Out of this world eating: Interplanetary food tech bridges future science and sustainable agriculture

22 Sep 2023 --- Sustainable food cultivation adapted to the terraformed Martian environment could advance local farming in similarly harsh climates on Earth, as theorized by scientists and artists exhibiting at the Spacefarming: The future of food event hosted by Next Nature Network in the Netherlands.

Food Ingredients First attended an exclusive press event yesterday at the flying saucer-shaped Evoluon building in Eindhoven, ahead of the exhibition’s launch next week.

Novel concepts to be unveiled to the public next week include burgers made from cultured meat, precision fermentation-based milk from a robotic cow – courtesy of Those Vegan Cowboys – and potatoes grown in space. The exhibit was installed through collaborative efforts between farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs and designers.

Research suggests that with the number of people on Earth growing fast – hitting nearly 10 billion by 2050 – more food will be needed than we can produce today.

“Here we explore the future of food. You see things like an algae dome, where you can taste algae shots. We showcase insects that eat plastics and can be consumed. We also grow space potatoes,” says Dr. Koert van Mensvoort, CEO and creative director of Next Nature Network. 

“We are presenting a truly circular setup where you have all the ingredients that consider how waste can be brought back into the system. These findings can also be very relevant here on Earth.”

Dr. Koert van Mensvoort, CEO and creative director of Next Nature Network.Dawn of a new food age
One significant highlight of the event is cellular agriculture, which has been gaining attention across the global industry and anticipated to be the next wave of a food technology revolution.

Recent advancements in the field include the development of “immortal bovine cell lines” – securing the production of mass commercialized cell-based meats – as well as the Orthodox Union’s breakthrough approval of cellular foods as kosher for Jewish diets.

“This [innovation space] is becoming huge. We have domesticated animals and plants a long time ago – macroorganisms – but now we are starting to work with microorganisms, which are cells. Cells can produce food for us. That is a whole new world opening up for us,” says Dr. Van Mensvoort.

The fledgling industry at large is still limited by a lack of regulatory approvals, however, this is changing with the green lighting of the technology in countries like Singapore and the US.

“Are you allowed to grow animal cells in a hamburger and serve that in a restaurant? Not now in Europe. But I expect in Europe, the Italians are not ready for it. They still prefer more traditional meat. We still have to have this conversation – can we do it in a safe and sustainable way, presented in a wonderful dish? I believe the legislation in due time will come,” continues Dr. Van Mensvoort.

“That’s nothing new. Fifty years ago, in the Netherlands, people didn’t eat pizza. It took decades for people to embrace that classic Italian dish, and now it’s super popular. Same thing for sushi. These are global foods now, but it always takes time to shift our thinking.”

“Here you step into a time-machine and already explore and taste future foods, which will maybe one day be natural.”

Crop harvests on Mars
The Spacefarming expo includes a UV-lit installation of indoor-grown crops, simulating growing conditions on Martian farms.

“What we use is not waterculture but we want to use what’s already there on Mars, particularly its soil. We work using stimulants of Martian soil secured with help from NASA, which has never been used to grow crops until today. This is what we do at Wageningen University and Research (WUR),” Wieger Wamelink, senior researcher at WUR, tells Food Ingredients First.

“Our research has been quite successful,” he adds. “We’ve been working on it for 10 years and we have been able to grow all kinds of edible crops, constituting what you would like to eat on Mars, including lettuce, potatoes and tomatoes.We not only focus on salads but also crops that will give you starch.”

“I saw some crops two days ago, which are already germinating, both on our control Earth potting soil and on the Mars soil simulant. We compare them to see if we can get a yield that is comparable for both soils.”

The exhibition includes an digital platform that allows users to conceptualize and visualize cell-based foods being customized in real time, encouraging early engagement in the new food science.The crops are still not growing at the same rate, however. “There is a difference, normally potting soil is a bit better and gives a slightly higher harvest. Martian soil can account for around 80% of crop productivity here on Earth,” Wamelink highlights.

“So it’s already quite similar, but we’re not there yet. Everything you do on Mars is difficult. It costs a lot of energy and effort to build anything, so the more efficient it is, the better it is.”

