Microbe Scientists Are Preparing Us to Eat in a Post-Plant World

‘We are bringing a completely new harvest to the humankind’

Courtesy of Solar Foods

By 2050, food production is expected to fall short of the needs of a growing global population, both in terms of output and sustainability. The race to find the next alternative protein source is intense. Plant-based alternative meats, such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, are becoming ubiquitous in fast-food restaurants. Lab-grown, cultured meat is steadily getting closer to becoming commercially available, though it needs to come down drastically in cost. But edible microbes — food derived from microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, fungi, or microalgae — are a uniquely promising contender, owing to their resilience, minimal production costs, and attractive nutritional properties.

One of microbial food’s biggest proponents is Tomas Linder, an associate professor of microbiology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. In a review for the journal Food Science this April, he didn’t merely argue that we should eat more mushrooms. Instead, he made a compelling case for moving toward an entirely new, primarily microbe-based food production system.

“It has the potential to prevent climate change,” Linder tells OneZero, “but it also has the potential to feed humanity.”