Mycoprotein: A Healthy New Protein With a Low Environmental Impact
Something is broken in the way we produce and consume our food. Our food and agriculture now contribute to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions with half associated with the production of meat. Land and water use are reported to become the new oil in global politics as food security becomes a more pressing risk for a sustainable food future. Half the world's antibiotics are fed to industrially farmed animals, contributing to the rise of deadly superbugs, whilst cereals and crops that could be used to nourish the world's poorest are increasingly grown as animal fodder and a hugely inefficient conversion of protein and environmental damage. There seems no doubt that our desire for ever cheaper and more plentiful meat is at the heart of issues of food sustainability that threaten our very way of life. Indeed, we can no longer meaningfully separate our dietary choices from their impact on the health of our bodies and of the planet. We need to change the balance by eating less and better quality meat and sometimes none at all. We need new ideas and new and healthy proteins with a low environmental impact to help us achieve this. Foods such as Quorn are already helping consumers transition away from an overdependence on meat in short, we need a culture change. Mycoprotein is the world's first successful "new" protein source. From an idea conceived in the 1960s, mycoprotein is now at the heart of all Quorn foods sold in 16 countries worldwide. This chapter explains the origins and history as well as the manufacturing technology, underpinning science, and the process undertaken to establish a robust lifecycle analysis that shows a low environmental impact relative to meat of this technology based on fungal fermentation.