Sustainable food tech: cultured meat, alt proteins, food waste, sustainable packaging, vertical farming, regenerative agriculture. Learn in deep-dive seasons about innovations in the food industry for a more sustainable and healthy future. Red to Green features food startups and food industry leaders to cover game-changing breakthroughs in the future of food.
Find out all the details about micro fermentation. Discover how Formo is using this process to churn out Koji protein-based cheese alternatives that are hitting over 2000 stores in the DACH region. The episode breaks down the differences between micro and precision fermentation and why micro fermentation's quicker market route is so exciting. Learn about the sustainability perks and the cool science behind cheese without cows. Whether you're into biotech, sustainable food, or just love cheese, this deep dive offers a taste of the future. LINKS / Mentions The Bright Green Partners overview on different types of fermentation https://brightgreenpartners.com/precision-fermentation/ Formo - https://formo.bio/https://formo.bio/ Raffa - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffael-wohlgensinger/ Connect with Marina - https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Check out R2G Media - https://www.r2g.media/ Turtle Tree - https://www.turtletree.com/ Flora Ventures - https://www.floravc.com/ Foodlabs - https://www.foodlabs.com/ 00:00 Introduction to Micro Fermentation 04:11 Product Launches 05:32 Deep Dive Micro Fermentation 17:31 Product Development and Consumer Testing 20:56 PF vs. MF in detail 27:24 Benefits of Koji 29:23 Regulatory Landscape 31:47 Fundraising Perks 34:44 Sustainability Impact 42:50 Partnering with Traditional Dairy Manufacturers 46:06 Go to market 47:08 Future Innovations
Hey there! I got some awesome feedback about the last episode of our biotech season! I decided to keep the same format for Season 7 because it really helps us learn better. Remember how repeating things helps us remember them? Well, we're going to do just that! I'll ask one question about each episode, give you some time to pause and think about it, and then I'll give you a quick summary of what the author had to say. If you need a refresher, feel free to go back and watch previous episodes. Let's get going! Support Red to Green https://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Let's finish discussing our book “Meals to Come- The History of the Future of Food.” If you haven't listened to the previous episode, no, But it's not required; I will summarise the key points. You will hear about - how modern solutions of cornucopias, Malthusian, and egalitarians look like - why it can be useful to add an ecological perspective - a tapestry of some of my favorite quotes from the book discussing how belief systems and rhetoric have shaped the future of food predictions. Super, super interesting. And after about 10 minutes of that, we will get into the summary of the entire season. I am joined by my cohost if Frank Alexander Kuehne, the Chief of the Advisory Board of the herb and spice producer RAPS and the Managing director of the Adalbert Raps Foundation, funding research on sustainable food science. More on that later Here is a quick reminder from last episode describing the three types of food futurists - cornucopias, Malthusians and Egalitarians. 1. Cornocopians believe "innovation will fix anything" and throw tech at any problem. We need to go better, faster, and stronger with new approaches. Main theme -> Innovate (biotech in food, cell ag, novel fertilizers, etc.) 2. Modern Malthusians believe we need to reduce our consumption, respect the earth's limits and find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Main theme -> Save (AI to reduce food waste, CSR) 3. Egalitarians believe we would have enough if we would share it better. Environmental issues are a reflection of social inequality. Local is beautiful. Main theme -> Share (Local markets, local food production, foreign development) 4. Ecologists (a category I added) believe we must live in line with nature again. Get off the chemical, agricultural treadmill and think in ecosystems. Main theme -> Restore (agroforests, regenerative agriculture) Ultimately, the solution is not an either-or but an "and." It helps to be aware of one "default" view and recognize which other perspectives may be good to develop. Support Red to Green https://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Seeds of Science https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Science-Why-Wrong-GMOs/dp/1472946987 Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
The worry and the question “will we run out of food?” is as old as humanity itself. And every couple decades this question seems to reappear in intense debates. For example it did in the 1920s, late 1940s, 1960 and 1970s, and 1990s. These worries are usually fired up by 4 main reasons(T) sudden inflation in food prices; (z) environmental stresses, such as urban congestion, bad harvests, or a degradation of agricultural resources(3) scary demographics, such as an unexpectedly high spike in population growth; (4) cultural anxieties about sexuality, working-class unrest or a spike of immigrants And just as our worries about the future of food have been around for a while so have been the ideas for solutions. Did you know that already over 100 years ago scientists and entrepreneurs believed burgers made from algae would be a thing? Looking into history can be humbling. And today we are looking into my favorite topic - the history of the future of food. Today's book is called “Meals to come - the history of the future of food.” It's 400 pages thick and was published in 2006 but aye, it's history. The author Warren James Belasco was For more than thirty years, Dr. Belasco taught, researched, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA writing about food history and food culture. He is my favorite food historian, so I am clearly biased here. But dare I say - you are in for a treat. I am chatting about this book with my wonderful co-host Frank Alexander Kuene. Frank is the Managing director of the Adalbert Raps foundation, offering grants for food science research focused on sustainability. He is also the Chief of Advisory Board at the German herb and spice company RAPS Gmbh.
