raising animals is a pretty inefficient way to make human food
December 21, 2022 12:21 AM Subscribe
This Super-Tree Could Help Feed the World and Fight Climate Change - "It's called pongamia, an ordinary-looking tropical tree with agricultural superpowers. It produces beans packed with protein and oil much like soybeans, except it has the potential to produce much more nutrition per acre than soybeans. It's hardy enough to grow on just about any land, no matter how degraded, without any pesticides or irrigation. It not only removes carbon from the atmosphere, which combats climate change, but it also sucks nitrogen out of the air, so it usually doesn't need fertilizer that accelerates climate change."
via @MikeGrunwald: "I did some fun reporting last week in the Bay Area, checking out companies making meat and dairy products without animals. I ate some of the future of food. Here's a thread with some of the cool stuff I got to try!"
Are Mushrooms the Future of Alternative Leather? [ungated] - "MycoWorks uses mycelium, the substance in the root structure of mushrooms, to make Reishi, which has the look and feel of leather. Big-name companies are very interested."
via @MikeGrunwald: "I did some fun reporting last week in the Bay Area, checking out companies making meat and dairy products without animals. I ate some of the future of food. Here's a thread with some of the cool stuff I got to try!"
- Lab-grown meat could be served up for dinner soon. What does it taste like? - "We can just grow the parts that we want that are nutritious, that are delicious."
- No One Wants to Say 'Put Down That Burger,' but We Really Should [ungated] - "If current eating and farming trends continue, the world will clear at least one and a quarter more Indias' worth of land by 2050."
Are Mushrooms the Future of Alternative Leather? [ungated] - "MycoWorks uses mycelium, the substance in the root structure of mushrooms, to make Reishi, which has the look and feel of leather. Big-name companies are very interested."
Lab-grown meat could be served up for dinner soon. What does it taste like?
Obligatory Better Off Ted.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:58 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Obligatory Better Off Ted.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:58 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
millions of trees to feed billions of people
Gosh, that is a high yield, isn't it?
Each tree feeds a thousand people, we should get right on that.
posted by bartleby at 2:07 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
Gosh, that is a high yield, isn't it?
Each tree feeds a thousand people, we should get right on that.
posted by bartleby at 2:07 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
So a bit like another potato (grows readily, feeds many more than previous crops). Alas, as we know, in one case that led to a big surge in population size, followed by disastrous famine when it failed.
posted by Phanx at 3:00 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Phanx at 3:00 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Indeed. According to the article, the company Terviva has collected a whole bunch of variants of the crop to breed an optimal one. I really hope they understand that creating a monocrop like that is setting up a future disaster. If they have all those variants, they could use them to create a much more genetically varied crop.
But of course, the less uniform the crop, the more difficult it is to work with as part of the global food system. If the trees are differently sized, grow at different speeds, and produce differently sized beans with different nutritional values, that complicated planning, planting, caring, harvesting, and processing, and makes the result less suitable as an input into global industry.
posted by Zarkonnen at 3:48 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
But of course, the less uniform the crop, the more difficult it is to work with as part of the global food system. If the trees are differently sized, grow at different speeds, and produce differently sized beans with different nutritional values, that complicated planning, planting, caring, harvesting, and processing, and makes the result less suitable as an input into global industry.
posted by Zarkonnen at 3:48 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
One piece of context that's not acknowledged in the article is that we do introduce new crops to our diet with a fairly high frequency. The most apposite analogy for this – because it's about de-bittering a previously niche oil crop – would be canola/rapeseed oil, which was first grown as a crop for people in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and now is the most widely sold cooking oil globally.
This was a very good time to develop a new temperate climate oil seed crop, as at that time, about ⅓ of the oil content of British margarine was coming from whales hunted in the south Atlantic. Substituting this with vegetable fats was the only affordable thing to do.
Likewise, there's a history of bringing in sunflower as a commercial crop in the mid 19th century, and what that did to Russian diets. Even the ugly history of oil palms, which are understandably synonymous with modern capitalist colonial habitat destruction, is about limited entry to markets, and it's noticeable that the Thai palm industry, with more local ownership and more empowered farmers is a far less destructive one.
In terms of increases of other sources of calories, the huge expansion of the sugar beet crop is significant, the most calories per hectare of any temperate crops, and amongst the reasons why we get to be concerned about balanced nutrients rather than raw calories. Which current increases in the prominence of oats as a food crop (more protein from poorer soils than wheat) and, to a lesser extent buckwheat, are worth noting, too.
