Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food
shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but
Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from
human feces.
Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks
based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist
because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the
possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal
of protein because of all the bacteria.
The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction
enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The
meat is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The
researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor
with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.
Inhabitat notes that the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our
greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.
Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed
ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda s recycled
poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante
s circle for gluttons.
The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the
excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the
cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that
need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They
hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that
ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the
fact that the meat will have fewer calories.
Waste not; want not.