Hydration Through Innovation

       Technological advances have propelled much of the worlds’ economic success, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two. Although this established relationship has been financially rewarding, as we move forward our efforts within technology need to move further away from financial gain and closer towards social impact. Transitioning focus towards social impact would spotlight the lack of resource allocation to what many find to be basic rights: clean water and access to food. This topic was seen throughout this week’s readings especially in the Global Trends 2030 report and the article on Design Thinking. 

As time goes on, we will continue to see the issue of food and water scarcity spread throughout many regions. Using our technological abilities to cultivate new products that would not only be financially feasible but also beneficial to all communities that are lacking these basic but vital resources. To remedy the issues of food and water allocation we must look to how we are using these resources today and what changes can be made. It has been reported that agriculture is responsible for 80-90 % of US water consumption[1]. Out of that amount, growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% in the US[2]. Over half of the water being used for agriculture is being used to just the feed of livestock, not including the fresh water consumed by the livestock themselves.

Having lived in California, a state that continues to lead in agricultural practices in the face of a severe drought, I have experienced the problems that water scarcity engenders first-hand. The urgency of this crucial issue requires technological innovations today, rather than the status quo of passing the buck onto future generations. Luckily, some companies are thinking ahead on how to decrease the amount of crop and water usage through new innovations such as Super Meat. Super Meat is cultured meat created from animal cells, grown into the meat products that we enjoy on a large scale today[3]. This meat could result in poorer areas being able to have more sustenance in their diets, lowering the accounts of malnutrition due to the decrease in price of meat products making them more accessible to poorer populations. These types of advances would enable us to not only decrease our water usage when it comes to animal husbandry but would also allow the farms currently used to turn to feeding our rapidly growing population demands. 

Moving forward we must formulate and implement solutions that will benefit not only our pockets but our communities around the world. The abundance of knowledge that we have today puts us in an ideal position to begin to strategize and reform the way that issues such as water scarcity and food allocation are looked at. We must ask ourselves, how do we move forward? Is eating lab or factory made meat too far-fetched, or is it the start of the solution we have been looking for? Through innovations such as that of Super Meat we will be able to scratch the surface of these problems that have no clear cut answers.

[1]“USDA ERS – Irrigation & Water Use.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. 2013.

[2] Jacobson, Michael F. “More and Cleaner Water.” In Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could save Your Health and the Environment. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.

[3] Super Meat. Super Meat. 2016. Web. 5 Sept. 2016.