We endeavor to dispel consumer fears of Food Tech.



It predicts that synthetic ingredients and lab-grown meat will eventually become pillars of the food and farming system, and many consumers are currently wary of ‘too much technology in their food and drink. Vertically grown fruit and vegetables, however, are perceived as fresh and trustworthy, and will therefore serve as ambassadors to start to sway consumer opinion from fear to acceptance.



Science will interlace with the food supply chain to boost yields and combat climate change. Celebrating the sustainable, healthy, and cost benefits of lab-grown food will be crucial in educating consumers about such nature-identical alternatives. But the industry will be compelled to elevate the role of nature, and humans, in the storytelling of these new, modern solutions. Transparency of information is essential to building trust in a future where scientists play an integral role as farmers. And championing the people behind the food—whether it is grown in a laboratory or a field—will remain a timeless way of building trust with consumers.



Whether such innovations are truly sustainable, however, is another question. Indoor farms must be kept at the correct temperature, pro LED lighting. The Association for Vertical Farming believes vertical farming systems in the future will increasingly take an ecosystem approach, with the inputs and outputs of every organism complementing each other instead of seeing each organism as a marketable product in a linear system. Fish and insects whose waste is high in essential plant nutrients can be integrated into vertical farms where they support plant growth as well as produce food themselves, for example.



Hydroponics or vertical farming is certainly an interesting way to produce food, but it is only a tiny fraction of our global food production – 95% of our food currently comes from the soil, and this is unlikely to change quickly. We need to look at how to grow good food in different ways and making fresh food accessible in urban areas is a great thing, but we also need diversity and range when it comes to food production.