On Earth, there are roughly 7 billion of us. By 2050, this figure is expected to rise to 9 billion. 2 billion extra mouths to feed in 35 years’ time is going to be a struggle given that even in this day and age we have food shortages and people going hungry. For this reason, we will have to find a solution that means everyone can access food. The key question being posed now though is whether this food will be real or synthetic.

A man made 5 oz burger made back in 2014 cost a whopping $325,000, so there is clearly some way to go before man made meat is going to be cheaper and easier to make than the real thing. Despite this, companies like Beyond Meat and Hampton Creek are well on their way to showing that artificially created products can be considered tasty and decent value. So, surely it won’t be long before we find synthetic foods widely on sale in the UK.

In the USA, taste tests have shown that fake chicken made out of a plant based substitute (making meat vegan for the first time!) has been indistinguishable in taste from regular chicken. As well as this, Hampton Creek have had success in selling ‘Just Mayo’, which again has left consumers unable to say what was synthetic and what was real (with some people actually preferring Just Mayo and its main ingredient: synthetic eggs).

With big money behind this, as well as the need to find a solution to avoid chronic food shortages, it will eventually be a matter of taste and price that decides if we embrace man made food.

What do you think? Would you be happy to eat synthetic food or have you already tried some? Let me know you thoughts by commenting below or tweeting me here.