A New Twist To Growing Your Own Food

The CellPod is a home appliance that grows the ingredients for a healthy meal within a week from plant cells according to a report in Phys.org.

VTT a firm in Finland has developed it’s first CellPod prototype which is currently producing a harvest. Lauri Reuter, VTT research scientist said that "Urbanization and the environmental burden caused by agriculture are creating the need to develop new ways of producing food - CellPod is one of them. It may soon offer consumers a new and exciting way of producing local food in their own homes.”

The device does a lot more than just growing food. CellPod is based on growing the undifferentiated cells of a plant rather than a whole plant - only the best parts of a plant are cultivated. One example is that the nutritional value of a cloudberry cell culture is similar to or even better than that of the berry itself.

This approach could well have significant impact on the healthfulness of foods and eliminate much food waste. The big question is whether consumers have finally gotten past their misunderstanding about biotech – or with this seem to many to be just another example of science manipulating our foods and scare many.

Food and technology should be partners. While a few Silicon Valley tech food startups have come under criticisms of late for faulty formulations due to lack of food development knowledge and resources, I have little doubt that the future of our food supply lies in the hands of technology, working side by side with the farmers and ranchers who grow our food. I hope this isn’t another one of those great ideas that never sees reality due to public misperceptions.