The world’s population is growing and along with it our need to feed the ever-increasing number of people. The way we currently produce and consume much of our food isn’t sustainable if we’re to be in with a chance of curbing climate change, not to mention the damage being done to nature.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, because food producers, scientists and communities are coming together to research, develop and deliver exciting, innovative, more sustainable and planet kind ways to feed the world.

These innovations are explored and demonstrated in a fascinating exhibition at the Science Museum called The Future of Food.

Inadvertently dressing to match the design of the Future of Food exhibition at the Science Museum

The quiz that follows is based on the exhibits and explanations in the exhibition. I wonder how many of the answers will surprise/shock/delight you? You’ll find them at the end.

Starting with the background to the food we buy

Producing food as efficiently and cheaply as possible has resulted in an industrial system that is costing our precious planet dearly. The first part of the Future of Food exhibition examines how we got to the system (the production, processing, delivery and consumption) of food we now have

1. When was margarine, one of the first industrially produced foods, invented?

a) 1869. b) 1904. c)1931

2. What is the USA’s biggest cash crop?

a) Wheat. b) Barley. c) Corn

3. What was Clarence Birdseye famous for pioneering in the 1920s?

a) Refrigerated food transport. b) flash freezing methods. c) fish fingers

4. What size are the nets used in bottom-trawling fishing?

a) as big as a bus. b) as big as a container lorry. c) as big as a Boeing 747

5. Scientist and entrepeneur John Lawes set up the world’s first agriculture lab in 1843. His research focused on which nutrients help plants to grow. Which animal’s dung did he use to create the first synthetic fertiliser?

a) Rhino b) Elephant. c) Dinosaur

6. Which of these is the main cause of global deforestation?

a) logging and mining. b) agriculture c) infrastructure development

Now the new developments and initiatives

The main section of the exhibition showcases the ways the twin scientific visions of bio-technology and ecology are working together with food producers to build a better future for food.

7. Fermentation is a process that has been carried out by humans for centuries, as evidenced by fermented fishbones discovered in Sweden. How old are they?

a) 9,000 years. b) 6,000 years. c) 3,000 years

8. Scientist Chris Chuck created a sustainable alternative to palm oil made from yeast through a technology called precision fermentation. To ensure the process is as environmentally friendly as possible, he fed the yeast with which of these crop surpluses?

a) Coffee grounds b) bread

9. Growing meat from cells may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but the first cell-grown beefburger was unveiled in 2013. How much did it cost?

a) £250,000. b) £47,000. c) £1,500

10. Genetically modified foods - made from crops and animals whose DNA has been altered to improve their resilience to disease - have been on our shop shelves since the 1990s. What was the first British GM supermarket product (which was sold in Sainsbury’s and Safeway, by the way)?

a) chick peas. b) strawberries. c) tomato puree

11. Eve Balfour was a farmer whose 1943 book The Living Soil became a blueprint for the organic food movement. She also cofounded the Soil Association, the world’s oldest organic farming organisation. But farming wasn’t her only occupation. What else did was she?

a) a crime novellist. b) a jazz musician. c) a skilled dressmaker

12. There are over 50,000 edible plants. 90% of our food comes from how may of those?

a) 15. b) 300. c) 1600

13. The first-ever seed bank was established in the 1920s in which city?

a) Geneva. b) Nairobi. c) St Petersburg

And finally, how we can change our food choices

This last part of the exhibition prompts us to consider how each of us has a part to play in being better consumers of our precious food supplies.

14. Animal proteins and fats should ideally make up 15% of our diet (with the 45% majority made up of fruit and vegetables). What do you think the actual UK percent is?

a) 35%. b) 52%. c) 61%

15. How many people around the world eat insects as a regular part of their diet?

a) 65 million b) 900 million c) 2 billion

Here are the answers!

1 - a. Margarine became a major part of the Western diet, overtaking butter and in the 1900s the margarine industry switched from animal fats to cheaper vegetable oil to increase profits. This involved the invention of hydrogenated fats to achieve the marge’s butter-like texture. In the 1990s hydrogenated fats were linked with heart disease and food processing companies found a healthier, cheaper alternative - palm oil. Growing palm trees, which is predominantly done in Malaysia and Indonesia, is one of the biggest contributors to deforestation and the loss of biodiverse forests.

