A special evening that through two documentaries explores the new frontiers of food, between futuristic foods and ingredients from the past to be rediscovered, new consumption habits and innovative production methods.
The panel of scientists appointed by the UN to study climate change has no doubts: a diet with greater use of plant foods helps to save the planet. In the special evening, RAI Documentari collected the great news of the international food system scenario, the relationship between man and food and the new ways of producing healthy and sustainable food.
The relationship with food is linked to the evolution of the human being: from the first populations of gatherers and hunters, consumers of raw meat, to the use of fire that made it possible to cook the first foods, humanity is the only category of living beings who systematically cook their own food .
Are vegetarian and vegan eating habits the sustainable answer to reduce the environmental impact of meat consumption?
Two chefs take us on this journey - which ranges from the production of vegetable meat and eggs, to insect breeding, to 3D cellular meat prototypes and the rediscovery of fermented foods: Antonello Colonna , with his philosophy in the kitchen, and vegan chef Emanuele Di Biase .
The documentary is enriched by the voices of the founder of the Future Food Institute , Sara Roversi, of the economist Raj Patel , author of "The owners of food" and expert in food policies, of the writer Jonathan Safran Foer, who in the essays "If nothing matters. Why? let's eat animals " and " We can save the world before dinner " offers important reflections on the industrial production of meat and on the impact of our eating habits on the climate emergency in progress.
Safran Foer , highlights the health risks, the environmental impact and the issues related to the animal welfare of intensive farming and underlines the need to think about productions that are good for humans and the environment, while the economist Raj Patel defines the meatball chicken the emblem of food capitalism: 50 billion chickens consumed every year on the planet. Sara Roversi reminds us that in 2050 we will be 10 billion people and that humanity will have to find a new balance with the "proteins of the future".
Proteins of the Future: Vegetable Meat and Cloned Meat
The documentary analyzes the growing success of vegetable meat and alternative proteins , with the case of Beyond Meat , a company founded in 2009 in Silicon Valley and supported by figures such as Bill Gates and Leonardo di Caprio, which with 25 million veggie burgers sold worldwide , together with Impossible Meat , holds the worldwide monopoly of this product. Vegetable meat - which exactly reproduces the texture, smell, color and taste of real meat - is mainly aimed at a consumer audience who usually eats meat, but who is particularly sensitive to the sustainability of what they consume. the production process of vegetable meat, in fact, considerably reduces the environmental impact, allowing a saving of 99% of water and land and of 46% of energy.
The journey into the food of the future continues in Barcelona, where researchers study highly advanced 3D printable cellular meat prototypes , before arriving in San Francisco, where a revolution is underway in the way of thinking about eggs . These are in fact recreated in the laboratory starting from plant essences from more than 70 countries of the world: from the white beans of Peru to those of Thailand, from the walnuts of Guatemala to the mung bean, a cereal very resistant to drought and perfect as a substitute for products. animals thanks to its protein intake. In vitro meat research is also making great strides: starting with the cloning of animal cells, a team of scientists is studying how to reproduce all types of meat.
Insects as food
Among the new scenarios of the food of the future there are also those who foresee the consumption of insects : already 2.5 billion people in the world consume them regularly. In Denmark - a country at the forefront of research into new foods and ingredients - they can already be bought at the supermarket. Insects are rich in proteins, good fats, calcium, iron, zinc and fiber, they can be produced in large quantities and in a sustainable way: to breed them 100 times less water and 10 times less soil are consumed than a cattle or pig farm. . It is estimated that by 2025 the European production of table insects will reach one and a half million tons . In the diet of the new "flexitarian" consumer, flexible in his choices but always very attentive to sustainability and environmental impact, the consumption of insects could become an important element. In Europe, we waste 88 million tons of food every year, while the larvae consume the proteins, what remains is used as fertilizer: a perfect example of a circular economy.
Garum: the secret of fermentation
Vegetable proteins, cellular meat, insects, but not only: for the food of the future there are many other options, starting from ancient biodiversity with great potential to be rediscovered on our tables. An example is Garum, the historic fermented dough already in use in ancient Rome (made with mold, salt and animal waste). At the Noitec Park in Bolzano, for example, the microorganisms of fermentation are studied, thanks to a machine that reproduces human digestion: the study of fermentation offers unprecedented perspectives for the nutrition of the future.
The "vegetable skyscrapers"
The documentary then explores new sustainable ways of food production , to address the global challenge of climate change. One solution, for example, comes from hydroponic agriculture , the starting point for a true circular economy, as it allows plants to grow with 95% less water and without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Hydroponic cultivation represents one of the keys to addressing the challenges of climate change. This is the case of the largest vertical farm in the world (6,400 square meters, on 12 floors, up to 9 meters high) built inside a former steel mill in the center of Newark, New Jersey. More than 700 varieties of hydroponic fruit and vegetables are grown on this vertical farm. The "skyscrapers of vegetables" correspond in all to about half a hectare of cultivated land, but they produce 900 tons of vegetables: the equivalent of the ordinary agricultural production of 150 hectares. The journey then continues in Sweden, in Malmo, where hydroponic agriculture is an integral part of an entire sustainable system, in which the waste from separate collection helps to produce biogas.
Rai Documentari - Created in January 2020, under the guidance of Duilio Giammaria, Rai Documentari's mission is the production of documentaries in all forms and languages, to feed the schedules of all RAI networks and platforms. A commissioning factory that develops projects with independent production: a hub for the documentary industrial district, able to optimize production, co-production and commissioning.
