There are a lot of companies these days with a lot of crazy schemes to manufacture "meat" out of non-meat products, but this latest one may take the cake—er, the meat:
While trying to solve the problem of how to feed astronauts over the course of a year-long space mission, NASA researchers discovered that carbon dioxide exhaled during breathing can be captured by a special class of microbes and turned into protein-packed nutrients.
Made in 1967, that discovery has led to a California startup attempting to make what amounts to air-based meat.
Huh?
The company, appropriately dubbed Air Protein, uses air, water and renewable energy to engineer a protein-rich flour using a process similar to how yogurt, cheese and wine are made. That flour is then used to recreate the flavor, texture and taste of animal proteins such as chicken, fish, beef and pork via pressure, temperature and cooking techniques.
Okay yeah I'm gonna go ahead and say outright that I'm not gonna eat that.
BUT, I will say this new Frankenfood presents some very interesting marketing opportunities.
For instance: You could harvest this fake meat from certain rarified airs from around the world. Instead of wagyu beef or Maine lobster, you could having air meat made with air from the rich enclaves of the Hamptons. Or oxygen taken from the lush dairy pastures of Wisconsin. Or CO2 drawn from the Azores. And so forth.
Wait and see if they don't do it; they'd be crazy not to. Well, they already do seem a little crazy. But still.
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