2 - c. Having been a sacred crop across the Americas for thousands of years, in the last century corn has gone from being worshipped to being an industrial material and an example of a monoculture which are central to industrial agriculture but which create fragile ecosystems, susceptible to disease, weeds and pests.

3 - b. Clarence invented flash-freezing methods which triggered an industry for frozen foods in the 1920s, extending the shelf life of fish, reducing its price and driving huge demand for fishing. (FYI - fish fingers were launched in 1955 as a new convenience food when owning a home freezer became more common)

4 - c. Demand for fish has continued to grow exponentially since then. The process of dragging nets across the seafloor destroys coral reefs and other habitats and releases carbon. The nets are indiscriminate about what they catch in their path which does, of course, include endangered species like sharks and turtles.

5 - c. The need for synthetic fertilisers and pesticides in order to farm food as efficiently as possible was the driving force behind the work of John Lawes who discovered that by treating fossilised dinosaur dung with sulphuric acid he could create an effective artificial manure.

6- b No big surprise there really. This sobering display in the exhibition is a horrifying reminder of the exact extent of global deforestation, and use of fertilisers and pesticides.

7 - a Fermentation is humanity’s oldest biotechnology and one that is widely used today (ie in the process of making sourdough bread). Scientists are experimenting with precision fermentation methods to create foods including animal free dairy products like these, that have a taste and texture indistinguishable from animal derived versions

Dairy free prototype products made using precision fermentation

8 - both! Precision fermentation is also being used to create food products without using palm oil. These will soon be available on supermarket shelves you’ll be glad to know

Palm free products coming to a supermarket near you

Precision fermentation as a future food choice

The pros and cons of precision fermented dairy products

9 - a Yes, really! The scientist responsible used hundreds of flasks filled will cell cultures to make the insanely expensive, not remotely fast food. In 2020 diners in a restaurant in Singapore ate the world’s first meal of cell-grown chicken. They paid 20 Singapore dollars, a lot less than the meat cost to produce and declared it to be very tasty. Now the challenge facing the industry is how to make cell-grown meat affordable for mass consumption.

10 - c Here it is

The first genetically modified product to go on sale in British supermarkets

Although some people are uncomfortable with the idea of genetic modification, scientists can use it as a fast way to engineer crops and livestock to be resilient to climate and nature friendly. For example helping to make chickens resistant to bird flu which has killed hundreds of millions of birds in the last few years alone, as well as preventing the spread of the disease from chicken to wild birds and humans. Similar interventions can be used on crops to eliminate the need for artificial fertilisers.

Fertiliser-free grains as a food choice

The pros and cons of fertiliser-free grains

11 - a AND b!

Farmer, crime novelist and jazz musician Eve Balfour

Farming ecologically - growing a variety of crops and plants, as a way of rearing livestock - starts with sustaining the health of the soil.

Ecologically farmed meat as a food choice

The pros and cons of Ecologically farmed meat

12 - a Isn’t that shocking. Growing (and us eating) a wider variety of crops supports all-important bio-diversity. Communities sharing and swapping seeds, through seed banks and exchange programmes, help to boost the resilience of what they grow.

13- c Scientists have spent decades using seeds to develop perennial versions of wheat and rice, which can be harvested without the need to replant every year, from their wild grass relatives. Perennial grass has much deeper roots to access more water and nutrients and absorb carbon than annuals.

Perennial grains as a food choice

14 - b. Here’s what the rest of your diet should ideally consist of

15 - c! Insects are an ideal sustainable protein. There have been trials of insect-based foods like Burgers in Europe. Let’s see if they catch on. You’ll be glad to know legumes such as lentils are another sustainable option and have the benefit of fertilising the soil.

Our food choices - how we shop, cook and eat - all have an an impact on our environment as well as our health. Schemes like veg boxes, eating seasonally and using technology to make informed food choices are all ways we can each be more environmentally conscious about what we eat and create a more sustainable future for our food.

The Future of Food exhibition is at the Science Museum until September 2026. Entry is free but you do need to book a slot. For full info and opening hours CLICK HERE