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, t...
Sep 12, 2024•50 min
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, s...
Nov 25, 2023•20 min•Season 7Ep. 11
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 popula...
Jul 17, 2023•35 min•Season 7Ep. 11
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 th...
Jul 17, 2023•36 min•Season 7Ep. 7
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 sm...
Jun 21, 2023•25 min•Season 7Ep. 9
"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, a...
Jun 07, 2023•44 min•Season 7Ep. 7
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 scienc...
May 31, 2023•30 min•Season 7Ep. 6
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, nutr...
May 24, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 5
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 Ph...
May 03, 2023•33 min•Season 7Ep. 2
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 ...
Apr 26, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 1
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, a...
Apr 13, 2023•1 min
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 Ja...
Mar 08, 2023•32 min•Season 6Ep. 12
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. Thes...
Feb 22, 2023•37 min•Season 6Ep. 12
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 o...
Feb 15, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 11
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...
Feb 08, 2023•35 min•Season 6Ep. 10
We lack bees, we lack insects and it's a severe issue for biodiversity. Because flowers are dependent on insects and vice versa, right? So if you eat traditional honey, are you promoting bee health? No, large-scale monoculture is an issue in crop agriculture and beekeeping. Hear from Darko Madrich, the co-founder and CEO of Melibio. I got to try their plant-based honey in Switzerland last year. And it tasted so similar I wondered whether they had just poured some natural honey into the bottle. B...
Feb 01, 2023•37 min•Season 6Ep. 9
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. Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/s...
Jan 25, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 8
The issue is "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 hel...
Jan 18, 2023•29 min•Season 6Ep. 7
What if you make a plant grow dairy proteins? 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 planted. We are used to extracting, for example, pigments, proteins, and oils from them. Plants naturally produce them. B...
Jan 11, 2023•36 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Glands would work like little milk machines. You give them the nutrients and boom you get the milk. Freaky, huh? 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 bioactive, so recreating parts of milk that are probiotic or have other health benefits. ...
Dec 21, 2022•27 min•Season 6Ep. 5
We all have eaten fermented foods. 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 ...
Dec 14, 2022•30 min•Season 6Ep. 4
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 in...
Dec 07, 2022•40 min•Season 6Ep. 3
How biomass fermentation is different from precision fermentation and why fungi are such wonderful solutions for everything from alternative proteins to plastic replacements to biodiesel. Together with Chief Scientific Officer of Nature's Fynd, Debbie Yaver, we get into the weeds. You will also learn about 3 types of biomass fermentation. 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 ba...
Nov 30, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 2
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/ Check out our su...
Nov 23, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 1
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 profitabl...
Sep 07, 2022•29 min•Season 5Ep. 12
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...
Aug 24, 2022•14 min•Season 5Ep. 11
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 an...
Aug 17, 2022•11 min•Season 5Ep. 10
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.solut...
Aug 10, 2022•10 min•Season 5Ep. 9
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, ...
Aug 03, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 8
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....
Jul 27, 2022•13 min•Season 5Ep. 7
