Veggie Digest #9

Animal-free eggs, computational biology advancements, insect farming, and much more!

Welcome to the latest installment of the Veggie Digest, the newsletter that keeps you on top of the latest in sustainable food innovations. 

Headlines and Trends

A curated roundup of interesting food tech news from the past week.

📰 What Is FoodTech? (Digital Food Lab)

“An ecosystem made of all the agrifood entrepreneurs and startups innovating on the products, distribution, marketing or business model.” While not an article per se, this web page catalogs the many dimensions of food technology including agricultural technology, food science, food service, consumer technology, food delivery, and supply chain. It’s a great high-level view of the complex food ecosystem.

🎙️ Using Computational Biology to Create New Ingredients (The Spoon)

The company Kingdom Supercultures recently took $25 million in funding to make it easier for food, beverage, and personal care manufacturers to create exciting products that are healthier and more sustainable. The company is applying artificial intelligence to analyze a massive database of existing cultures to discover new and interesting potential microbial combinations. They design and supply supercultures, a new class of natural ingredients, and they mix and match naturally occurring microbes from the food system that are already consumed by people into new combinations. These supercultures are used to make plant-based yogurts and cheeses that taste like dairy. They have other uses as well. They can be used to decrease the alcohol content of wine and beer (without impacting flavor) and they can also be used in personal care products instead of harsh artificial chemicals.

📰 Is It Ethical to Farm Insects for Food? (Modern Farmer)

The insect farming industry is growing quickly. Producing one kilogram of insect protein requires 1/10 the feed, water, and land compared to the equivalent output from beef production. Moreover, insect protein generates a mere 1% of greenhouse emissions compared to beef. High-protein insect powder is versatile; it can be used for bread, buns, pasta, and protein bars. Cramped, hot, filthy settings in factory farms that are horrible for livestock are perfect for insects. Still, there are ethical questions to consider. While insects can and do sense physical pain, they do not do so consciously. Shredding insects is a popular alternative to boiling and freezing because they can be reduced to powder almost instantaneously, before sensing any pain.

📰 AI-Powered Search Engine Lets You Turn Any Recipe Vegan (Green Queen)

EatKind is an AI-powered tool that can convert non-vegan recipes into completely animal-free ones by recommending the best plant-based alternatives. The creator, Neetha Avalakki, developed EatKind after struggling to find vegan alternatives to her favorite foods. Now she is helping those who are already vegan or considering going plant-based “veganise” any dish they want. 

📰 Nestle Tests Plant-Based Shrimp and Eggs Amid Vegan Trend (Slash Gear)

Nestle has announced the launch of two new plant-based alternatives to shrimp and eggs. The egg alternative that Nestle states can be scrambled like actual eggs is called ‘Garden Gourmet vEGGie’ and is made with omega-3 fatty acids and soy protein. The new vegan shrimp product is called Garden Gourmet Vrimp and features peas, konjac root, and seaweed.

📰 Treating Beef Like Coal Would Make a Big Dent in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (The Economist)

Two papers published this year in Nature Food found that food, especially beef, produces more greenhouse gases than previously thought. The paper blames the full impact of deforestation on the agriculture that results from it which includes emissions after food is sold and also counts non-food crops. Even after excluding embedded emissions from transport and packaging, they still found that agriculture generated 24% of GHGs (greenhouse gases). According to the World Resources Institute, all food transportation produces a total of 16%. The bottom line is that production, packaging, and distribution (including transportation) have a significant impact on emissions.

Food Lingo: “Precision Fermentation”

There’s a lot of jargon in the food technology and sustainability space. Each week I highlight an important concept to improve your food lingo literacy.

Precision fermentation is a technology that enables the programming of micro-organisms to produce complex organic molecules at a fraction of the typical cost. Precision fermentation can produce enzymes, proteins, flavoring agents, vitamins, pigments, and fats.

📰 Animal-Free Egg Whites Using Precision Fermentation (VegNews)

• The San Francisco-based startup The EVERY Company has just announced the world’s first animal-free egg whites. 

• EVERY uses precision fermentation to create an egg white alternative that is nearly indistinguishable from the animal-based product. 

• By inserting a DNA sequence that would be found in egg protein into yeast, and then adding sugar which is converted into protein, an egg-identical protein that is free from sugar and GMOs is made without using a single animal.

Sustainability Beyond Food

A handful of non-food-specific pieces to keep you abreast of other environmental items of interest.

📰 Electric Cars: The Surge Begins (Forbes)

Carmakers are scrambling to produce a broader range of offerings to match the growing consumer appetite for electric vehicles. Today there are 13 BEV models (battery-powered electric vehicles) available in the U.S., next year that number will quadruple to over 50. Among the most anticipated: an electric version of Ford’s popular F-150 truck. While limited vehicular range, product availability, and a still nascent charging network are a concern for adoption, Federal and state incentives, continued innovation and consumer interest will continue to fuel this trend.

📰 It’s Not Just You: Everyone Is Googling ‘Climate Anxiety’ (Grist)

Google searches for “climate anxiety” have risen 565% over the past year. With all the forest fires, droughts, and heatwaves occurring, it's not surprising that there has been a huge increase in google searches such as “map sea level” and “what can I do about climate change?” This existential dreap is especially prevalent in young people. A survey found that the climate crisis was causing widespread psychological distress for young people in 10 countries across the globe. 45% of teens and young adults said climate anxiety affects their daily lives and ability to function.

📰 New Study Estimates Rooftop Solar Could Provide 25-50% of Energy Needs by 2050 (Columbia Climate School)

With decreases in manufacturing costs and improvements to equipment installing efficiency, rooftop solar photovoltaics used in homes and commercial and industrial buildings are the quickest way to increase sustainable energy supplies. Researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to analyze rooftops and determine factors that could affect their potential to generate energy, such as local population, rooftop area, and whether the roofs were over commercial or residential spaces. They found that 27 petawatt-hours could be generated each year. Meaning that rooftop solar panels could provide a quarter to a half of the world’s energy needs by 2050.

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