June 2, 2022 – Right now, scientists are developing latest tools that can improve the supply, safety, dietary value and environmental impact of the food we are going to eat 50 years from now. They are digging up a vein that goes back to prehistoric times, when the primary hunter-gatherers began farming. Since the Industrial Revolution, discoveries have come fast and furious:
1784: Flour (lighter) prepared. In Philadelphia, Oliver Evans invented the primary fully automatic grain mill that was powered by water. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, Scottish inventor Andrew Meikle developed the primary mechanical threshing machine for wheat harvesting at in regards to the same time.
1810: Efficient, effective food preservation. The tin can was invented in England. In 1812, the primary business canning factory opened within the USA. In the nineteenth century, canned food supplied the population with food.th century and was then opened to the general public.
1863: A significant advance in food safety. Louis Pasteur invented the germicidal process that was named after him.
1924: Clarence Birdseye invented you-know-what. Frozen vegetables, that's it.
1927: This refrigerator made cooling at home easy. Although electric refrigeration had been invented a decade earlier and a few household models existed, it took some time for a refrigerator to turn into mass-produced. When it did, refrigeration revolutionized the way in which we shop for, store and prepare food.
1928: Better than … The first machine-sliced bread was sold by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. But no thing until 1930 when “Wonder” got here onto the market, the primary nationally distributed sliced bread.
1950: The Green Revolution. The end of World War II ushered in a brand new era of agriculture, with technological innovations driving huge leaps in production. Factories that had previously produced ammonia for explosives were converted to producing nitrogen for artificial fertilizers. Between 1950 and 1998, the usage of these fertilizers increased greater than tenfold worldwide. In the United States, the usage of insecticides increased by the same amount throughout the same period. And while there have been nearly five times as many mules and horses on farms as tractors in 1945, by 1960 tractors outnumbered animals. Thanks to those and other advances, America now has only a 3rd as many farms because it did before World War II, but they produce thrice as much food.
1967: Introduction of the microwave. Amana introduced the Radarange, the primary microwave oven small and reasonably priced enough for home use. This was one other option to make cooking at home easier, and it also created a complete latest marketplace for frozen meals. (Microwave popcorn didn't come along until 1981.)
1992: An emerging practice: precision agriculture. This relatively latest agricultural practice uses cutting-edge technology to make farming decisions specific to every farm and even each field. By specializing in the five Rs — the correct source of nutrients, in the correct amount, in the correct place, at the correct time, in the correct way – it results in higher yields using less land, water and fertilizers, in addition to fewer herbicides and pesticides.
1994: GMOs come onto the market. The tomato was the primary product to be marketed as a genetically modified organism (GMO). It was engineered to stay firm after harvest, meaning it could ripen on the vine for longer without being damaged during transport. GM summer squash, soybeans, corn, papayas, potatoes and canola followed in the subsequent few years.
1999: Agriculture on the rise for sustainability. Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier, PhD, developed the concept of vertical farming, a practice that involves growing crops in vertically stacked, climate-controlled indoor spaces that is anticipated to generate nearly $10 billion in revenue by 2025.
2002: The protein of the long run? The first lab-grown goldfish flesh is successfully grown. Although it was a serious technological breakthrough, it was not sold for public consumption – would you need to eat a goldfish?
2009: Unintended consequences of innovation. As food manufacturers continued to refine their methods, the products they produced gained a brand new term: “ultra-processed foods.” They have been linked to the obesity epidemic and the rise of type 2 diabetes, amongst other things. In 2018, these foods provided 57% of the calories Americans consumed every day.
2019: A vegan burger that bleeds. After 5 years of experimentation, Impossible Foods has introduced the Impossible Burger, a plant-based patty that amazingly mimics the taste, texture and appearance of ground beef. Yes, it's highly processed.