mildly unpleasant.  Furthermore, customers who switched abruptly to a predominantly Soylent-based diet reported digestive and dehydration issues during the first days of the transition. It is also unrealistic to expect someone to stick to a liquid-based diet for an extended period of time. Studies have shown that people who drink their meals instead of eating them, experience decreased satisfaction, the sensation of being full. This can lead to their consuming more calories than the daily requirement. Since no tests have been done on the long-term effects of a diet based heavily on these new drinkable meals, they are not a proven method for better nutrition. However, similar nutrient-rich products have been instrumental in treating starvation in developing countries. Rhinehart himself foresees Soylent as a product entering this space in the future.

Production challenges

Soylent, is cheap, easily transportable, customisable, and has a long shelf life. Its animal-free contents will not burden the environment if it is produced in a larger scale.  And while it still relies on agriculturally grown ingredients (maltodextrin, rice protein, oat flour) for its fat, protein and carbohydrates, the majority of its vitamins and minerals are mined or synthesised, not harvested. It is therefore less affected by climate change and fluctuating crop seasons, two factors that adversely impact food availability and can cause starvation in developing countries. But Rhinehart’s vision for his product is even bolder: for Soylent version 1.2, his company eliminated fish oil from the blend and began harvesting the requisite fatty acids directly from algae cultivated in large fermentation tanks. He told the New Yorker magazine that in the future, to help a village full of malnourished people, “you could just drop in a shipping container” full of Soylent-producing algae. “It would take in the sun’s energy and water and air, and produce food”. There are of course caveats. First, Soylent’s dependence on water to become edible would be an obstacle to distributing it in areas where clean water is scant. Furthermore, existing nutrient-rich products aimed at combating starvation have been designed with consideration to the eating habits of the target population. A product created for busy software engineers in Silicon Valley might not meet the needs of different population groups. This new generation of drinkable meals present a healthier alternative to other supplements and energy drinks and could prove helpful in the fight against starvation and malnourishment in the future. Most people agree that sustenance could be achieved on them. The question remains, would it be optimal?

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving.  " ["post_title"]=> string(55) "Drinkable meals, the new all-in-one nutrition solution?" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(15) "drinkable-meals" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(31) " http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-05-20 14:40:37" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-05-20 12:40:37" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(52) "https://www.happonomy.org/creativity/drinkable-meals/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } } ["post_count"]=> int(5) ["current_post"]=> int(-1) ["in_the_loop"]=> bool(false) ["post"]=> object(WP_Post)#13642 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(1986) ["post_author"]=> string(3) "547" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2019-04-05 13:46:42" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-04-05 13:46:42" ["post_content"]=> string(6953) "In spite of the rise of vegetarianism, we still consume about 500 million tons of meat each year. Large quantities of natural resources are needed for meat production, and these resources deplete our planet. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only problem facing us. Because of the continuing population growth, increasingly more meat will have to be produced. How can we increase meat production without causing too much damage to our planet and our live stock?

Synthetic meat

Several companies (such as Modern Meadow) and scientists specialise in transforming human and animal stem cells into tissue. This technique allows them to grow synthetic meat, often referred to as cultured meat, separate from actual animals. Stem cells from living animals are placed in a growth medium of amino acids, fats and sugars, in which they naturally multiply and transform into muscle tissue.

