Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • [GUITAR MUSIC]

  • LAURA LING: What are you cooking today?

  • JP REYES: I'm going to make a popcorn shrimp.

  • What I did was just bread it in some panko and some seasonings.

  • LAURA LING: Sounds delicious.

  • JP REYES: Oh, yeah.

  • LAURA LING: What he's cooking actually isn't shrimp at all.

  • It's a meatless product made in a lab

  • by New Wave Foods, a biotech startup founded by Dominique

  • Barnes and Michelle Wolf.

  • Tell me how you conceived of this idea to make fake shrimp.

  • DOMINIQUE BARNES: Shrimp is the number one

  • consumed seafood in the US.

  • You know, this is a product that we enjoy eating

  • and many other people do too, but the way we're getting it

  • now isn't sustainable.

  • LAURA LING: Did you know that 38% of the world's mangroves

  • have been destroyed to create shrimp farms?

  • That even one hamburger wastes more water

  • than two months of showering?

  • That agriculture contributes nearly one quarter

  • of global greenhouse gas emissions?

  • Our seemingly insatiable appetite for meat

  • is having a devastating impact on the environment.

  • But some are betting that biotechnology will offer

  • a sustainable alternative.

  • Wow, so this really does look like shrimp!

  • I'm impressed.

  • What has gone into this process?

  • MICHELLE WOLF: What you're seeing

  • is a combination of different plant and algae ingredients

  • and then our proprietary process,

  • which really gives it the bounce-back

  • that a lot of people mention makes

  • it taste a lot like shrimp.

  • LAURA LING: Can I handle it?

  • MICHELLE WOLF: Yeah, totally.

  • If you take one up and smell it you

  • should get sort of a shrimpy-type smell.

  • LAURA LING: Yeah, it's not quite as pungent

  • which is not a bad thing.

  • MICHELLE WOLF: I know.

  • LAURA LING: Does your product have the same nutritional

  • value?

  • DOMINIQUE BARNES: Our products will

  • have very similar nutritional value as far as having

  • high protein, low fat.

  • Because they're made out of plants and algae,

  • it'll be zero cholesterol, and even

  • if you have a shellfish allergy, you will most likely

  • be able to consume our product because we

  • don't have that same component.

  • LAURA LING: New Wave Foods is part

  • of a growing movement of biotech companies creating

  • meat alternatives.

  • Others include Memphis Meats, which

  • grows real meat from cloned pig, cow, and chicken cells.

  • Impossible Foods plans to create a plant-based burger

  • with the same taste, texture, and appearance of real ground

  • beef.

  • And a company called Clara Foods makes vegan egg whites out

  • of yeast.

  • Where do you see the future of food?

  • MICHELLE WOLF: What it comes down to is

  • taste-- that we can, you know, apply

  • all these amazing processes, but if it doesn't taste amazing,

  • and consumers aren't going to accept it.

  • LAURA LING: JP Reyes, a vegan chef

  • at the Google offices in San Francisco,

  • has been one of the first to incorporate New Wave shrimp

  • into his dishes.

  • JP REYES: At Google, we have a lot

  • of sensitivities, allergies, diet restrictions--

  • so it's nice that we're able to offer a shrimp alternative.

  • LAURA LING: All right, Chef JP, so I

  • brought my dad to this taste test-- he

  • is the ultimate seafood lover.

  • JP REYES: All right.

  • LAURA LING: OK right.

  • Ready, Dad?

  • DOUG LING: I'm ready.

  • LAURA LING: I think it's yummy.

  • You can tell it's not real shrimp?

  • DOUG LING: No, I can't.

  • Tastes a little like scallop.

  • LAURA LING: Oh, okay.

  • So did it meet the Doug Ling seafood-loving test?

  • DOUG LING: Very nice.

  • LAURA LING: Do you think that we are

  • sort of entering a new era when it comes to food technology?

  • DOMINIQUE BARNES: It does definitely feel that way.

  • And I think it's going to take a lot of these great ideas that

  • are coming to market to help solve some of the problems

  • that we see in our food supply chain.

  • And our ultimate goals is really to continue

  • to create delicious food that's good for you

  • and the environment

  • LAURA LING: Are you curious to try these meat alternatives?

  • Let us know in the comments below.

  • And to see how ugly food can transform our planet,

  • watch this next video.

  • To prepare for tonight's event, Chef Pesha Perlsweig

  • visited various markets to see what

  • ingredients she could transform into a six course dinner.

  • MAN: She finds ingredients that are going to go to waste

  • and then she turns it into these intricate, amazing, interesting

  • dishes that people love.

  • LAURA LING: Thank you for watching Seeker Stories.

  • Please subscribe to see new videos every week.

[GUITAR MUSIC]

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it