Ingredients

May 27, 2025

For the first time, agricultural innovation may align with both the economics of venture capital and the urgency of supply disruption

December 19, 2023

Microalgae, those tiny organisms that thrive in water and sunlight, hold immense potential for addressing the world’s protein sustainability challenges. By tackling key cultivation bottlenecks and exploring alternative growth strategies such as mixotrophy, microalgae-based proteins may soon become more accessible to consumers, offering a valuable addition to our diets and food supply chains.

March 7, 2023

The general assumption is that technology is intrinsically neutral — it can be used for either good or bad and the outcome depends on the person or group who uses it. However, history has shown us time and again that this is not entirely true.

June 23, 2022

Chitin- and chitosan-based scaffolds show promise for improving both the scalability and nutritional value of cell-cultured meat products.

March 15, 2022

What options are on the food-tech menu for achieving long-term protein security? Cell culture, plants, microorganisms, algae, and fungi may all have roles to play. But from a sustainability and resilience perspective, is there a clear winner?

March 1, 2022

Gene-recombinant biotechnologies aim to produce key animal proteins at a fraction of the cost of conventional animal husbandry. The implications for research, medicine, food systems, and the climate could be huge. But can these emergent technologies scale quickly enough to spur system-wide change?

October 12, 2021

Seaweed is the collective noun for a group of at least 10,000 species of macroalgae, and new species are being discovered each year. Although seaweeds have been consumed for millennia, they’re increasingly (and rightly) viewed as a hero ingredient. With only half a dozen species cultivated at scale right now, seaweed’s potential for the alt-protein industry is only just starting to unfold.

September 14, 2021

Much attention has been given to the innovators producing plant- and cell-based alternatives to traditionally animal-based foods, but less recognized are the ones developing serums and mixes in which those proteins can grow. Some of the most creative are using ancient and simple components—including algae and mycelia—to make the foundations for animal protein alternatives.

August 11, 2021

“Many other industries use a linear model — take, make, use, and dispose — which is clearly unsustainable. Once a supply chain is established,” says New Harvest Research Fellow Dawne Skinner, “it is essentially locked in because it is too costly to reconfigure. Given that the cell-based industry is nascent, we are in the stage of initiating a new supply chain. My research aims to figure out how we can start this supply chain off on the right foot.”

August 10, 2021

Though opportunity in this space is abundant, government regulators have not yet caught up to the pace of new product innovation. Given the significant implications that new regulations and guidance can have for the alternative protein industry, it is important to ensure that the end results are inclusive and comprehensive.

June 16, 2021

Though perhaps not thought of as immediately as startup magnets like Silicon Valley, Singapore, or Israel, it would be a mistake to overlook the innovation culture of Canada — the outlook for cellular agriculture there is highly optimistic.

July 15, 2020

In 2040, one third of the meat on our plates could be grown outside of animals, drastically reducing the leading sources of CO2 emissions and water pollution, while answering the question of how to feed a global population of nine billion. Cellular agriculture companies such as Memphis Meats, BlueNalu, and Mosa Meat are racing to bring their products to market, but they are still missing a key ingredient: affordable culture media available in large quantities. Brussels-based startup Tiamat Sciences believes their technology platform could become the best option to bridge that gap.

April 7, 2020

In an eponymous book published in 1968, Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich noted that the rate of population growth would outpace agricultural production, leading to widespread famine and subsequent suffering in the 1970s and 1980s. Many now look back at that prediction and shame it as another example of fear-mongering about a Malthusian catastrophe that has been often repeated throughout history but never come to pass. This post comes from my upcoming book, Cultivated Abundance, which will be published by New Degree Press in July 2020.