Valuable

High resource costs and environmental degradation Producing meat requires plenty of natural resources. It involves live animals who require specific food. This food needs to grow, and therefore, needs water. To harvest the food, machines are needed. To turn the food into animal feed, resources are needed. To transport animal feed, fuel is needed. Live stock requires outdoor or indoor living spaces. If animals are kept in a barn, then that barn will need electricity. When animals are ready for slaughtering, they need to be transported, which again requires fuel. Electricity is used during the slaughter procedures, and the transport of meat to shops and wholesalers leads to even more fuel consumption. On top of that, livestock such as cows produce high amounts of methane and other greenhouse gases. These gases contribute to global warming and all of its negative effects. It is obvious that the production of meat requires a significant share of our limited resources. Nature Cultured meat reduces the amount of water and land needed by 95%. If fewer animals are needed for meat production, we can give more land back to nature. Besides that, cultured meat needs far less hormones and antibiotics, which means fewer negative effects on our health. Growing demand The demand for meat is growing, despite the trend of vegetarianism. This is partly because of the increasing world population. It is expected that a lot more meat will be needed in the future, particularly in countries such as Russia, China and India. Increased mass production will lead to an increased strain on resources and, quite likely, a deterioration in animal welfare as well. Animal welfare On the other hand, cultured meat will improve animal welfare. Fewer animals will need to be killed for their meat, so there will be no more need for mass production and, as a result, animals will have a higher quality of life. Tailor made Tailor made meat isn’t something that will be available right away, but in the future, it could be possible to have a variety of meat types for different types of consumers. For instance, certain vitamins could be added that are not naturally present in regular meat. Status A hamburger made from cultured meat has already passed the taste test in London. Steak chips, made from cow muscles, have been tested as well, with good results. It will take a while before you’ll find them in the supermarket though, due to the laws that will have to be approved first. Usually this process takes about eighteen months. During this time, the producers will have the opportunity to prove that their product is safe and healthy. Because an ever-growing number of companies are starting to see the potential of cultured meat, the amount of research being done is increasing. This can help bring cultured meat to the market faster than was expected initially. Based on current predictions, it could be as early as 2021, with some companies even aiming for 2020. Organisations Currently, there are companies worldwide researching cultured meat. One Dutch company doing just that is Mosa Meat. Its owner launched his first cultured burger in 2013. Although the burger was a bit dry, Mosa Meat is trying to create juicier meat now, and on a large scale. It will be sold as a luxury product initially, at sixty euros per kilo. Right now, they are growing the meat in the foetus of a slaughtered cow, but if the company wants to turn this into a success, they’ll have to create a better solution. After all, the principle is to produce meat without the need to slaughter any animals. The dilemma that the cultured meat industry is facing, is that consumers obviously want to know what they are eating, while the producers want to keep their recipes out of their competitors’ hands. American NGO New Harvest is financing five universities to research the options for a wider offer of cultured meat, including turkey and lobster. In the US, Finless Foods and Blue Nalu mainly research cultured fish, which is a cheaper process because fish cells require a lower temperature and therefore less electricity.

Barriers

At the time of writing, it is difficult to predict the long-term effects of cultured meat, simply because it is not yet being produced and consumed in large amounts. Current research shows that it is still too early to determine if cultured meat is the ideal solution for the environment. In many cases, the required electricity will still be generated through fossil fuels. On top of that, more water will be needed than was initially expected. Cultured meat doesn’t have an immune system, so it will have to be sterilised, requiring large quantities of water. Not all animal ingredients and animal products can be replaced by cultured meat, such as ingredients in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, and other useful commodities such as leather. These products are much more difficult to replace than actual meat. We still need to do a lot more research if we wish to replace all animal products completely.

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Want to find out in what way food impacts our quality of life? We got you covered! Find out more about food and surviving." ["post_title"]=> string(38) "Meat or not meat, that is the question" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(14) "synthetic-meat" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2019-07-11 09:04:10" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2019-07-11 09:04:10" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(33) "https://www.happonomy.org/?p=1986" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } ["comment_count"]=> int(0) ["current_comment"]=> int(-1) ["found_posts"]=> int(5) ["max_num_pages"]=> float(1) ["max_num_comment_pages"]=> int(0) ["is_single"]=> bool(false) ["is_preview"]=> bool(false) ["is_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_archive"]=> bool(true) ["is_date"]=> bool(false) ["is_year"]=> bool(false) ["is_month"]=> bool(false) ["is_day"]=> bool(false) ["is_time"]=> bool(false) ["is_author"]=> bool(false) ["is_category"]=> bool(false) ["is_tag"]=> bool(true) ["is_tax"]=> bool(false) ["is_search"]=> bool(false) ["is_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_comment_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_trackback"]=> bool(false) ["is_home"]=> bool(false) ["is_privacy_policy"]=> bool(false) ["is_404"]=> bool(false) ["is_embed"]=> bool(false) ["is_paged"]=> bool(false) ["is_admin"]=> bool(false) ["is_attachment"]=> bool(false) ["is_singular"]=> bool(false) ["is_robots"]=> bool(false) ["is_favicon"]=> bool(false) ["is_posts_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_post_type_archive"]=> bool(false) ["query_vars_hash":"WP_Query":private]=> string(32) "77756159d482d79086c0a7841c57918a" ["query_vars_changed":"WP_Query":private]=> bool(true) ["thumbnails_cached"]=> bool(false) ["allow_query_attachment_by_filename":protected]=> bool(false) ["stopwords":"WP_Query":private]=> NULL ["compat_fields":"WP_Query":private]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(15) "query_vars_hash" [1]=> string(18) "query_vars_changed" } ["compat_methods":"WP_Query":private]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(16) "init_query_flags" [1]=> string(15) "parse_tax_query" } ["tribe_is_event"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_multi_posttype"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_event_category"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_event_venue"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_event_organizer"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_event_query"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_is_past"]=> bool(false) ["tribe_controller"]=> object(Tribe\Events\Views\V2\Query\Event_Query_Controller)#12519 (1) { ["filtering_query":"Tribe\Events\Views\V2\Query\Event_Query_Controller":private]=> *RECURSION* } } string(10) "have posts"
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