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Chef René Redzepi Believes Insects Will Solve The World's Food Problems

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For Redzepi, Soylent is not the future.

René Redzepi/Facebook

Chef and foraging advocate René Redzepi (Noma, Copenhagen) penned a piece for Time this morning on how he believes the world can fix its food problems. He argues that while innovations like meal replacement powder Soylent and lab grown hamburgers are cool, "fun," and novel, they aren't the solution to problems like food waste and obesity. Redzepi believes the real solution can be found in things like fermentation because it results in food that is delicious and pleasurable and also sustainable. Below, the eight best lines:

1) On what people don't want during a meal: "No one wants to be preached to at the dinner table."

2) On what food should always be: "There's room for all manner of ideas and innovations, of course, but for me...I think that we can't lose sight of the importance of deliciousness."

3) On the scale of human food waste: "It's as if we've forgotten about the value of what we eat."

4) On the problems with how the world currently eats: "We're stuck in a meat-centric mentality that promotes a food system that is cost-ineffective and polluting."

5) On the power of insects: "Insects are protein-rich and can be a sustainable form of eating around the world."

6) On fermentation: "Fermentation is also a way that we have transformed what used to be food waste into delicious condiments... Ferments can positively transform many of the things that would otherwise go to waste."

7) On inventions like Soylent: "We can talk about meal substitutes and synthetic meats that will solve all of our problems, but I honestly don't feel like any of this will stick unless it is nutritious and delicious."

8) On what a sad future looks like: "I can't imagine a worse outcome than one where our food systems face the future by turning the act of eating into something akin to filling up your car's gas tank when it's running low on fuel."