Bill Gates give plant based proteins a shout out

[Calliegirl]

And it sounds like he's investing in it as well.

The global population is on track to reach 9 billion by 2050. What are all those people going to eat? With billions of people adding more animal protein to their diets — meat consumption is expected to double by 2050 — it seems clear that arable land for raising livestock won’t be able to keep up.

That’s one reason why I’m excited about innovations taking place now in food production, which especially interests me as someone who worries about the poor getting enough to eat.There’s quite a lot of interesting physics, chemistry and biology involved in how food tastes, how cooking changes its taste, and why we like some tastes and not others.

My friend Nathan Myrhvold took a deep dive into the science and technology of cooking with his huge book, Modernist Cuisine. Nathan is great at explaining things like why we like meat so much, and why cream-based sauces are so good. Which leads to interesting questions, like could we create those tastes in ways that are less expensive, less fattening and less work?

I’ve gotten to learn about several new food companies that are creating plant-based alternatives to meat through some monetary investments I’ve made with Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. Their products are at least as healthy as meat and are produced more sustainably.

But what makes them really interesting is their taste. Food scientists are now creating meat alternatives that truly taste like — and have the same “mouth feel” — as their nature-made counterparts (see two recipes below, for example)...

http://mashable.com/2013/03/21/bill-gates-future-of-food/

 

[Second Summer]

The Great Satan of software is reinventing himself as a sustainable food production visionary, accidentally promoting a vegan diet. I think I approve of this new Bill Gates!

 

[mlp]

Good for Bill.

 

[Clueless Git]

"Their products are at least as healthy as meat ... "

Jeez, you can make something as 'healthy' as meat out of mere vegetables????

 

[das_nut]

The Great Satan of software is reinventing himself as a sustainable food production visionary, accidentally promoting a vegan diet. I think I approve of this new Bill Gates!

There's a bad joke out there about how Bill didn't have a conscious until he married one.

I'm not sure if there's any basis in fact for that, but the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has been an amazing force for good in this world.

 

[ledboots]

The Gates Foundation has given billions to charity. Truly amazing. One of his grants went to our local public school system. Hope it helps.