Mecardo Insight - Farming for the future

From the Mecardo Blog (viewed by all) - Posted by Caitlin Grieve

n 1932 Winston Churchill’s essay “50 Years Hence” predicted that society would “escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium”. Today, scientists and farmers are fulfilling Churchill’s vision, combining technology, science and sustainability to develop creative approaches to food production, such as entomophagy, which is insect eating, and fake meat..

Where we, as a nation, set our sights regarding the future of food production in an over-populated and swiftly warming world is crucial. As someone raised on a farm, I want to pursue agriculture, utilising it to address global food security issues. Living on a prime lamb farm has made me painfully aware of how realistic it is to pin our optimism – as we have done in years past – on the ‘sheep’s back’. When the population of the world is predicted to exceed 9.5 billion people by 2050, farmers will be presented with the issue of producing enough meat, not only to provide for Australia, but also to meet international demands. It’s estimated that livestock production must increase by 70% in less than 50 years, causing scientists to question how Australia will produce enough meat. Farmers and scientists must now look to new ventures that could perhaps solve the questions surrounding what we will consume, and how it’s produced.

Melbourne has a lot of exotic dishes on offer, however entomophagy is an option that is probably rather overlooked by many, as I’m sure there isn’t a huge demand for stir-fried cricket, slug soup or Asian-style noodles with locusts, sautéed in maggot fat. Yes, maggot fat. It should be undeniable to all in the agricultural industry that traditional sources of protein have a dim future, as it’s simply unrealistic to expect that our planet will be able to support both people and livestock, as harsh as that reality may be. Therefore, it is perhaps a smart move to begin looking at alternative sources for protein-based meat consumption and production.

Entomophagy is as old as human existence, and today, around 2.5 billion people consume roughly 2000 different species of bugs. In Vincent Holt’s 1885 booklet, “Why not eat insects?” readers were told to get over their “stupid prejudices” and focus on the benefits eating insects can provide, such as protein and vitamins. Insects convert feed into protein faster than cattle or sheep, and contain key requirements of zinc, iron and Vitamin A. Considering 3 billion people have zinc and iron deficiencies and a quarter of a million lack sufficient Vitamin A, insects could be the key food we need in our diets.

Many insects are resistant to drought, therefore when droughts do occur, with increasing harshness and prevalence, it will be less of a gamble to know whether there will be enough food produced for affected countries. As a future farmer, my question is, will I be farming insects, struggling to contain jumping bugs within paddocks? Now bug farming may not be the next big thing in Australia, however in South-East Asia, farmers, in trying to find a sustainable way to reduce pesticides, have started harvesting insects to supply market demand. The harvesting of insects is achieved by utilising paddock-sized nets, spread across the crops, then rolled up, with the insects trapped inside. This simple solution benefits the land, the farmers, the consumers, everyone, except that is, the insects. Of course, switching from sausages to bugs isn’t for everyone; luckily scientists are currently developing another sustainable option in laboratories.

Fake meat is the term given to both plant based and lab-grown meats, however I believe there is a more sustainable future for lab grown meats. The ability to grow meat in a laboratory is looked at by scientists as the second agricultural revolution. In a report by Marty McCarthy for Landline, scientists are developing these lab-meats from a serum known as FBS, Foetal Bovine Serum and the muscle fibres of calves. The most promising possibility lab-grown meat presents to scientists is its ability to help the environment. Scientists will be able to produce three times the amount of meat obtained from one animal; therefore, livestock populations will eventually decline, benefitting the environment. Another method of producing fake meat seems to have come right out of The Jetsons or Star Trek. 3D printing. Scientists are looking at how to sustainably utilise the whole animal, therefore reducing waste and they think they’ve found a solution. By collecting the off cuts and less valuable cuts of meat, scientists are working on turning them into a form of ink which can be used to print a whole cut of meat, such as a steak. This gives both the farmer and the consumer more ‘bang for their buck’, whilst reducing waste.

Both of these methods are predicted to significantly reduce livestock populations, turning traditional meat production into a viable clean meat industry. Fake meat has been dubbed ‘clean’ meat, because unlike beef, pork or lamb, fake meat doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses. These greenhouse gasses are a consistent concern for scientists monitoring the growing demands of our population upon our resources; therefore fake meat appears to be a logical and sustainable transition to make. As Australians we will still be able to enjoy the taste and texture of a Sunday roast that if undercooked, will bleed fake blood. It is undeniable that it will be close to impossible to increase meat production by 70% in less than 50 years. So a future of petri dish patties and cell-formed sausages should be embraced. As a future farmer, my second question is, will my future be in a laboratory rather than the paddock?

We have a moral obligation to dedicate ourselves to planning now, how we are going to approach a future, full of demands regarding food production. We must consider new angles in order to provide for our ever-expanding population. I don’t know where the future of agriculture lies, whether we’ll begin to be a bug-consuming population, or dig-in to fake meat so real we won’t know the difference. I plan on pursuing Agricultural Science, to ensure a global agricultural development, helping to shape a stable future for our world.

About the Author: This article was initially delivered as a speech by Caitlin competing in the Victorian Plain English Speaking Award. She is in year 12 at Ballarat Grammar and is hoping to pursue studies in Agricultural Science in 2019. She comes from a prime lamb farm and is passionate about supporting and developing agriculture in Australia and developing countries in the future