"WE ARE WHAT WE EAT"

“WE ARE WHAT WE EAT”

Food production is arguably the most important industry in the world – the entire population relies on it. For the best part of human history most of human labour was devoted to it. Today, it feeds over seven billion people and two billion people work in the food industry.

Our physical and mental well-being is directly linked to what we eat and drink. The nutritional content of what we eat determines the composition of our cell membranes, bone marrow, blood, hormones, tissue, organs, skin, and hair. Our bodies are replacing billions of cells every day — and using the foods we consume as the source.

Israel is known for its first wave of agricultural innovation – the invention of drip irrigation to counteract the country’s arid climate and water shortage. This was followed by the development of cherry tomatoes and other examples of agricultural technology.

Today, we see a second wave of innovation – the transition from food security to nutritional security. There is growing interest, not only in increasing yield and profit, but also in health and sustainability. The new generation of agri-food tech companies in Israel are driven by a combination of financial capital through government support and entrepreneurs, with a mixture of experience in farming, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and academia. Almost a third of start-up companies emerged from their founders’ military background, others had formal collaborations with academia, and a large percentage  had founders who came from a kibbutz.

Israel has secured its place as an early and leading player in the fields of plant-based culinary innovation and cultured meat - grown in the laboratory from extracted animal cells. The rapidly growing market for meat substitutes is driven by a combination of health and environmental concerns. The Rehovot based meat start-up “Aleph Farms” announced the successful cultivation of meat aboard the International Space Station, 339 km. from the Earth’s surface! Growing meat in space aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of reduced reliance on vast stretches of land, water, feed, antibiotics and other resources typically associated with traditional agriculture.

Another possible source of sustainable food for the future which Israeli scientists and innovators are expanding upon is the development of aquaculture and mariculture techniques. Aquaculture is the farming of fish and aquatic plants in water, while mariculture is the cultivation of these same resources, but in marine (where fresh and saltwater mix) environments.

From the general to the particular - food  plays a role in every Jewish Festival. None can compete, however, with the Festival which Jews all over the world will be celebrating next week. From time immemorial, Jews have celebrated Passover in memory of their liberation from slavery in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus in the Bible.