Solar Foods is a startup company that makes food from thin air. Although we currently produce enough food to feed the world – and hunger is a matter of access, not abundance – the environmental costs of abundance are high.
Most Sustainable Food in the World
Even though plant-based alternatives to meat are becoming more popular and gaining market share, their production still requires large-scale agricultural practices.
Even though growing plants has a smaller carbon footprint than raising animals, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense. Solar Foods believes that the answer to a more sustainable food supply is not to expect better farming practices or to consume less animal products.
To create this new, sustainable food source, Solar Foods has developed a novel food – a protein from a single-celled organism called Solein. The single-celled protein, which primarily requires electricity and water, has the potential to grow in the harshest environments on Earth. Sustainable food can be produced even in places where conventional farming is difficult or impossible.
Food sustainability, a recipe against pollution
We are what we eat and maintaining a sustainable diet reinforces our commitment to the environment.
This type of healthy eating is:
- Rrich in vegetables
- Encourages the consumption of local products
- Generates less waste
- Limits the consumption of meat and fish to protect biodiversity
Almost all of us strive to eat in a healthy and balanced way. But do we know how our diet affects social well-being and the health of the planet?
Many of our eating habits are delicious to the palate, but very unsustainable for the environment, the economy and the socio-cultural reality of countries.
How much does our food system contribute to climate change?
Food production leaves a rather bitter taste in nature. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the food industry is responsible for 30% of global energy consumption and 22% of greenhouse gases. As Greenpeace noted in a 2018 report on food sustainability, livestock alone accounts for 14% of these emissions on a global scale.
According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), by 2050 there will be more than 9 billion people on the planet, and we will need to produce 60% more food.
Our oceans are also suffering the consequences of irresponsible nutrition. Massive fishing to meet the demand for fish is leading to the degradation of biodiversity and marine ecosystems. In this particular case, the FAO warns that global fish production must increase by 18% by 2022 to meet consumer demand. On the land, agricultural and livestock operations:
- Discharge chemicals into waterways
- Pollute oceans
- Contribute to the degradation of rivers, lakes, and coasts.
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