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Apocalypse Cow documentary - is lab food the future?

In the documentary Apocalypse Cow, environmentalist and writer George Monbiot argues that much of the current farming system (except for fruit and vegetable production) will be replaced by food from microbes, freeing up large areas of land for rewilding and carbon sequestration. He also calls for fruit and vegetable farming to be reformed, e.g. by using deep-rooted cover crops to build soil fertility.

Monbiot explains his reasoning in the column Lab-grown food will soon destroy farming – and save the planet. He describes the bacterial flour produced by Finnish company Solar Foods, claiming that this process produces biomass around ten times more efficiently than through photosynthesis. He estimates that the Solar Foods process, if powered by solar panels, could produce enough protein for everyone on Earth using an area the size of Ohio.

Reactions to the documentary were mixed, including:

Watch the documentary here. See also the Foodsource building block What is environmental efficiency? And is it sustainable?

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