And possibly the most infamous new crop of the past decade, quinoa. It's also a very protein rich crop which does not need good soils and is easily grown globally. However, the backlash against it because of its boom in value, followed by a bust, is a pretty important lesson about what can happen when knowledge about a crop expands. Because the people who'd traditionally relied on it were suddenly priced out from buying it, and the people who'd traditionally grown it only got a few boom years to convert their crops, then a bust once they'd turned over most of their land to it. How that relates to me buying quinoa grown in fields in Britain now, 10 years later is a moot point.
Touching upon the meat substitutes, and one that came to market when I was a child nearly 40 years ago, there is something that's fermented up from glucose syrup and ammonia, possibly the most efficient converter of nitrogen into protein available to people right now, and that's Quorn, in many ways the synthetic meat that we already have.
So there is – at a level of historical change over a lifetime – a decent amount of appetite for changing diets and how people eat. It's unlikely anything will take over, but if it is possible to develop the pongamia tree into something that produces better crops, more sustainably than what's currently grown on the land, then we should be pretty pleased to add it to our diet.
posted by ambrosen at 4:41 AM on December 21, 2022 [30 favorites]
This was a very good time to develop a new temperate climate oil seed crop, as at that time, about ⅓ of the oil content of British margarine was coming from whales hunted in the south Atlantic. Substituting this with vegetable fats was the only affordable thing to do.
Likewise, there's a history of bringing in sunflower as a commercial crop in the mid 19th century, and what that did to Russian diets. Even the ugly history of oil palms, which are understandably synonymous with modern capitalist colonial habitat destruction, is about limited entry to markets, and it's noticeable that the Thai palm industry, with more local ownership and more empowered farmers is a far less destructive one.
In terms of increases of other sources of calories, the huge expansion of the sugar beet crop is significant, the most calories per hectare of any temperate crops, and amongst the reasons why we get to be concerned about balanced nutrients rather than raw calories. Which current increases in the prominence of oats as a food crop (more protein from poorer soils than wheat) and, to a lesser extent buckwheat, are worth noting, too.
And possibly the most infamous new crop of the past decade, quinoa. It's also a very protein rich crop which does not need good soils and is easily grown globally. However, the backlash against it because of its boom in value, followed by a bust, is a pretty important lesson about what can happen when knowledge about a crop expands. Because the people who'd traditionally relied on it were suddenly priced out from buying it, and the people who'd traditionally grown it only got a few boom years to convert their crops, then a bust once they'd turned over most of their land to it. How that relates to me buying quinoa grown in fields in Britain now, 10 years later is a moot point.
Touching upon the meat substitutes, and one that came to market when I was a child nearly 40 years ago, there is something that's fermented up from glucose syrup and ammonia, possibly the most efficient converter of nitrogen into protein available to people right now, and that's Quorn, in many ways the synthetic meat that we already have.
So there is – at a level of historical change over a lifetime – a decent amount of appetite for changing diets and how people eat. It's unlikely anything will take over, but if it is possible to develop the pongamia tree into something that produces better crops, more sustainably than what's currently grown on the land, then we should be pretty pleased to add it to our diet.
posted by ambrosen at 4:41 AM on December 21, 2022 [30 favorites]
I'm absolutely convinced I've come across a pongamia tree somewhere around here. When I saw the picture of the flowers, I thought, oh yeah, those but now I'm like, where on earth would I have seen this thing? Because now I want one, knowing what harsh conditions they can grow in! (Much like rongorongo, I carry an app around to identify things (mine is iNaturalist) so now I'm going to be aiming it every time I see a pink flower on a tree!)
The article was great--as was that whole thread Grunwald posted, of trying the different vegetable proteins. And I think it's fine to have reservations about it. This is very much one of those, if everything works out, this is a great plan kind of plans. And then if something goes wrong, ouch. I mean, I love the idea of farmers having a guaranteed buyer for their crop for 25 years. But that also locks them in during a time where some other crop may be desperately needed. But then the idea is that they're growing these on marginal land--nobody's making the experiment if they've got great success with other crops. Anyway, yeah, you can see pros and cons. But we absolutely have to have crops that don't require deforestation. We can't keep mowing down millions of acres, and if you can encourage someone to go the tree route, that's important.
posted by mittens at 4:46 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
The article was great--as was that whole thread Grunwald posted, of trying the different vegetable proteins. And I think it's fine to have reservations about it. This is very much one of those, if everything works out, this is a great plan kind of plans. And then if something goes wrong, ouch. I mean, I love the idea of farmers having a guaranteed buyer for their crop for 25 years. But that also locks them in during a time where some other crop may be desperately needed. But then the idea is that they're growing these on marginal land--nobody's making the experiment if they've got great success with other crops. Anyway, yeah, you can see pros and cons. But we absolutely have to have crops that don't require deforestation. We can't keep mowing down millions of acres, and if you can encourage someone to go the tree route, that's important.