Have you heard of the writer Rachel Carlson before? She is one of the most important writers who indirectly shaped how you, I, and many people in the West view industrial agriculture. Many would date the beginning of the modern environmental movement to September 1962, when her book “Silent Spring” began to roll off the presses. The work of Rachel Carson shaped how the public sees modern agriculture. It has created an awareness that we aren't separate from nature, and that what goes around comes around. Monsanto and many other agrochemical companies got into PR trouble due to Carson. When genetically modified crops were introduced thirty years later, the news landed on the fertilized ground—blooming into a lot of ugly media attention. In this episode, we talk about the nature of the debate about Genetic Engineering. We touch on GM labeling, how to think of agriculture as a system instead of looking at the solutions individually And whether positioning anti-GMO activists as anti-science is fair or not. My co-host Frank Kuehen is the Managing Director of the Adalbert Raps Foundation, funding food science research for a sustainable future of food. And he also is the Chief of the Advisory Board at the herb and spice producer RAPS. I'm Marina, a science and technology historian focused on agrifood. To get an introduction to GM and pesticides, consider checking out episodes 7.7 - 7.9. Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung Support Red to Green https://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Seeds of Science https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Science-Why-Wrong-GMOs/dp/1472946987 Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
In early 2012 scientists at Rothamsted Research in England started an airfield trial of genetically modified wheat ( the first in the UK for many years ). THe research was publicly funded by a plant science centre based in the south of England. The genetically engineered wheat was sown behind a high fence and protected by 24-hour security. You will find out why all this security was needed in a second. The aim of the research was to test and check whether an added gene would repel aphids. The small sucking insects are commonly called greenflies and blackflies. The wheat would exude a pheromone that repels them. A pheromone is a chemical produced by an organism that influences other individuals of the same species. We also have pheromones, which are pretty useful for dating. The theory was that if wheat could exude these unattractive pheromones, the insects would stop attacking it. And this way, we could save lots of pesticides. Actually, this is a great approach. The stakes were high because a group of anti - GMO protesters had vowed to destroy the test site before the experiment could offer any results. In response, the scientists released a passionate YouTube video appeal. They talked to the media and pleaded that their effort was >actually< to reduce pesticide use. One of the scientists, Toby Bruce, addressed the camera directly; he said: We have developed this new variety of wheat which doesn't require treatment with an insecticide, and it uses a natural aphid repellent which already widely occurs in nature and is produced by more than 400 different plant species. We have engineered this into the wheat genome so that the wheat can do the same thing and defend itself. Are you really against this? Because it could have a lot of environmental benefits. Or is it simply you distrust it because it's a GMO? Another Rothamsted scientist in the video was Janet Martin, who asked quite reasonably: ‘ You seem to think, even before we've had a chance to test the trial, that our GM wheat variety is bad. But how can you know this? ' She paused and uttered a weary, unscripted sigh before continuing. ‘ It's clearly not through scientific investigation because we've not even had a chance to do any tests yet. Support Red to Green https://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Seeds of Science https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Science-Why-Wrong-GMOs/dp/1472946987 Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
In May 2019, the husband and wife Alva and Alberta Pilliod won a federal court case against Monsanto. Both of them had developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This cancer causes white blood cells called lymphocytes to grow abnormally throughout the body. The farmers worked decades with the herbicide, which Monsanto claimed is safe to use. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) categorized the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, as a “probable carcinogen.” And this was the basis for the judge's decision to decide in favour of the couple. Bayer AG had to pay a fine of $2 billion because it had acquired Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup. One year after the merger, BAYER's share price was still cut in half. The pharmaceutical giant had signed up for an ever-increasing burden of legal battles. In 2019, 18.000 lawsuits were pending in the US. Most of them due to cancer cases potentially linked to Roundup. For numerous decades, Monsanto marketed their herbicide as safe to use for farmers and individuals. Most regulatory bodies categorize glyphosate as safe, including - Health Canada Why does the International Agency for Research on Cancer come to a different conclusion than all the other agencies? Possibly because they only consider “publicly available and pertinent studies, by independent experts, free from vested interests.” But apparently, the amount of independent studies on glyphosate-based pesticides is rather limited. How can the world's most-used pesticide have so few independent studies? Is this really a coincidence? The full script with all sources for this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VO05Vrh37BUA9UoLnAOSJz1pdCF3tzkl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115780270029914491641&rtpof=true&sd=true !! Find other sources, key takeaways and links on our blog: https://redtogreen.ghost.io/what-monsanto-teaches-us-about-biotech/ Support Red to Green https://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Seeds of Science https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Science-Why-Wrong-GMOs/dp/1472946987 Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
"The World According to Monsanto - Pollution, Corruption and the Control of our food supply" - what a book title. As an agrifood historian, I enjoyed a whole seminar just on the history of pesticides. And let me tell you - it's shady and super interesting. !! Find the sources, key takeaways and links on our blog: https://redtogreen.ghost.io/what-monsanto-teaches-us-about-biotech/ Find out about the world's most popular pesticide Glyphosate. And about "the World's most evil company" - Monsanto, according to TopTens. French TV journalist and documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin wrote the book. She generally issues books and documentary films together on the topics she investigates. And yes, there is a freely available documentary on this topic! It's quite old-school because the content is from 2008, but well. Hot tip: you can also find the book as a free PDF online on various websites. LINK Support Red to Greenhttps://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreenhttps://www.patreon.com/RedtoGreen Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/foerderbereiche/lebensmittelforschung More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ The book Food Politics by Marion Nestle https://www.foodpolitics.com/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
