As humans prepare to transition into deep space, they face a number of unprecedented challenges. One of the hardest problems surrounds food. The issues extend beyond nutritional matters and extend into psychological, physical, social, and cultural issues. The challenge is further complicated by the inherent limitations of transporting, “growing”, and preparing a diverse diet that not just meets basic needs but maximizes humans’ ability to thrive. The issues of food in low-earth orbit or even the Moon pale in the level of difficulty compared with year-long expeditions into deep space, Mars, etc. Further, the thoughtful dialogue and research probing the issues here will also add value to creating a healthier more sustainable planet Earth.
An interdisciplinary panel of biology, culinary and thinkers in the humanities will discuss the art, science, philosophy, and multiple challenges present here…currently and in the future.
PANELISTS:
Dr Julian Baggini is the author, co-author or editor of over 20 books. He was the founding editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine and has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, as well as for the think tanks The Institute of Public Policy Research, Demos and Counterpoint. He is Academic Director of the Royal institute of Philosophy and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent.
Dr. Luke H. Bradley a Chellgren Endowed Professor and faculty member in the departments of Neuroscience, and Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. Dr. Bradley’s research interests include the discovery and development of novel, synthetic peptide- and protein-based molecular platforms for diagnostics and biotherapeutics.
Maggie Coblentz is a researcher and designer at the MIT Space Exploration Initiative. She explores food and gastronomy in space. Her designs and flight experiments investigate the culture of food in extreme environments on and off-Earth, zero gravity cooking, and space “terroir" and flavour.
Graham Greene is Chief Product Officer of Mission: Space Food. He has 7+ years' experience working in Michelin starred restaurants in the United States and abroad. What excites Graham about future projects is developing food-based solutions that meet the global scale of the problems surrounding the way we grow, produce and consume food.
MODERATOR:
Kris Kimel is the lead at Humanity in Deep Space and Co-founder of SpaceTango. Prior to this he started and led a range of entrepreneurial enterprises and initiatives.