posted by mittens at 4:46 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's an interesting tree for sure. Naveen Sikka's larger proposal make good sense too: Explore making more diverse crops edible. Our other staple crops are all inedible without processing or preparation. Yes, mono-cultures are always a bad idea.
posted by jeffburdges at 5:03 AM on December 21, 2022
posted by jeffburdges at 5:03 AM on December 21, 2022
The irony is how humanity itself is such a monoculture, genetically speaking. The vast majority of human genetic diversity remains in Africa. Humanity in the rest of the world was mostly populated from relatively small groups radiating outward. It feels like there’s a metaphor there somewhere.
posted by notoriety public at 5:14 AM on December 21, 2022
posted by notoriety public at 5:14 AM on December 21, 2022
"No pests are of major concern, but caterpillars occasionally cause some defoliation.
No diseases are of major concern.
USE AND MANAGEMENT
Pongam should be grown in full sun or partial shade on well-drained soil. A relatively low maintenance tree once established, Pongam is resistant to high winds and drought but is susceptible to freezing temperatures below 30-degrees F."
US Dept of Agr, 1994
posted by BWA at 5:20 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
No diseases are of major concern.
USE AND MANAGEMENT
Pongam should be grown in full sun or partial shade on well-drained soil. A relatively low maintenance tree once established, Pongam is resistant to high winds and drought but is susceptible to freezing temperatures below 30-degrees F."
US Dept of Agr, 1994
posted by BWA at 5:20 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
My colleagues and I have written about Pongamia here a few years ago and the general conclusion was that it was too toxic (not just bitter: toxic) to be usable. Detoxication methods have been tested since the 1970s: it is feasible, but just too costly for practical purposes outside experimental conditions. Now Sikka claims that he has found a way to detoxicate it properly and cheaply and I may need to check the literature. But, to be clear, I've seen so many of such "miracle plants" hyped as the Next-Big-Thing-That-Will-Solve-Whatever-Problem-Is-On-The-News-Right-Now-And-Please-Give-Money-To-My-Startup-Please that I've become a little wary of claims like this... Also, papers about detoxication processes tend to be a tad too positive. Domestic plants have centuries of selective breeding behind them that made them "domestic", and those who touts "miracle" plants tend to forgot this.
posted by elgilito at 5:28 AM on December 21, 2022 [22 favorites]
posted by elgilito at 5:28 AM on December 21, 2022 [22 favorites]
The irony is how humanity itself is such a monoculture, genetically speaking.
You'll be pleased to know that this post is (indirectly) about reducing the largest single-species vertebrate monoculture by biomass. Once we've reduced the global population of cattle down to, say, that of wild bison, then maybe you can start on thinking about implying all the horrendous things which you quite rightly refuse to associate yourself with in that comment.
But TBH, even then those are thoughts still best left unthought.
posted by ambrosen at 5:43 AM on December 21, 2022
You'll be pleased to know that this post is (indirectly) about reducing the largest single-species vertebrate monoculture by biomass. Once we've reduced the global population of cattle down to, say, that of wild bison, then maybe you can start on thinking about implying all the horrendous things which you quite rightly refuse to associate yourself with in that comment.
But TBH, even then those are thoughts still best left unthought.
posted by ambrosen at 5:43 AM on December 21, 2022
Also a lot of that detoxification stuff only just goes far enough so that most people don't have a reaction. I still can't tolerate canola, it gives me eczema.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:56 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:56 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
What @elgilito said. I've read that article before, with other names substituted for pongamia. The thing written about never lives up to the hype.
If a thing sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:18 AM on December 21, 2022
If a thing sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:18 AM on December 21, 2022
That mushroom-based leather substitute looks really interesting. It seems like the kind of thing that ought to become cheap enough to make real leather an exotic specialty item that most people don't wear.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:25 AM on December 21, 2022
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:25 AM on December 21, 2022
"It's called pongamia, an ordinary-looking tropical tree with agricultural superpowers.”
I remember when the same thing was said about Moringa, which, it turns out, is a little futzy to get established and is also a bioaccumulator, so if it’s planted in soils with heavy metals or other persistent toxins, they end up in the plants and in the people.