So how are the politics of the food system rigged? This is the second part of our book talk on "Food Politics- How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, " Find out how lobbying is different in the US vus Europe; you will learn about a bunch of concepts like soft and hard balling, the revolving door and commerciogenic malnutrition and Frank also shares an insider story of working or maybe more fitting - not working - with food safety authorities. LINK Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ The book Food Politics by Marion Nestle https://www.foodpolitics.com/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Why nutrition guidelines have become too much about single nutrients, the struggle of the food pyramid and Frank's experience with lobbyism. Avoid saturated fat intake, increase your potassium intake, and Avoid transfats. this Eating more fruits and veggies and less animal products and processed food is better for human health AND the environment. This episode discusses the food industry's influence on nutrition guidelines. Inspired by a book by Marion Nestle - American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate. “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health” The book is from 2007 and focuses on the American nutrition system but it is still super relevant. LINK Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Discussing the book "Future Foods, how modern science is transforming the way we eat." Nanotech is the science of dealing with materials at the size and range of nanometers. And you may wonder, okay, what is that size? Well, it's about a thousand times smaller than a human hair. And with that size also come very special benefits, but also drawbacks. The book was published in 2019 and written by David Julian. McClements is a British food scientist and distinguished professor at the University of Massachusetts. Sources and further reading Marina's notes on the book - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DNqolXdycObnUnnXQq3YIs-nWCvHaBdVDYceoE2hkpc/edit?usp=sharing Future Food Book - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-12995-8 "The French authorities are particularly vigilant about the dangerousness of titanium dioxide and have played a leading role in terms of scientific expertise and regulatory management proposals" - https://www.toxpartner.com/articles/france-defends-the-classification-of-titanium-dioxide-as-a-suspected-carcinogen/ A searchable database for foods that contain nanotechnology https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/4075/new-database-shows-nanotechnology-in-common-food-products LINK Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Is "climate-friendly eating" a thing? We discuss what makes food carbon-intensive and how to reduce carbon emissions by choosing food that is in season, transported by boat instead of a plane, and grown locally. LINKS Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ Find out more about the book The Carbon Footprint of Everything More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
This is the second part of our discussion on the book "Stuffed and Starved - the hidden battle for our world's food system." We look at the price development at the supply chain, addressing the lack of transparency and how corporates are incentivized to process foods for higher profit. We discuss corporate and consumer responsibility. And talk about whether malnourishment is an issue of "insufficient food"? The author Raj Patel is a British Indian. Academic journalist and activist. He holds a PhD in development and sociology from Cornell University. In this book, he focuses a lot on the inequality of our food system. The book's main thesis is that more people are overweight than people who are starving. And that's solving the issue is now our food system is not just about increasing yield. It's much more a poverty and distribution issue. I'm joined by my amazing co-host Frank Kuehne. He's the managing partner of the Adalbert-Raps Foundation, which offers grants for scientific research in food technology, but more on that later. Let's jump right in. LINKS Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ Find out more about the book Stuffed and Starved More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Welcome to our season called "Book Talks." In the first two episodes, we will cover the book "Stuffed and Starved - the hidden battle for our world's food system." The author Raj Patel is a British Indian. Academic journalist and activist. He holds a Ph.D. in development and sociology from Cornell University. In this book, he focuses a lot on the inequality of our food system. The book's main thesis is that more people are overweight than people who are starving. And that's solving the issue is now our food system is not just about increasing yield. It's much more a poverty and distribution issue. I'm joined by my amazing co-host Frank Kuehne. He's the managing partner of the Adalbert-Raps Foundation, which offers grants for scientific research in food technology, but more on that later. Let's jump right in. LINKS Get funding for your food science research: https://en.raps-stiftung.de/ Find out more about the book Stuffed and Starved More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with the host, Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Please rate the podcast on Spotify and iTunes!
Do you ever think, "Oh, I wish I would have more time to read books on the food system?" - well, my cohost Frank Kuehne and I are doing it for you! Stuffed And Starved: Markets, Power And The Hidden Battle For The World Food System The books we will cover The Carbon Footprint of Everything - 2022 New Edition Future Foods: How Modern Science Is Transforming the Way We Eat Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong On GMOs Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet Connect with Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Connect with Frank https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkuehne/ Check out the Adalbert Raps Foundation to apply for a grant for your master, Ph.D. thesis, or food science research (for your startup). https://en.raps-stiftung.de/
Some updates! 1) Propose experts for our regenerative agriculture season here https://redtogreen.solutions/experts/ 2) Any ideas for partners for our regen ag season? Pls write me :) https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ 3) Join the Hack Summit 11.-12.05. in Switzerland https://www.hacksummit.co/ 4) Agrivest Future of Farming Conference 06.11.23 in Tel Aviv https://www.agrivestisrael.com/ 5) Food Tech IL 07.-08.11. in Tel Aviv https://www.foodtechil.com/ 6) The Adalbert Raps Foundation offers grants for academic research on food tech and food sustainability. Check 'em out https://en.raps-stiftung.de/
I have something very special for you. You can see it as a quiz to test your knowledge and also a way to find out which topics you still want to look into more deeply. For each episode, I will ask you a question, give you time to answer it, so you don't need to stop the audio, and then share how I would answer it. Even if you don't come up with the answer, trying to look for it engages your brain differently. And helps to change “I heard something” to “I learned something. Mentioned Resources Jack Whitehall Comedy Gig Paul Pimsleur - the active retention language learning approach The US lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides Other podcast episodes mentioned From season 2 - PLA - plastic without fossil fuels Season 5 final - questionable regulation and pink slime beef LINKS Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with the host, Marina https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs, and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Please rate the podcast on spotify and iTunes!