Wamelink notes that the composition of Martian soil is already quite similar to that of Earth. “For instance, it’s about 50% silicium oxide, exactly the same as Earth soil. But there are differences. One example is that there is no organic matter in it. Earth soil always contains organic matter, plant remnants and things like that. That’s not present on Mars,” he explains.

Other components that are lacking are major nutrients for plant growth, such as nitrate and phosphate.

“Phosphate is in the Martian soil but it is not plant-available,” says Wamelink. “That’s why we need amendments of the simulants to get plants growing. If you don’t do anything, plants might grow up to 5 cm in height and you will not have a harvest.”

“What we want to do is recycle human feces. We have already done experiments with this. That is excellent manure, which is very valuable. You have to recycle everything on Mars.”

In terms of current industry applications, Wamelink details that the scientists are taking their learnings from working with Martian soil to ascertain how food security can be elevated in desert climates.

“We always source our components for the Martian simulants from deserts. We are seeing how we can grow crops in a desert-like situation. We have already done experiments with Sahara sand to see if we can get it to be fertile and good for crop growth,” continues Wamelink.

“In Egypt and Saudi Arabia, for instance, they pump up very old historical water that is distributed across fields to grow crops. This is not sustainable, because in 100 years that will all be gone. What we’re aiming to do is to build a dome in the desert that will be powered by solar panels for growing crops on desert soil indoors.”

Wieger Wamelink, senior researcher at Wageningen University Research, presents new advancements in crop cultivation on Martian soil.This new system will be totally circular, he explains: “You can recycle everything so that nothing gets lost. In a desert normally, water evaporates immediately and is gone. In our system, we pump up the water, then it trickles down and is regained. I think the way forward in the desert is to do farming indoors, like in city agriculture.”

Art engages future food consumers
Meanwhile, Chloe Rutzerveld, a “food futurist” and designer exhibiting at the show, is combining the application of science, technology and design to conceptualize new ways of food production or consumption. This is done to engage with the next generation of cellular food consumers, promoting its early adoption once the products are commercialized.

“We have a new installation called Culinaire Cellular, which conceptualizes customizable future dishes based on cells,” she shares. “There are four steps, from the cell-based production to the final preparation of the dish.”

“In the first step, you can choose the ingredients from things you know or have eaten already. But aside from domestic plant and animal species, there are also exotic animals and plants, as well as extinct species.”

“So we want to raise these ethical questions – if technology and science are no longer keeping back food innovation, what might be possible? To be clear, cellular agriculture is creating a product, often a biological identical food item based on cells, without the plant or animal.”

To demonstrate the Culinaire Cellular device, Rutzerveld first selects the blueberry, Ansault pear and goldfish ingredient options on the touchscreen interphase of the machine. Based on these choices, the device reveals the nutritional value and details about the dish’s flavor profile. It will then work on creating the final dish, displayed on a smaller monitor.

“The next step after selecting the ingredients is the design of the food and the growing method of the ingredients,” Rutzerveld continues. “For instance, will you choose to grow the cells with or without the scaffold? The scaffold is an edible growing structure – such as those made from collagen or alginate – that will tell the cells how to differentiate.”

“In the third step, I can make the layers thinner or thicker. I can also change the layers, such as merging the blueberry and pear. Here people can create their future dish and think about whether they want something familiar or experiment with new flavors, textures and structures.”

Members of the press attending the Spacefarming event were fed samples of crickets and plant-based salmon in an amuse bouche format.The final step is the cultivation process of the ingredients for the dish. “The screen illustrates the process of the cells developing in the bioreactor and views how the nutritional value of the product is changing,” explains Rutzerveld.

“You might also see that the fish is taking a bit longer to grow than the blueberry of the pear. It shows what the pH is and the CO2 produced. You can also zoom into how the cells multiply and divide.”

“In the final presentation stage, you can choose your toppings, such as pea shoots, caviar or chili cress. You can also choose if you want it grilled, baked or steamed.”

“This is a creative way of scientific creation, because not everyone is interested in the science of food production. Cellular agriculture is something like precision fermentation that is happening and probably in the future we will come across these products. So this is a way we can get them involved.”

Concepts involving working with unique – even extinct – species in slaughter-free cellular food production have previously included African antelope-based meat and “resurrected” wooly mammoth.

By Benjamin Ferrer