I wish we would quickly get past the “this one hack will..” / Ted Talkesque mode of discourse. We have serious and complicated problems that need quick action. We need information and conversations that reflect the degree of Complicated that is here now. We need to do simple and effective things like removing laws against imports of seed of non-native food crops, or those that prevent bringing in honeybees from other continents to address the genetic bottleneck we have here, and establish a whole series of test farms at different latitudes and different elevations all with the same alacrity that we globally addressed Covid, so that we end up with a tested and genetically diverse body of seed stock that can be moved into different regions as climate crisis changes the growing conditions in different regions.
Let’s add to that PPP- style loans for micro-farmers (less than 50 acres) so that we can build up hyper-local food supplies. Redundancy and decentralization is a known and trusted approach to critical networks susceptible to destabilizing events. Let’s do that with food production.
posted by Silvery Fish at 6:40 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
I remember when the same thing was said about Moringa, which, it turns out, is a little futzy to get established and is also a bioaccumulator, so if it’s planted in soils with heavy metals or other persistent toxins, they end up in the plants and in the people.
I wish we would quickly get past the “this one hack will..” / Ted Talkesque mode of discourse. We have serious and complicated problems that need quick action. We need information and conversations that reflect the degree of Complicated that is here now. We need to do simple and effective things like removing laws against imports of seed of non-native food crops, or those that prevent bringing in honeybees from other continents to address the genetic bottleneck we have here, and establish a whole series of test farms at different latitudes and different elevations all with the same alacrity that we globally addressed Covid, so that we end up with a tested and genetically diverse body of seed stock that can be moved into different regions as climate crisis changes the growing conditions in different regions.
Let’s add to that PPP- style loans for micro-farmers (less than 50 acres) so that we can build up hyper-local food supplies. Redundancy and decentralization is a known and trusted approach to critical networks susceptible to destabilizing events. Let’s do that with food production.
posted by Silvery Fish at 6:40 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
So a bit like another potato (grows readily, feeds many more than previous crops). Alas, as we know, in one case that led to a big surge in population size, followed by disastrous famine when it failed.
The potato blight was not the sole reason for the famine. The common understanding elides a lot of intentionally afflicted suffering and starvation.
posted by Dark Messiah at 9:18 AM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
The potato blight was not the sole reason for the famine. The common understanding elides a lot of intentionally afflicted suffering and starvation.
posted by Dark Messiah at 9:18 AM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
Having just read a rather lengthy book about the Potato...the greatest tragedy about the potato blight, and ensuing famine, was that the potato was basically the only crop the Irish got to keep. Any other crop of economic value (butter, pork, grain) got exported for the profit of their landlords.
They were left with perhaps the singularly most nutritious food available, but with no other resources should it fail. Dig it up, boil it up, eat it out of the pot.
I feel these are the lessons we should learn from any of these alleged superfoods: does everyone benefit equally? How hard is it to eat? What other resources are available when it fails? Because eventually, the predators (fungal, insectal, etc) will find it, usually in a generation or less.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 11:42 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
They were left with perhaps the singularly most nutritious food available, but with no other resources should it fail. Dig it up, boil it up, eat it out of the pot.
I feel these are the lessons we should learn from any of these alleged superfoods: does everyone benefit equally? How hard is it to eat? What other resources are available when it fails? Because eventually, the predators (fungal, insectal, etc) will find it, usually in a generation or less.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 11:42 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
i.e., the story of progress? "The way individuals and institutions take an idea from one to 1 billion is the story of how the world really changes."
posted by kliuless at 11:56 AM on December 21, 2022
posted by kliuless at 11:56 AM on December 21, 2022
I think it's great that people are still looking at the plants around us and seeing how they can be made more useful. Maybe Pongamia won't take over the world like wheat or rice but if it's an additional crop that can be grown on marginal lands then it sounds like a good plant to have.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
There's a bit in a Nancy Kress novel where a super grain that would grow anywhere aggressively was developed but then had to be eradicated because if released it would actually crowd out nearly every other plant and basically wipe out most plant/animal species. Anyway I'm a big fan of crop diversity, and I wish news discussions were less about One Miracle Plant and more about how much more security (and eating pleasure) we can all get when lots of different food crops exist.
posted by emjaybee at 1:33 PM on December 21, 2022
posted by emjaybee at 1:33 PM on December 21, 2022
our agricultural systems are not optimized for stability, food production, farmer benefit or feeding the hungry. They are optimized and subsidized for intermediaries maximum profit. Any plant that actually changed that would be addrd to the noxious weeds list and be targeted by herbicide spraying regimes.
We already have plenty of plants that out perform wheat, oats, corn, sugarcane, etc.
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 11:46 PM on December 21, 2022
We already have plenty of plants that out perform wheat, oats, corn, sugarcane, etc.
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 11:46 PM on December 21, 2022
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posted by rongorongo at 1:14 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]