Take 5: Your Weekly Digest of the Best from PlanetFood.News

2 days ago

February 3, 2025

Take 5: Your Weekly Digest from PlanetFood.News For the week ending 3rd February 2025

The future of food isn’t just coming - it’s here, and it’s weirder, wilder, and more wonderful than ever. From fungi-mimicking seafood to lab-grown pork that moves, 2025 is already off to a dynamic start. This week, we’re diving into the unconventional, the controversial, and the downright sci-fi. Buckle up!

1. Danish Scientists Turn Mushrooms into Oyster-Like Seafood Danish researchers are using cutting-edge fermentation to transform humble fungi into a convincing oyster alternative. No shells, no overfishing - just pure, plant-based umami.

Get the full story: Mushroom Seafood

2. How Consumers Are Starting to Fund the Future of Meat Forget just buying plant-based burgers—now, you can invest in the companies making them. Crowdfunding is shaking up the alt-protein industry, putting the power (and the dollars) in the hands of everyday consumers.

Find out how: Consumer-Backed Meat

3. Would You Eat Lab-Grown Pork That Moves? MyriaMeat Says It’s the Holy Grail of Cultivated Meat MyriaMeat claims to have cracked the ultimate cultivated meat challenge: muscle tissue that contracts just like the real thing. Creepy? Groundbreaking? Maybe both.

Dare to read on: Moving Lab-Grown Pork

4. Scandinavia Bets on This Unlikely Meat Alternative – Sea Squirt Shepherd’s Pie, Anyone? Nordic food scientists are betting big on sea squirts—yes, those gelatinous little ocean blobs—as a high-protein, sustainable meat alternative. The next big thing in eco-friendly dining, or just a really bad idea?

Dive in: Sea Squirt Meat

5. Fungi Frenzy as Kerala Court Says Magic Mushrooms Are Just Mushrooms In a ruling that could shake up drug policy, an Indian court has declared that psilocybin mushrooms—aka "magic" mushrooms—are legally just... mushrooms. The implications? Huge.

Read the full trip: Magic Mushrooms Legal Ruling

Bonus Feature: Lab-Grown Hearts? The Same Tech Behind Cultivated Meat Will Build Human Organs If we can grow meat in a lab, why not organs? Scientists are using cultivated meat technology to bio-engineer human hearts—and it’s closer than you think.

Get the inside scoop: Lab-Grown Hearts

Special Spotlight: Food & Fibre Hub as Suzy Amis Cameron’s Rubisco Investment Gets Green Light in NZ A new multi-million-dollar food and fibre hub in New Zealand just got the green light, backed by Titanic-level star power. Suzy Amis Cameron’s Rubisco investment is pushing the boundaries of plant-based protein.