Food 3.0

With Burger King introducing its plant-based Impossible Whopper in August 2019, even carnivore havens like fast-food joints are getting the message that global sustainability of expanding meat consumption is not realistic. Filmmakers Jean-Baptiste Erreca and Guilhem Randot’s Food 3.0 is a three-part documentary addressing issues of food sustainability from different angles, some unsettling, others encouraging, and one or two plainly cruel and grotesque. “Techno Food” takes viewers inside Silicon Valley laboratories where protein-rich eats such as egg whites and meat are replicated artificially. The process for synthetic, test-tube foodmaking is about as appetizing as learning how sausage is made, but the results are featured in typical meals (e.g., omelets), and no one complains about taste (even so, it’s a little creepy watching people in white lab coats formulating synthetic lunches). “Bio Food” is a little more familiar, exploring organic farming that eschews GMO-based crops in favor of heirloom seeds and a plant-based diet that requires patience while veggies and fruits take as much time as nature needs to grow. As local growers and farmers bring produce to community markets, organic food has the potential to restore our personal connection with the sources of what we eat. But is there a way to translate those values on a global scale, especially with human population expected to rise to almost 10 billion people by 2050? The final part is called “Franken Food,” and that hint of Mary Shelley’s famous horror novel is no joke, as the episode examines how gene splicing is being used to create new or modified animals for consumption. Some of these woeful critters plainly suffer, such as pigs genetically manipulated to grow twice as much muscle (i.e., meat) than normal pigs, which causes them to stumble and strain under their own weight. Since we already cause misery to normal animals destined for the slaughterhouse, who often spend their lives trapped in confined spaces, one has to wonder about the ethics of deliberately creating life forms that will have to endure additional pain. A thought-provoking documentary series on a vital issue, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)