As we know, the population is constantly growing. For this reason, ensuring enough food for everyone is a real challenge, especially if you want to continue to eat meat. In fact, resources are dwindling and livestock farming has a huge impact on health. That is why nowadays we also have the possibility to buy meat substitutes. Soon, however, an extremely environmentally friendly product could come onto the market.
Such environmentally sustainable solution comes from a Californian company that has developed a process to produce eco-friendly meat substitutes. In particular, they have found a way to meet growing global food demands without the need for arable land. How? By using air, or rather, carbon dioxide.
It sounds incredible, but the idea is not new. Even NASA, during the first space flights, had thought of creating food from the carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts. This would eliminate the CO2 accumulated in the spacecraft and simultaneously provide food for the crew. NASA’s project has never come into being. However, now that the company Air Protein has resumed this idea, meat produced from the air could become a reality.
The process uses microbes capable of converting CO2 into a protein substance that has the same amino acid profile as meat. These microorganisms are grown in fermentation tanks where they are fed a mixture of carbon dioxide, water and other nutrients. From their metabolism, it is possible to obtain in a few hours a sort of flour with 80% protein content.
Thanks to its neutral taste, it is perfect for creating meat substitutes, enriching flour obtained from cereals and making drinks, too. The flour obtained is also rich in vitamins (including vitamin B12) and minerals. Moreover, it’s totally free of residues of hormones, antibiotics and persticides used in livestock farming.
Thanks to this solution, it will be possible to stop resources exploitation. In fact, there will be no need to make animal suffer, as well as to use soil and water for farming. In this way there will also be less pollution.
According to the United Nations Organisation, intensive livestock farming is the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, it pollutes more than the entire transport sector worldwide. This is also why plant alternatives to meat have multiplied in recent years. However, these products are made from soya, beans or other legumes, which need land to grow. Using air would save soil and also eliminate the use of pesticides.