Why is it so to get approved in Europe? What does the actual process look like? What are the steps? What do companies need to do? And what is the difference between the systems in Europe, Singapore, and the U.S.? (All the technologies we covered this season have one thing in common: sooner or later, they need regulatory approval. But what does that mean? We often talk about the U.S. system, the FDA - the food and drug administration and the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture. These two regulators work together for certain novel products like cultured meat. But you may know that Europe has very high safety and quality standard. As one startup founder told me" "If you can get past Europe, you can get em all" I love this topic, and we dive deep! If cultured meat, precision fermentation or biomass fermentation, or new terms for you, maybe check out the first episodes of this season to get an introduction. LINKS Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs, and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/
How venture capital shapes the biotech space, the challenges of biotech patents, the hype and bust of plant-based, and what the hell a venture studio does. I enjoyed this a lot and I hope you do too - let's jump right in! LINKS Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs, and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/
We need to scale. But how? The biotech space is will go through some growing pains. Find out about scalability issues like bioreactor capacity, the supply of inputs, and the lack of brains. As well as lessons we can learn from vertical farming companies that are already a step or two further down the line. Join me for a chat with Elliot Schwartz, he is the Lead Scientist for Cultivated Meat at The Good Food. If you are not familiar with precision fermentation check out t episode 1 of this season where we explain a bunch of the terms. LINKS Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs, and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ Hashtags for this episode Bioreactor capacity Fermentor Scaling Biotechnology Scaling food technology Cultured Meat Cultivated Meat Cell-based meat Lab-grown meat Future of cultured meat Hashtags for this season Biotechnology in food Food Tech Food Technology Future of Food Food Innovation What is biotechnology food Food biotechnology examples Food biotechnology startups Biotechnology food companies Biotech food in usa Food biotechnology examples Editor's note: this episode was lengthened with a ProVeg shout out at minute 8:30
Marina Schmidt interviews Californian plant-based honey producer Melibio CEO Darko Madrich addresses the sticky issues of honey, monoculture honey production and what it takes to make plant-based alternatives.
Why is the cacao trade so broken? Why does chocolate increasingly cause new rainforest areas to be cut down? What if we could make chocolate from other sources? Join us for this episode with WNWN co-founder Ahrum Pak. Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ For sponsorships, collaborations or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/
In this episode, we talk about "ingedientisation." Our foods are increasingly puzzled together from protein isolates, colorants, binders, additives, and more. It's January 2023. I recorded most of these interviews in August last year- we plan far in advance. And in the meantime, instead of becoming more excited about biotech, I have become more critical. And that's not a negative development. And it's not a black-and-white state. Being in the industry is like being in an echo chamber of technocratic hype. It helps to step out once in a while and look at the bubble from the outside. Most of the technologies we have discussed are about ingredients. So what about health? And that's what you will hear from Larissa Zimberoff, a Bay Area writer focused on the interplay between food, technology, and business. Her publications include: The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street, and she wrote the book "Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley's Mission to Change What We Eat" which is available as an Audible, ebook, and print. Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
A theme in this season is using new machines. New production hosts. But they are not made of steel or flesh and are all way smaller. This could be cells or fungi like yeast or bacteria used as machinery. So it becomes possible to produce certain ingredients more efficiently. Another machinery that is pretty well-known to humans is plants. We are used to extracting, for example, pigments, proteins, and oils from them. Plants naturally produce them. But what if plants could produce milk proteins? Or other fats? This is called molecular farming. Most likely, no way of conventional breeding will make a plant produce milk. You need genetic engineering. Genetic engineering means taking DNA from a different organism, in this case, a mammal. And inserting this DNA into a plant. This differs from Gene editing like CRISPR, where you only edit the existing DNA. You will hear from Amos Paul Freeman, the co-founder and CEO of Miruku, a New Zealand startup. At first, you will hear how a biotech company realized it's a food company, then we cover the molecular farming technology and process and end with some thoughts on whether GMOs should be labelled. This is our biotech in food season. Let's jump right in. LINKS Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
December 2022, Perfect Day launched the first precision fermentation milk available in Asian supermarkets. It contains the milk proteins whey and casein produced in a bioreactor instead of a cow. Especially whey protein is pretty tricky to make, so it's a real breakthrough. The product is cholesterol-free, hormone-free, and low in sugar and saturated fat. Like conventional dairy, it's a good source of protein and calcium. The Perfect Day cow-free milk is as identical to conventional milk as possible. But at a molecular level, it's still not the same. So in this episode, you will find out why it's hard to re-create conventional dairy milk. And what technology may come after precision fermentation. Something we will call "cells as machinery." or cell-based milk. To look into the future, you will hear from TurtleTree CSO Aletta Schnitzler. Turtletree develops dairy bioactives, so recreating parts of milk that are probiotic or have other health benefits. The bioactives can be added to plant-based products to make them more nutritious. But in parallel, they are also looking at the moonshot solution of using glands to produce milk. So you would grow the glands and give them the necessary nutrients and environment to work as little milk machines. We will clarify this more in a few minutes. Cell-based milk is some of the crazier stuff I have come across in my research on biotech. So I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did. Let's jump right in LINKS Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
