FSC - The Future of Food Science Microlesson

The Future of Food Science

What does the future of our food supply look like?

Quick Glance: The Future of Food

The year is 2050 and we are getting our weekly delivery of groceries. Little packages drop from the sky, hover vehicles are dropping cold items in a special receptacle by the road, and water is no longer packaged in plastic bottles. Could we even be growing some of our food supply on the planet Mars? There has been great progress with food systems in the past decades, but there is tremendous progress still to be made. Can the food supply keep up with our food demand? Will we continue to have healthy food from the ocean and earth? We will look at these topics in the lesson ahead. What does the future of our food supply look like?

Explore: Advances in the Food System

The demand for a safe and healthy food supply in the future is immense.

As the world’s population grows, so does waste and pollution. We are faced with many different threats to our food supply. As it stands now, agriculture is one of the biggest threats to our ecosystem. Gases are let off from cattle and rice farms that pollute the earth. Toxins from fertilizers and pesticides leak into our air and water supply. And as we clear land to make way for more farming, we lose precious animal habitats and drive many animal species into extinction.

The future course of global food production will depend on how well societies can adapt to such climatic changes, as well as the influence of other pressures, such as the competition for land from biofuel production.

But what does this mean for food security – the price and availability of food for the world's seven billion people?

Agriculture: A Threat to Our Ecosystem

Use the presentation below to learn about how the threats to our food supply.

Changes to Our Future Food Supply

Click on each of the images to learn more about how each change makes on impact.

Food Trends

So, what are some trends we are seeing right now? Many companies are exploring Hydroponics. Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants without using soil. The benefit is that it uses fewer resources and plants can be grown in areas that do not have a lot of soil like urban cities and desert land. This practice has been around for centuries and there is actual evidence of its use by the Aztecs in their river systems. Composting is also quite popular; composting is a terrific way to recycle plant-based substances into an organic fertilizer to be used to feed other plants. Many companies are using beneficial insects to help ward off harmful insects. Many of these insects like mantids and beetles will eat harmful insects and therefore there is less harm to the leaves of plants and less chance for disease. And we all know the benefit of bees and other flying insects. Pollinating insects are vital to our agriculture and plant future!

Check out this entertaining video about growing in an urban environment in Canada. We see this in America too and will see more ventures like this in the future!

 

Challenge

So what do you know about The Future of Food? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

   

Takeaway: What Is Your Takeaway?

We have talked about ways to ensure our food supply for the future. Could we possibly grow crops and support livestock on another planet? Would that answer all of our problems?

Take a look at the video below to learn about the future of food.. on Mars!

 

Click HERE Links to an external site. to access additional lesson resources. 

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