RETHINKING Living: The Future of Food and the Food of the Future

by Iris Haberkorn, Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich, and Gisela Detrell, Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart, 5 August 2021
The entrance of a modern house with a green sign above saying "so gwundrig"
The House of Switzerland in Stuttgart (photo credit: Andreas Eggenberger/ETH Zurich)

What does the future hold for us regarding food? With an increasing population, it might look quite different in 20 years; it may even resemble the food of a Martian base.

When it comes to food security, there is one sector that can help us to think out of the box and consider novel technologies in food production: the space sector. Providing the required resources for human survival in the harsh Martian environment requires efficient and sustainable technologies. Could we learn from the research done for Mars to improve our life on Earth?

Our current agricultural and food systems are challenged to sustain a growing population. The world population is estimated to increase to around 9.7 billion people by 2050 with more and more people living in cities, which poses great challenges associated with food security:
• Food systems are among the largest drivers of global environmental change.
• They foster climate change and cause the Earth’s systems to transgress beyond their planetary boundaries.
• Resource-intensive agricultural systems have caused water scarcities, soil depletion, and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Food systems have contributed to biodiversity loss and interfere with global phosphorous and nitrogen cycles.
The author speaking into a microphone, behind her presentation about microalgae
Microalgae are not only an alternative protein source, but provide couple of advantages such as their independence of arable land or the capability of fixing carbon dioxide (photo credit: Andreas Eggenberger/ETH Zurich)
In that context, giving a talk on “RETHINKING Living: The Future of Food and the Food of the Future” seemed like an ambitious task considering the tremendous impact our food system has on our planet and our lives. Moreover, the pop-up House of Switzerland in Stuttgart was designed for sharing people’s experiences and associations with Switzerland. A country that is usually renowned for its know-how in manufacturing chocolate, cheese, and coffee.

How would the audience perceive a future envisioning food from single-celled organisms, such as microalgae, but also bacteria, yeast, cultured meat, or plant-based meat alternatives or even protein from insects? These are the topics that keep us occupied during our daily business and represent some of our associations with Swiss strength and innovation.
The audience did not disappoint us: We were impressed by an overwhelmingly positive feedback and curiosity for novel protein resources, such as that from cellular agriculture. In an engaging conversation with our wonderful moderator, Chris Luebkeman, and a curiosity-driven audience, we discussed and answered a variety of questions: How do microalgae-based products taste, smell, and look? What are current gaps in the value-chain that need to be overcome to make cellular agriculture economically viable, and its products attractive for consumers? Do governments support the development of these products?
Chlorella vulgaris cells, little green dots
Chlorella vulgaris cells, cultivated at IRS in Stuttgart. This microalgae is one of the potential candidates for space applications and widely used on Earth as protein supplement. (photo credit: IRS/University of Stuttgart)
Although the majority of the audience was reluctant to eat “fishy tasting, greenish food products” (as microalgae are often perceived), there was a strong agreement for a common vision and belief in cellular agriculture as a future driver of our food system.

From the session and the following networking event, we had three key takeaways:
• Renewable resources, such as microalgae, with more sustainable value-chains are only one side of the medal if we want to foster a transition of our todays agri-food systems to more climate smart solutions. Here, a holistic approach is required encompassing 1) the usage of renewable, more sustainable resources, 2) a sustainable intensification of existing value-chains, 3) and technological innovation.
• Microalgae-based value-chains are not yet more sustainable than those of other commonly exploited resources. Their economic viability is not yet given, due to high production costs.
• A strong push to fostering alternative protein sources is apparent. Globally, the startup space is sky-rocketing in that domain, providing more and more solutions for plant-based meat alternatives, but also solutions to render cellular agriculture attractive.

The session and discussion with the audience was truly inspiring. The event was a unique experience confirming the necessity of perpetuating our research and the commitment to a more sustainable future.
Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen personal event, we did not get the chance to discuss the strong link, regarding microalgae, between Stuttgart and Switzerland: the usage of microalgae for space applications. ETH Zurich provided their unique expertise in the analysis of the "Photobioreactor" experiment on the International Space Station, conceived and developed by the University of Stuttgart, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Airbus Space and Defence. While the team in Stuttgart focused on the design of the technology and the cultivation techniques, the team from Zurich provided the intimal insights to evaluate the feasibility of producing food from the microalgae biomass grown in space.

The environmental conditions in space are extreme, making the requirements for the system to grow the algae more complicated. But a sustainable system and a circular economy required for space are also required here on Earth. The questions that arise from using algae in space are not that different than those on Earth: will future Martian habitants actually like the taste or smell of the algae? Will the system be able to work continuously and sustainably for long periods of time?
a syringe full of green liquid, held by a hand in a blue glove
Microalgae grown in space within the "Photobioreactor" experiment. (photo credit: NASA)
These questions would require a discussion of their own, which perhaps we could organize in the near future… watch this space!

About the authors

Dr. Gisela Detrell graduated in Aerospace Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC, Spain) in 2009, and completed her PhD at the University of Stuttgart (Germany) and the UPC in 2015. She currently leads the "Life Support and Energy Systems" research group at the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart. Her research includes the analysis and simulation of Life Support Systems and the technological development of microalgae-based systems to produce oxygen and food for long duration human spaceflight, including the experiment Photobioreactor at the International Space Station. Gisela is a board member of SONet - The Sustainable Offworld Network, a community of professionals dedicated to the development of sustainable settlements beyond Earth.
Dr. Iris Haberkorn is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Sustainable Food Processing at ETH Zurich with a background in Food Science (ETH Zurich) and Nutritional Sciences (University of Hohenheim). In light of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, her research focuses on the up- and downstream processing of microalgae to foster a transition of today’s agri-food chains to holistic approaches that encompass harnessing more sustainable resources and technological innovation for a sustainable value-chain intensification. Her research includes investigating innovative biological and technological approaches to improve efficiency and mitigate costs of microalgae-based value-chains and consequently leverage the application of microalgae on the market.