We all have eaten fermented foods. Yogurt, Kimchi or Sauerkraut, pickles, beer and wine - to name a few. If you take out alcoholic drinks, fermented foods are known to be great for the gut microbiome. But why is that the case? You will find out in this episode. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation is 13,000 years old. These residues of beer were found in Haifa, Israel. For the longest time, humanity used fermentation without a clue what it's was all about. You may remember Louis Pasteur from our food history episode on canning. He is known as the father of fermentation, as he uncovered the process in 1857. Pasteur proved that living cells, yeast, were making sugar to alcohol. And that a microscopic plant caused the souring of milk - the lactic acid fermentation. You will hear more about it in a bit. Pasteur figured microorganisms are responsible for good and bad fermentations, which spoil the taste of milk, wine and vinegar. He tested whether heat could sterilize products, and he was right. We now know this process as pasteurization. That led him to suspect that microorganisms may also be causing disease and enabled the development of vaccines. During this season, we covered biomass, precision fermentation and gas fermentation. Before we move on to other topics, we round it up by looking into the past - traditional fermentation, also known as microbial fermentation. You will hear from Lars Williams, co-founder of Empirical Spirits, "The Man Behind The World's Most Innovative Distillery" according to Forbes. They incorporate fermentation deeply into their process of making novel alcoholic drinks. I found this talk super insightful and hope you will enjoy it! Let's jump right in. Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
What if you could make pure protein by feeding microbes CO2 and hydrogen? This technology is independent of soil and sun and just badass. Sci-Fi is real, I tell you. Sci-Fi is real. In this season we have looked at precision fermentation and biomass fermentation. If that doesn't mean much to you, don't worry. You will still be able to understand this episode. Both of these technologies need some kind of input. For example yeast in precision, fermentation needs sugars and other nutrients mixed into the broth in the bioreactor. And in solid biomass fermentation, you for example would need some kind of grain for the mycelium, the root structure of a mushroom, to grow in. But what if you wouldn't need any agricultural input? What if you could use a microbe that is so badass that it makes proteins from CO2 and hydrogen? Gregor came across gas fermentation on a quest to find the most sustainable food humanity can produce. You will hear from Gregor Tegl, co-Founder and CEO of Arkeon today, a company based in Austria. LINKS Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Show notes DNA sequence comparisons consistently categorize all living organisms into 3 primary domains: Bacteria that are classified as prokaryotes Archaea (Arkea) Bacteria and Archaea are called prokaryotes, which means they are unicellular organisms. And they were likely the first ones on planet earth. Almost all prokaryotes have a cell wall, a protective structure that allows them to survive in extreme conditions. That isn't always the case for the third type. Eukarya (also called Eukaryotes) includes us and all other animals, plants, and fungi. All organisms whose cells have a nucleus to enclose their DNA apart from the rest of the cell. The bottom line is that different technologies and processes tap into different types of organisms. Most fermented foods, including kimchi and sauerkraut, are made using bacteria. Precision fermentation also uses bacteria, but they are most likely genetically engineered, as well as yeast, which is part of the fungi kingdom. But this second category, the Archaea, survives incredibly extreme environments and deserves special attention. Don't worry if that was too much info all at once. You will find this part in the show notes if you want to read it.
Biomass fermentation. This episode will tell you all about it. Together with Chief Scientific Officer of Nature's Fynd, Debbie Yaver, we get into the weeds. You will learn about 3 types of biomass fermentation, how they are different from precision fermentation and why fungi are such wonderful solutions for everything from alternative proteins, to plastic replacements to biodiesel. Nature's Fynd has raised a total of 500 Million US dollars. They are working on two kinds of cream cheeses and two different breakfast patties. How? Using a badass fungus that was discovered in a NASA-funded project, more about that in a few minutes. This is episode two of our reason on biotech in food, for an introduction check out our previous episode. This episode is a bit technical but also packed with lots of valuable information! Let's jump right in Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
Welcome to our season on biotech in food. Scientists and founders use cutting-edge technologies to make ingredients with less. Less water. Less land. Less greenhouse gas emissions. But also with more. More climate resilience. More functionality. More nutrients. Here are some technologies you will understand by the end of this season: precision, biomass, and gas fermentation molecular farming and using cells as machinery. Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
Here's one of the wildest stories of (lacking) food regulation in the US: In 2008 over 70% of all ground beef sold in the US contained "pink slime," - ammonia-treated scraps. These trimmings would usually be processed into pet food and cooking oil due to higher levels of fecal contamination. Well, the company Beef Products Inc found a way to kill the E.Coli and Salmonella bacteria by spraying the scraps with ammonia and increasing the PH to 9.5. After all, the human food market is more profitable than pet food. Grrreat.... But then it all blew up, starting with an investigative news story by the New York Times in 2009 (and winning the author Michael Moss a Pulitzer Prize)...
