The choices we make today shape our world tomorrow.
Author mpescePosted on In 2018, Nick Hazell founded v2food – an amazing startup making plant-based substitutes for meat that got extensive coverage on THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS. Six years later, it’s getting difficult to find their product on supermarket shelves – and there’s been a broader roll-back from plant-based alternatives. What’s happened? Nick Hazel doesn’t have all the answers – but he asks some of the right questions…
Author mpescePosted on The pandemic has produced numerous supply chain issues, some impairing our ability to manufacture fertiliser. Could this mean we won’t be able to grow all the food we need?
Read the article from Bloomberg Quint that inspired this briefing.
Read this article from ABC about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could spark a food crisis.
Author mpescePosted on Growing the meat we eat produces a lot of Australia’s carbon emissions. The four innovations explored in this episode – Rob Kinley’s amazing seaweed, George Peppou’s vat-grown meats, Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin’s vertical farms, and Nick Hazell’s plant-based ‘meats’ – show us a path toward an agriculture that can be radically more efficient.
Author mpescePosted on Planetary limits on farming will accelerate a post-meat future. Are plants the only path, or can we grow meat without raising animals? And what does it mean for food when we can grow any meat we want to eat in a brewer’s vat? We explore the sustainability of raising animals for meat with Main Sequence General Partner Phil Morle, and v2Food CEO Nick Hazell, then take a look at a whole new method of ‘cultured meat’ – growing it in vats – with VOW Food CEO George Peppou.
Some documents and facts referenced in this episode:
The EAT-Lancet report on food sustainability referenced by Nick Hazell.
A great article from The Guardian on water, food production, and waste.
Water footprints of various crops.
Now that we can make “meat” from plants that people prefer to animals – what will we choose to eat? v2Food’s ‘Rebel’ Whopper charts that journey – from soybean to burger patty – via a lot of science, a blind taste test, and an ignored email.
Our cast of characters:
Jack Cowin is the self-made billionaire founder of Hungry Jacks;
Phil Morle is a General Partner in Main Sequence Ventures, the CSIRO-backed venture capital fund;
Nick Hazell is the CEO of v2Food;
Skye Anderson is the head of product development at v2Food – and knows more about the Whopper’s patty than any other person in Australia!
Author mpescePosted on When you give cows a voice, who listens? Connected lights and thermostats are great, but what happens when cows get connected and start milking themselves? What do we learn when we track our house cats when they’re not at home? How does the connected world reveal itself to us – and what are we learning from it? These questions – about autonomy, agency and authority – form the focus of anthropologist Genevieve Bell’s work, less for what they reveal about these animals than what they illuminate about ourselves. Are we listening to the connected world?
Here’s a taste:
