Lifeboat Foundation

Tepic, Mexico, Sept 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Juicy lab-grown steaks and burgers made of plant-based meat could soon be tempting hardened carnivores scanning restaurant menus in the world’s biggest cities, as food producers explore fresh ways to feed booming populations.

With people pouring into cities across the developing world, rocketing demand for meat and dairy products will make it essential to find high-protein alternatives that have a lower environmental impact, some experts say.

“The food of the future, as we become more and more urban, will continue to be meat but it won’t be meat from industrialised animal agriculture,” said Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Washington-based Good Food Institute.

Continue reading “You could soon be eating meat grown by plants” »

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Summary: The Hygiene Hypothesis persuades people to consume parasitic worms as a way to treat chronic autoimmune disorders. As well, people eat tapeworms as a way to lose weight. Learn more about two closely related scientific beliefs called the “Hygiene Hypothesis” and the “Old Freinds Hypothesis.” Part 1 of a 2-part series. Cover photo: 3drenderings / Getty Images.

It’s difficult to believe, but thousands of people eat worms as a way to lose weight or cure diseases.

People don’t just eat worms on TV shows, like the Fear Factor. Some extreme dieters consume tapeworms as a way to lose weight. Another group of people ingests parasitic worms known as helminths to ward-off the debilitating symptoms of autoimmune diseases.

Continue reading “Why Are These People Eating Worms to Be Healthy? (part I)” »

Summary: Helminthic therapy is the intentional consumption of parasites as a treatment for autoimmune disease. Out of the 7000 people who practice helminthic therapy each year, this report tells the story of a young woman who purchases black market worms and then treats herself at a high cost. Part 2 of a 2-part series. Cover photo: Eraxion / Getty Images.

Would you eat worms to boost your overall health or cure what ails you?

Over 7,000 people intentionally self-infect with parasites, and the practice is growing in popularity.

Continue reading “Why Are These People Eating Worms to Be Healthy? (part II)” »

Modern Meadow believes leather is a “co-product of the meat industry.” You can’t get cattle hide without stripping it from meat. Rather than configuring new ways to utilize polymers, the Brooklyn-based company genetically creates proteins similar to bovine collagen. As Inventionr reports :

Modern Meadow has formulated a method of activating the building blocks of proteins to form fibres without using natural fibroblasts. Once the fibres form, they can as well be assembled, according to its intended purposes, into fine sheets of leather. Once the process reaches this point, other processes like tanning and dyeing can proceed in the normal way.

Continue reading “This Brooklyn-Based Startup Is Growing Leather In Labs—Cruelty Free” »

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As edible, affordable lab-grown meat remains out of reach, a tiny start-up might have found a faster route to dinner tables.

Proof that traditional farms can be 100% automated already.

This is as autonomous as farming gets, without any humans having to get themselves dirty, or even go outside.

Continue reading “Autonomous Robots Plant, Tend, and Harvest Entire Crop of Barley” »

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