About David George Gordon

David George Gordon is the award-winning author of The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, The Sasquatch Seeker’s Field Manual and 18 other titles. He is also The Bug Chef — he’s brought his exotic cuisine to the Explorers Club, The Smithsonian, Microsoft and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in Hollywood and Times Square and appeared on Conan O’Brien, James Corden and The View. The Bug Chef creates culinary masterpieces using ants, grasshoppers, water bugs, centipedes, scorpions and their kin.

Lecture Summary: Entomophagy

Gordon is promoting edible insects as an alternative protein in our current diets. He begins by explaining that despite the fact that western countries cringe on the idea of eating insects 80% of the world’s culture practice entomophagy (bug eating). Additionally, he compares and contrast the production of beef versus the production of edible insects. He explains the benefits both for the planet and our bodies that come if we consumed these alternative proteins.

About Taylor Weiss

Taylor Weiss is an assistant professor in the Environmental and Resource Management (ERM) program at Arizona State University (ASU). He is a member of The Polytechnic School (TPS) and the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI). He conducts research in the design and implementation of algae consortia for sustainable bioproduction and the development of spectroscopic tools and platforms necessary for algal study. Taylor completed specialized training in Biophysics while earning his Ph.D. studying the molecular biology and biochemistry of the hydrocarbon-producing alga Botryococcus braunii. He completed a postdoc at the Washington University in St. Louis primarily focusing on the ultrastructure and biochemistry of algal cell walls. Prior to joining ASU, he also completed a postdoc at Michigan State University designing a photosynthetic algae-bacteria consortia for the bioproduction of PHB, a bioplastic precursor.

Lecture Summary: Algae

Weiss starts off with saying that algae is not as easy as choosing to eat insects over animals, but they are genetically diverse and are everywhere. Algae is multi purposeful and can have high concentrations of protein and nutrition. Many people encounter algae through seaweed, sushi or even in beverages that have no added sugar to it. It doesn’t need a lot of water to grow compared to traditional agriculture and it can grow exponentially making it a great alternative for sustainable agriculture. As apart of AzCati, Weiss discusses this facility and it’s goal for the future of algae. AzCati hopes to accelerate the advancement of algae technology development and commercialization through innovative research, education, and collaboration.

About Radu Popa

Radu is an Adjunct Assistant Professor (Research) of Biological Sciences at UCS Dana and David Dornsife, College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He is a world renowned scientist and educator with thirty years of experience in the areas of ecology, microbiology, redox geochemistry, and physiology. He is the lead researcher on several River Road Research (RRR) projects. RRR developed technologies that allow to sustainably convert food waste into a protein source useful in poultry and aquaculture feed formulations, but can also be used for microalgae production. Dr. Popa's published scholarly work on the origins of life, life in extreme environments, and extraterrestrial life. He has contributed to several Mars missions through his work at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Lecture Summary: Converting Food Waste into Protein

In his talk, Popa goes into explaining the key challenges into converting food waste into commodities. Popa goes in depth on the process of converting food waste into two main proteins, animal protein and algae protein. In addition, he also explains the efficiency of food waste production which includes composting, anaerobic digestion, and RRR (River Road Research) food waste conversion technology.

About David Rosenstein

A thought leader, grower and innovator in the urban agriculture space since 2010. He founded several other ventures including OurFoods, a nonprofit Social enterprise dedicated to urban ag education, training and developing pathways to work in and around our food system. He developed a K-16 educational platform called Art & Science of Aquaponics that is being taught throughout CA from public schools to USC, UCLA Extension and the San Francisco County Jail. He is an expert in hydroponic and aquaponic. He developed Nano Farms , a product line of recreational/educational scaled aquaponic and hydroponics systems that grow the most amount of food in the least amount of space. His work has been recognized by all levels of government including the White House (Office of Science and Technology Policy) under the Obama Administration. He has lectured at a broad range of settings including USDA, CDFA, USGBC, universities, design institutions, and his kids elementary school. David is the Vice Chairman Emeritus of the Aquaponics Association. He also has served on the Aquaponics Subcommittee for California Fish and Wildlife, and the Urban Ag committee for the Los Angeles Food Policy Council.

Lecture Summary: Non-conventional Agriculture

Rosenstein takes a different approach when it comes to alternative proteins by simply promoting the consumption of non conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. He critiques our diets by stating that they are negatively impacted by nutritional guides created by big corporations who benefit from them. He specifically mentions that we do not need to consume as much dairy and meat as we are recommended and that these diets actually lead to disease. He does think that the creation of alternative proteins is important however not necessary for our health, and instead one should simply consume our fruits and vegetables.

About Robert Jinkerson

Robert Jinkerson is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and a cooperating faculty member in Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. His group is broadly interested in algae and plants because these photosynthetic organisms have huge economic and environmental importance. His research aims to make fundamental discoveries about the biology of these organisms and then use this knowledge to engineer solutions to problems in the fields of energy, food, and the environment. Current projects in the lab include functional genomics in green algae and engineering tomatoes for the space station.

Lecture Summary: Space Crops

Jinkerson begins by talking about the benefits of growing algae. Algae is used in multiple products and can be grown in a limited amount of physical space. However, we have not adopted algae in our diets because it does not taste delicious. He explains that humans tend to eat the food that are familiar to them and which they are comfortable with. Therefore, he is working on producing the fruits and vegetables that are part of our diet in a manner that does not require a large amount of physical space. He specifically mentions two techniques to reduce the amount of space a plant takes up; bottom up and top down.

About Gustavo Plascencia

Gustavo is the General Manager of Sustainability for Dining Service at the University of California, Riverside. He oversees the Special Project sector of dining focusing on workplace safety, food safety, and sustainability.

About Matthew Burke

Matthew Burke works in Material Management at the University of California, Riverside.

Lecture Summary: Blended Burger Project

Plascencia and Burke give a run down of the Blended Burger Project at the University of California, Riverside. Burke talks about how the project came to be and the collaborations necessary to make this the Sustainable meal it is. Plascencia talks about the incorporation of it in UCR student meals and how the public reacted to the product. He also goes through the health and environmental benefits of the Blended Burger.