One of the impacts of COVID-19 is that food security has come under the spotlight around the world with more awareness than ever regarding the important role food and farming play in our lives. In uncertain times, we go back to basics and food is at the foundation base in Maslow’s hierarchy of our needs, it is essential for our survival.
By 2050, there will be two billion more of us on the planet. Scientists and futurists are predicting that within the next 30 years, the world’s population will grow to almost 10 billion people. This pressure, along with a changing global climate and the spread of prosperity across the world means new ways of growing, sustaining, and delivering our food will need to be found. We also know that there are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world, yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food.
So, what then are the possibilities for the world’s menu in 2050?
Here’s a few well known ideas that have been tossed around:
- Lab grown meat
- 3D printed food
- Burgers, flour, and snack bars made out of insects
- Algae and fungi mainstream foods
- Plant-based meat substitutes
- Edible food packaging
- Using sound to alter taste – maybe we’ll start seeing QR codes for playlists on our food packaging. According to experts, listening to a certain frequency can make your cake taste sweeter.
- ‘Personalised nutrition’ will use genetic tests to fill in those gaps to offer healthy eating guidance tailored to the individual.
- Robotic Chef’s for the home – imagine being able to send a message to your Robo-Chef while on the commute home to prepare a recipe of your choice.
- Vertical farming and supermarkets growing their own food for sale
There is just so much happening in this space!
Unfortunately the debate over how to address the global food challenge has become very divisive, pitting conventional agriculture and global commerce against local food systems and organic farms. We need to explore all ideas, whether from organic and local farms or high-tech and conventional farms, and blend the best of both, diversity truly matters.
The global Future Agro Challenge Community is passionate about the fact that in order to revolutionize the world’s menu, we must start with the food that comes from farmers and their landholdings, we believe the ‘ag’ in agricultural innovation comes first.
There has never been a better or more important time to build a healthy and vibrant agrifood innovation ecosystem.
To this end, here at FAC, we have developed a suite of tools to assist communities from all around the globe to collaborate and work together to solve the food production and supply challenges of the future. We have a world network in over 60 countries and we want you to join our efforts to build local ecosystems to solve global food puzzle problems and utilise our global competition for local agripreneurs to reach global visibility.