Since 2020 China is the second largest dairy market globally and it's right on track to exceed the US and become Nr 1. How did milk go from the image of being barbarian to being seen as a valuable necessity for strong, healthy babies? How is the communist party of China using milk as a political tool? And insights into how small cultural changes can have massive repercussions if your culture is freaking 1,4 billion people large. Oh man, get ready for this one. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ (Part of the script) If you go way back in history the root of this development can be found in the optimum wars in the 19th century. I am quoting Jian Yi, from the China Good Food Fund: “You have to understand the psychology here – there is a sense in China that we have been humiliated ever since the opium wars, but that now we are no longer going to be humiliated by foreign powers.” China has had an extensive history of severe famines like The Great Chinese Famine 1959, which was highly influenced by agricultural reforms. Through most of the imperial dynasties until the 20th Century, milk was generally seen as the disgusting food of barbarians. For most of the 20th Century, milk had a relatively low profile in China. China's economy was closed to the global market, and its production was minimal. Throughout the Mao era, milk was in short supply, rationed to those deemed to have a particular need: infants and the elderly, athletes, and political party staff above a particular grade. Therefore, milk was considered a special treat: When Richard Nixon visited China in the early 70s, he was given White Rabbit candy as a gift, a chewy white caramel made of milk solids. As China opened up to the market in the 1980s, after Mao's death, dried milk powder began appearing in small shops where you could buy it with state-issued coupons. Jian Yi's parents bought milk powder because they thought it would make him stronger. “It was expensive, I didn't like it, I was intolerant, but we persuaded ourselves it was the food of the future.” In a little over 30 years, milk has become the symbol of a modern, affluent society and a sign of a country that can feed its people. The average person in China has gone from barely drinking milk to consuming about 30kg of dairy products a year. Though that is still just a bit more than 1/10th of American dairy consumption, it matters if 1,4 billion people do it. The transition has been driven by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for which milk is not just food but a critical strategic tool. For a country that was not long ago stricken by famine, the ability to afford animal products, particularly milk has been marketed as a visible symbol of the Party's success. Also, during the one-child policy, the CCP made a social pact with the people: while family size might be limited, the state would make sure that each couple's offspring would be as strong as it could make them. Feeding children milk took on great importance in maintaining that image. The CCP created a market for milk where there had been none before and invested heavily in developing a domestic dairy industry.
In April 1985, the Coca-Cola Company decided to discontinue its most popular soft drink and replace it with a sweeter formula it would market as “New Coke.” As soon as the decision was announced, a large percentage of the US population boycotted the drink and made sales plummet for the company. Outrage over pulling the original coke recipe was high, and after only 79 days of introducing New Coke, the product was pulled from shelves and the original Coke returned. So what went wrong? More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ As the Pepsi Challenge had highlighted millions of times [over], Coke could always be defeated when it came down to taste. So in what must have been seen as a logical step, Coca-Cola developed a new formula and conducted 200,000 taste tests to see how it fared. The results were overwhelming. Not only did it taste better than the original, but people also preferred it to Pepsi-Cola. Coca-Cola decided it was time to make a drastic decision that, to this day, is considered extraordinary in the history of brand marketing. They changed the recipe for the first time in 100 years and created “New Coke,” the sweeter alternative favored in the blind taste tests. They pulled all traditional Coca-Cola from store shelves and replaced them with the new formula, leaving consumers with no option but to drink New Coke instead of the Coke they had known before. The company expected sales to rise, and they initially did. But the outrage and drop in sales that followed were unprecedented and unexpected.
Bubble tea used to be a popular drink with shops popping up throughout the beginning of the century. But in 2012 a study sealed the fate of bubble tea in Germany: scientists from RWTH Aachen found the sweet bubbles to contain carcinogenic substances. While the study was retracted, the damage was done, sealing the fate of many immigrant and family-owned businesses. But now bubble tea is coming back, why? And what can we learn from this? More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
Microwave is hard to beat for sheer convenience. But the most significant food tech innovation of the 1940s wasn't welcomed with open arms. It took decades of struggles before it rocketed to success in the 1980s. Red to Green is a food tech podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ The first microwave 'electric range' for the home kitchen was launched in 1955, retailing at $1295. It took more than a decade for a more affordable model to arrive, still costing nearly 500 bucks. 30 years after the first commercial model, microwave ovens had made it into less than 10% of American kitchens. Ad campaigns selling "the greatest cooking discovery since fire" with futuristic and science language may have backfired. As the cold war heated up, fears around any radiation grew. Positioning microwaves as something novel, cutting-edge and techy possibly didn't appeal to the actual users at that time - homemakers. Despite the introduction of safety standards in the 70s and multiple studies showing microwaves don't mess with the nutritional qualities of food, conspiracy theories about them continue to pop up today. Early ads for microwaves also promoted how homemakers could cook what they already made, but faster – a roast chicken, done in 30 minutes! However, despite claims of speed and convenience, it could take a home cook hard work to get good results. Microwaves can only penetrate about 2.5 cm into foods, so they tend to cook food unevenly unless they are cut small enough. They also typically don't produce the caramelization and Maillard reactions, which are delicious browning of foods that make baking cookies and roasting meats smell mouth-watering. If you try onions in a pan with oil, they become nicely brown. If you put them in the microwaves, they will soften up in a puddle of fat. Also, they tend to dry food out, making a chicken chewy - in the wrong way. As a result, speedy, homemade microwave meals could be inconsistent and uninspiring compared to their oven-baked or stovetop cousins. However, a revolution in convenience and consistency was already underway in another part of the kitchen – the freezer. Frozen ready meals had been around for a while - Swanson's famous TV Dinners were introduced in 1953 and frozen on the tray used for cooking and serving. Meals like this saved time on planning, shopping, and washing up – They were hugely popular by the 1970s, and late in the decade, food companies and microwave oven manufacturers spotted a chance to team up. Frozen meals could be incredibly uniform. You might not beat a home cook in quality by formulating recipes and designing packaging specifically for microwave cooking, but you could get a consistently alright meal fast.
