21 FUTUREFOOD CHANGING THE GAME OF FOOD AND DRINK

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Futurefood, Rethinking the World of Food and Drink

The future of food is about authenticity and relevance – traceability of supply chains, natural and organic ingredients, convenient and well designed packaging, and fantastic, inspiring taste.

CATERPILLARS, SEAWEED AND iPODS

Splash out on dinner at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant, and you might find an iPod accompanies your seafood risotto. Sounds of the sea enhance the perceived freshness and flavours, and can also affect our sense of sweetness and saltiness.

Caterpillars, already popular in Africa, contain 28 mg of protein per 100 g, more than minced beef, and add 35 mg of iron too. If you're in search of a calcium boost, try grasshoppers.

Rising food prices, the growing population and environmental concerns make food one of the big debates for governments and interest areas for investors. Meat production takes up huge amounts of land, consumes water, diverts crops from humans and adds to carbon emissions.

Insects, perhaps rebranded as micro-protein, could become a staple of our diets – low cost, requiring little space or water. With 1500 edible species, we could soon be tucking into nutrititous crickets and grasshoppers, ground into burgers. Wasps are a delicacy in Japan.

If you still want meat, your next steak could be sourced from a test-tube. Strips of muscle ...

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