FOOD FOR THOUGHT

BEANLESS COFFEE, COCOA-FREE CHOCOLATE AND PROTEIN MADE FROM THIN AIR - THE FUTURE OF FOOD IS FASCINATING, WITH REGENERATIVE FARMING AND FERMENTATION HELPING TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE AND POPULATION GROWTH

- HANNAH BRANDLER

A potted plant arrives at my table and, for a split second, I worry that jet lag has led to hallucinations. I'm sitting at the Mandarin Oriental’s MO Bar in Singapore, sampling its new cocktail menu, The Echoes of Singapore, which includes a section dedicated to future innovations.

Designed to mimic a plant, the inventive mixology certainly provides attractive fodder for Instagram and TikTok, but the roots go a lot deeper – highlighting important issues in a city-state where food security is high on the agenda. ‘Plant-ish’ is inspired by Singapore’s 30 by 30 vision, the city’s plan to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030 (at the moment more than 90% of food is imported).

Served in a claypot planter from the city’s Little India district, the cocktail is a window into the wider global food crisis facing a rapidly growing population, which is set to increase from 8.1 billion to 9.7 billion by 2050.

Global food production is both affected by climate change and to blame for it – responsible for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, depending on measurement factors. It’s not all doom and gloom though, with companies across the globe future-proofing the industry by considering alternative crops and using groundbreaking technology to develop nutrient-rich products. Here, we look at the challenges at play and the brands saving the planet one bite (or sip) at a time.

APPETITE FOR AWARENESS

Many of us take what's on our plate for granted. One of the main challenges in raising awareness on the subject is simplifying a topic that can be perplexing to the average consumer. Thankfully, a string of exhibitions highlighting food security seek to do just that.