Before 1960, the main export banana was called the Gros Michel. Why can't we eat the Gros Michel anymore today? Because it has become virtually extinct due to Panama disease affecting it over many decades, driving it to its eventual near-extinction. The fungi infection ravaged banana plants across the globe, from Asia to Africa, exterminating plant after plant. The fact that the fungi spread worldwide at a relatively rapid pace highlights a severe problem with our current agricultural practices. If a pest or disease figures out how to infect one of the banana plants, it has all the information it needs to infest all of them, as the same genetic material means the other plants have no defense left to fight against the disease. A solution needed to be found, and it presented itself in The Cavendish, a variety that was discovered to be almost entirely resistant to Panama disease. It quickly replaced the Gros Michel on plantations as the export banana and has become the banana we know and eat regularly today. Today, 99% of exported bananas and 47% of global banana production is the Cavendish variety. But now, our current flaky banana is threatened - as history repeats itself. The Panama disease is back, and it's upgraded. The new strain is called Tropical Race 4 and is found on Cavendish plantations across Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa. Daniel Bebber, leading researcher of the BananEx research group at the University of Exeter, researches solutions for the spread of the Panama disease and puts it like this: "The story of the banana is really the story of modern agriculture exemplified in a single fruit. It has all the ingredients of equitability and sustainability issues, disease pressure, and climate change impact all in one. It's a very good lesson for us." These are great examples of the importance of understanding coupled human-environment systems. That's an environmental science concept that, in essence, says that humans impact the environment, and the climate impacts humans. It's essential to understand them both as systems, including many complex, interacting parts that form a whole working system. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
come in pretty handy, even if they aren't particularly exciting. I know I have plenty gathering dust in the back of a cupboard [myself]. But if you stop to think about it, the humble tin can is [actually] a bit of a modern miracle. The problem of food preservation is at least as old as agriculture. Humans have been very creative at finding ways to salt, dry, smoke, pickle, freeze, and ferment foods to keep them edible after the harvest ends – many of these traditions date back millennia and remain alive today. On the other hand, canning is remarkably new in comparison – its 200th birthday was only in 2010. But it works almost unbelievably well. In 1974 some canned goods were retrieved from the wreck of a steamboat that sank in the Missouri River. When they were opened, the oysters, peaches, and tomatoes were analyzed and found to be safe to eat, even after 100 years underwater in tin cans. (Though none of the scientists seems to have been brave enough or hungry enough [actually] to try any.) Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/
Tomatoes used to be something scary; many Italians feared tomatoes believing they were poisonous. People were killed because they ate tomatoes, especially women. Yes. It sounds absurd nowadays. But the success of the tomato was a turbulent journey that took over 300 years. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 In Germany, there is the saying, "What the farmer doesn't know, he won't eat." During the 15th century, many foods came to Europe as immigrants. Christopher Columbus and his crew set sail west in August 1492. He hoped to get his hands on gold and spices in America. When he returned to Europe, his clients, the Spanish kings, were disappointed. Instead of gold and spices, Columbus returned with seeds, grains, tubers, and dried leaves from these four journeys. His crew ate cooked potatoes on the way back to Europe, which saved them from scurvy. What looked so unimpressive would turn out to be crucial. These ingredients would shape Europe's eating habits for decades to come. This is what historians call the Great Columbian Exchange. For the first time in history, potato and tomato plants ventured beyond the Americas. While both of these vegetables are now a basic ingredient of our diets, they didn't have such a warm welcome in Europe. People were (and still are) easily suspicious of unknown foods. The reasoning is just different. Back in the day novel foods were often associated with witchcraft and poison. But fortunately, not everything was lost. Eventually, people came around, so let's find out why.
How politicians were buttered up to make margarine selling illegal, how the spread ended up in some dirty smear campaigns and how Margarine changed colors from white to bright pink to our known buttery yellow. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Food Labs: Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/ In 1866, French emperor Napoleon III. was considering the fact that no war can be won without strong and healthy soldiers. As an energy source, the French army was relying on nutritious butter, among other things. But butter had the disadvantage of being expensive and turning rancid quite quickly in a time without cooling facilities. So that year, the Emperor offered a reward of 100.000 Goldfranc to anyone who could come up with a suitable, cheap replacement. Three years later, a chemist Mège-Mouriès presented the solution: A mixture of beef fat, salt, sulfate of soda, gastric juices of a pig, and a little cream, all heated and mixed into a butter-like substance. At first, he dubbed his invention “beurre économique”, the cheap butter, but changed his mind. He renamed the mixture “oleomargarine”, from the Latin “oleum”, meaning beef fat, and the Greek “margaron”, meaning pearl, because of its pearly shine. That name was later shortened to “margarine”. Mège-Mouriès invention had the texture of a jelly, but at least it tasted like butter and won him Napoleon´s prize. The product didn´t really take off, though. In 1871, Mège-Mouriès sold the patent to a Dutch company called Jurgens which eventually became part of Unilever, still one of the leading manufacturers of margarine to this day.
Up into the 1800s, lobster was considered trash food in the U.S., fit only to feed prisoners, the poor, and cats. Surprising, huh? How did lobster rise from the dirty bottom of the food preference list to float at the very top amongst the high society? Find out how lobsters were entangled in protests and revolts of servants, snuck into passengers' foods on train rides, and were even caught up in World War II. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Food Labs: Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/ The American lobster is native to the Atlantic coast of North America, mainly from Labrador to New Jersey. In the early days of the first settlers and way up into the middle of the 19th century, lobsters were so plentiful in this area that people could wade into the water and catch what they needed for dinner with their hands. While early colonists depended on the crustaceans for much of their food, the sheer abundance of the animal didn't help its popularity. When lobsters washed up on the shore after storms, they were considered smelly trash and used for fertilizer in the fields. They were the cheapest source of protein available in the area and therefore regarded as undesirable peasant food, too bland to be edible for discerning tastes. As 19th-century American navy captain and politician John J. Rowan stated: "Lobster shells about a house are looked upon as signs of poverty and degradation." Lobsters were also a common food in prisons, much to the displeasure of inmates, and were the food of servants.
