The foods of the future?
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The foods of the future?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075
A pretty interesting article I thought
- basically about what possible foods we will be eating in the future with the inevitable changes we're going to have to make with regard to things like climate change, and the cost of producing certain foods (meat in particular).
The potential gastronomical changes are:-
1) Insects - a fairly widely eaten food source in other parts of the world, such as Africa and the east, but eaten less so in the west. The article seems to suggest that the only way squeamish westerners would end up eating them is if they were incorporated into foods (or looked like) foods we were familiar with...
2) Using sound to alter taste - a particularly interesting anecdote is how in Heston Blumenthal's restaurant the sounds of the ocean/sea were played whilst sea-food was being served, with the reviews afterwards saying the food tasted fresher... interesting stuff really - but it can also be used to make things taste sweeter or more bitter, an alternative perhaps, to using things like Sugar, which can be unhealthy.
3) Algae/Seaweed - pretty common in some countries (seaweed anyway) the main advantage is that algae can be grown in the oceans, and can also double up as a means to create green energy (or at least remove Co2 from the atmosphere - although I forget how they do it off the top of my head...) - again, stuff like sea-weed might be incorporated into our diet through other foods, particularly salty ones, possibly even as a substitute for salt - the article says it could be used in this way to cut the number of health issues related to eating too much salt.
4) In-vitro meat - Lab grown meat essentially - this is probably an option which is much more appetising to us than stuff like insects, primarily because it should eventually look and taste like the real thing, but with less energy being used to make it, less land being used to make it, being cheaper, and not requiring the death of an animal - only a few stem-cells and possibly blood (although that bit I'm not sure on, might have seen it in a previous article).
Anyway, what do we think? Anything on the list you absolutely wouldn't eat? Anything which you think is the future? Anything that's controversial etc? Let's hear some opinions
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Re: The foods of the future?I don't eat prawns for this reason - they are basically sea insects.(Original post by Psyk)
Eating insects would suit me fine. I love prawns, and they're pretty similar to insects. They are at least as creepy looking as most insects. -
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Re: The foods of the future?Really?(Original post by Psyk)
Eating insects would suit me fine. I love prawns, and they're pretty similar to insects. They are at least as creepy looking as most insects.
They are delicious insects then lol -
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Re: The foods of the future?Well they're crustaceans, which are kind of similar to insects. They definitely look quite similar to insects.
Supposedly tarantulas taste like crab (again not insects, but similar). At least that's what the packaging said, I didn't make the connection until after I'd eaten it. I really should have read that first, turns out you're not meant to eat the fangs. -
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Re: The foods of the future?(Original post by Psyk)
Supposedly tarantulas taste like crab (again not insects, but similar). At least that's what the packaging said, I didn't make the connection until after I'd eaten it. I really should have read that first, turns out you're not meant to eat the fangs.
You ate tarantulas!? It tasted like crab? omg, then I would like them (but tarantulas? 
). You ate the fangs!? Did you get hurt or something?
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Re: The foods of the future?I ate a tarantula. At £15 a pop, I wasn't having another one(Original post by kka25)
You ate tarantulas!? It tasted like crab? omg, then I would like them (but tarantulas? ). You ate the fangs!? Did you get hurt or something?
No, I was fine. I don't see why you weren't meant to eat them. The venom sack tasted like the bit you weren't meant to eat. -
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Re: The foods of the future?There are numerous research going into algae and seaweed to be an alternative to grass and corn/grain as animal feed. In fact you might be eating algae fed cattle in as little as 2-3 years from now. I doubt it would become mainstream human food though.
Insects... this isn't new, people in 3rd world countries has been feasting on them for a long time.
IV meat, am pretty sure this isn't going to catch on as it would probably be expensive relative to the quality offered. -
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Re: The foods of the future?I don't really see the big deal with eating insects tbh. As long as they're tasty SERVE IT UP!
And like Psyk, the first thing that came to my head when people on hear were objecting to bug eating were prawns.
They look just like bugs but they're tasty, I bet there are other bugs out there that could be just as tasty. -
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Re: The foods of the future?I'm sorry if I seemed to overreact just now; but it just seems so peculiar to me(Original post by Psyk)
I ate a tarantula. At £15 a pop, I wasn't having another one
No, I was fine. I don't see why you weren't meant to eat them. The venom sack tasted like the bit you weren't meant to eat.
No hard feelings I hope
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Re: The foods of the future?To be honest, peculiar was what I was going for(Original post by kka25)
I'm sorry if I seemed to overreact just now; but it just seems so peculiar to me
No hard feelings I hope
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Re: The foods of the future?Nah, it tastes offal.(Original post by Tesphena)
People should eat more offal. Its cheap and tasty! -
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Re: The foods of the future?(Original post by Tesphena)
People should eat more offal. Its cheap and tasty!
(Original post by Harry Callahan)
Nah, it tastes offal.
- basically about what possible foods we will be eating in the future with the inevitable changes we're going to have to make with regard to things like climate change, and the cost of producing certain foods (meat in particular).
