Future Food: How Will Technology Transform What's on Your Plate?

Tech-savvy scientists have been experimenting with ways to produce alternative foods that could help overcome the threat of widespread famine as the world prepares for a looming food crisis partly as a result of carbon emissions continuously heating up the planet.

According to researchers in the food industry, advanced technology could prove effective in creating new food sources.

Through cutting edge innovation, problem solvers are racing against time to ensure there will be a sustainable variety of foods accessible to all for a future that otherwise seems bleak in the face of climate-change consequences.

1. Plant-based Meat

People who fancy meat can still enjoy plenty of options without having to feel guilty for consuming environment-harming red meats.

Recently, scientists were able to develop plant-based meat that tastes exactly like the ones we get from animals, using a molecule called heme. Heme is the ingredient that gives meat its flavor and it proved to have less cholesterol, more fiber and sodium, but the same amount of calories found in real meat.

Another attempt to deliver a tasty synthetic substitute for meat used dulse, a red seaweed that grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and can be a healthy and sustainable replacement for bacon.

2. 3D printed food

Technology-developed software and laser printers can now work together to produce all kinds of food with a click of a button.

Once these carefully designed printers are loaded with the main ingredient needed for the meal, it prints its different parts in extremely high resolution. Vegan steaks, pasta, and pizza have undergone successful 3D printing experiments.

3. The Miracle Berries

The fight against sugar and the many health risks it causes has driven scientists to employ a West African fruit that adds a sweet taste to any edible item.

It has been promoted as the "Miracle Berry" thanks to its synsepalum dulcificum, a chemical taste modifier that causes one's taste buds not to detect sourness, eventually making food sweet.

4. Critters

A 2013 UN Food and Agriculture report noted that humans can make use of about 1900 edible insect creatures that are full of nutrients such as low-fat protein, minerals and fiber, and can be added to daily meals.

Butterflies, locusts, beetles, and other critters have already been in use across several cuisines around the world.

5. TomTato

A Suffolk-based horticultural firm has successfully developed a hybrid plant that grows both tomatoes and potatoes through a tomato vine above the ground and potato plant beneath it. 

According to BBC, each plant can produce up to 500 tomatoes that are sweeter than varieties available at supermarkets.