While the knife and the spoon have been around for a bit longer, the fork had a tough journey. Being accused of the death of a queen, associated with prostitution, and being the star of a 1-year celebrity tour in France. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Food Labs: Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
Mashed, boiled, roasted, or fried potatoes are a beloved staple worldwide, but this has not always been the case. The humble potato had a tough time. It has been hailed as an aphrodisiac, banned for causing leprosy, entangled in the rise of empires, and the death of at least a million people. Read till the end to find out what lessons we can draw from how potatoes went from food not even peasants would want to something that massively shaped our modern civilization. You will look at our tuber friends with new eyes. This is an episode of our food history for the future season where we cover the history of potatoes. Red to Green is a podcast focused on the future of food and food sustainability. We cover topics like cellular agriculture, cultured meat, food waste, food packaging, and more. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Food Labs: Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
Some updated in-between seasons! This week the Foodhack conference in Switzerland is coming up and I am joining, speaking on a panel about the future of food. If you are also there reach out to me and let's see if we can find a time to meet and chat. The food hack conference will be surely one of >the< events of the year. In general, I love the content that Foodhack is putting out and the team including Arman and Emelie are consistently delivering really good work. So hopefully I will see you in Switzerland this week. Otherwise, I am looking for a freelancer to help with LinkedIn social media content. This is a paid freelance position, about 5-10 hours a week. It includes researching and preparing content on food tech & sustainability topics based on podcast episodes or own research. That also means looking at what is going on in the food tech space and creating little write-ups. Some experience in LinkedIn is helpful but I mostly care about intrinsic motivation - being curious to learn about good copywriting, the food tech industry and social media. As I already have quite some experience and a how-to guide on this topic you can also be a newbie in the field. If you are interested again just chat with me on LinkedIn and I will send you more info. That was it - thank you for hanging on. Red to Green is alive and well, the food history season is going to be amazing and will launch soon. My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Our website: https://redtogreen.solutions/ Email: change@redtogreen.solutions
The place where food waste happens is not necessarily where food waste is caused. We find that everything is much more interconnected than we would think. We have looked at food waste throughout the supply chain. How it can be reduced when food is shipped, sold in supermarkets, and wasted by us all - the consumers. But there is one piece missing. And per definition, it's supposedly not even part of the problem. The farm. The place where food is actually created. Any food wasted there is usually seen as food loss. Mostly due to bad weather, pests or just bad fortune. But as we have seen time and time again throughout red to green: words matter. While waste seems to be caused by humans, loss sounds like it's just something that happens. Something we can't really address... More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
If you could make the world leaders adopt 1 piece of the legislature on food waste - which one should it be? According to Carrie Bradshaw it should be extended producer responsibility. Make the big players accountable for the issues they cause up and down the supply chain. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
I know we tend to be quite tech-centric at Red to Green and that's why I find it quite important to include the chef's perspective. This interview may not give you a bunch of hard facts but I believe it may inspire you with a different way to look at food and food waste. From a standpoint of cultural traditions, respect, and creativity. Monica Kisic Aguirre, originally from Peru, holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and dedicated 12 years of her life to doing research, before she switched and became a chef and artist, with now 10 years of experience in the culinary scene. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
Some call it dumpster diving, I call it food rescuing, our interview guest Matt calls it urban harvesting. Every day retailers throw away still perfectly edible food. And activists like Matt Homewood document their finds and share them on social media platforms - like Instagram and LinkedIn. And there is much to find. For the past 3 years Matt has been an active food waste campaigner and recently shared his work at cop 26. Today we talk about what it takes to get big corporations to change, how retailers are the oligopoly of the food system and the moral dilemma of doing something illegal for a good cause. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
One person's trash is another person's treasure. Some food that you throw in the bin is something that other people in your community may value. OLIO is an app that exists to tackle the enormous problem of waste in our homes and also local communities. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
Winnow helps restaurants track, monitor, and reduce their food waste using AI-driven solutions. Find out how food waste is created in restaurant, how that helps both sustainability and what is the most wasteful restaurant model. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
If one steak inspires in a week and the other already in 3 days, shouldn't there be an incentive to people to buy the one closer to expiry? Most of there time there isn't and this is what Wasteless is addressing. With their AI they integrate into retailers' shop systems to recommend when to discount which products or even provide electronic shelf labels which update the price automatically. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
You get a look at food waste from a wholesaler's perspective, you will learn about the challenges in different countries. What it looks like to address food waste as a corporation and how the relationship between retailers and wholesalers affects how much food ends up in the bin. Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
We need skin to keep ourselves healthy. Apeel has created extra skin for fresh produce to extend its shelf life and avoid food waste. Apeel is a company that creates an invisible layer covering produce. So your avocado would last much longer. But why? Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ To stay up-to-date for future episodes take 3 seconds to click on “follow” and subscribe to Red to Green. More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/ For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Thanks to our partners of this season Atlantic Food Labs: Atlantic Food Labs is a leading European VC and company builder in food, health & sustainability. They cover the entire value chain – from ag-tech, alternative proteins, water supply, food security, decentralized food production, vertical farming, to food waste and carbon reduction. https://foodlabs.de/
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
