Life After Food

Life After Food

2013, Health  -   146 Comments
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Ratings: 5.69/10 from 126 users.

Humanity is going to continue to grow. Everybody eats and everyone needs energy and these constraints are only going to get tighter and we're going to have to improve our understanding of the body and nutrition and design something new.

Some people are calling Soylent the "future food." We're going to meet the man who invented it and find out how it might change the way we eat. And Brian, the host of this little documentary, is going to live on Soylent alone for thirty days straight.

Soylent is a total food replacement and Brian will be living on a mixture alone just like the man who invented it. Soylent, canola oil, fish oil capsules, and water - that's Brian's entire diet for the next month and he's a little apprehensive. He can't imagine eating that for a day let alone for one month straight.

We're going to find out where Rob Rhinehart's team makes the food of the future. Rob doesn't think we're going to feed an exploding population with organic farms. We're going to need to look to the future, we are going to need to improve and optimize things and a lot of that comes from science and technology. So this idea is going to solve a lot of problems in food that we have.

Not just hunger but also the environmental impact and the poorly balanced food which leads to obesity, etc. Rob came up with this chemical cocktail called Soylent and to prove it worked he lived off of it for 30 days. He documented the experience on his blog and his quest to replace food was noticed by the media.

Soon Soylent was a bonafide online sensation. So naturally he launched a crowdfunding campaign to take his project to the next level. He raised $800,000 in less than a month and with those funds he founded a company comprised of bright young men in their twenties. A close friend of the group says they were known as the "Startup Bros" even before Soylent. And indeed this is Rob's third and most successful venture. They're clearly influenced by the culture of the Silicon Valley but instead of designing Apps they're working with food.

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Girlsarestupider caztherefromjupiter
Girlsarestupider caztherefromjupiter
1 year ago

Sounds like a personal choice to me bro . Good luck ! Ha

bertha
bertha
3 years ago

Sounds like Bill Gates is at it again with his fake eggs and -- his meats that are literally grown in an agar plate. No thanks.

Geo
Geo
4 years ago

From the Storyline: "exploding population". Nonsense and propaganda.

The reason behind Europe importing the hordes from the Middle East was not benevolence for a war torn area. They could have and should have set up a non-conflict zone/camp where non combatants could live, within the Middle East somewhere.

Angela Merkel, globalist minion, along with others cleared the way for them due to Europe's declining birth rate AND to have disparate populations at odds with each other, making them distracted and easier to bend to the will of the Globalists.

As for Soylent, what a joke. Soy is high in estrogen, will make boys less male. Canola oil is not a legacy or heritage crop but a genetic mod. Doctors in the know recommend AGAINST using it.

30 days... wow. How about the inventor being analyzed extensively now and then after 30 years, along with other dietary control groups to compare; then get back to us. There is definitely plenty of time for that.

If you are really worried, having wrongly bought into the "population explosion" BS, learn to ice fish. Plenty of room in the great white north, greenland, etc. Or pool funds and buy an old ship at auction and create your own little town out of that. Plenty of room out at sea... and then we don't have to have misinformed people freaking out about what the Globalist fake news minions are putting out. Just go far enough out so as not to get TV. Then you'll be at peace.

MAXtRENdy
MAXtRENdy
7 years ago

I think the idea is not new and still needs to be improved legally tested to become acessible , dont think its for every one , maybe for the morbid obese , maybe its a easy way to deal with hunger , but usually the problem about food and hunger in poor countries are because of multinational corporations that use resources and polute water cicles , so the problem with food issues will always include the problem of water scarecity and desertification.

Balls
Balls
7 years ago

I think my adblocker is experiencing some difficulties. Why is there still a 23 minute ad? Oh wait, I see. Nice.

GeorgeBob
GeorgeBob
9 years ago

couldn't they come up with a different freakin name? thats creepy. sounds awesome....but damn thats creepy.

Thedudebro
Thedudebro
9 years ago

Your body wants fiber, enjoy your diarrhea and subpar assimilation utopian slaves

manchester fat acceptance
manchester fat acceptance
9 years ago

this costs much more than i pay for groceries every week, so i dunno how it is supposed to be a good alternative

Siste Viator
Siste Viator
9 years ago

The whole Soylent green thing is just hilarious. There is an HBO comedy spoofing the silicon valley startup scene, it's quite funny, but just doesn't really work as the reality is even crazier.
Still, if someone gave me 200,000 USD to make cheaper, better wireless communications and I'd had nothing to show for it, I'd hope I would come up with the future of food too. They call it Pivoting.
And they know that if people can be convinced that everybody else is doing it, then they will follow suit.
Food - Owned.

mikeysbro
mikeysbro
9 years ago

Real food costs a bit of money. Personally, I believe based on my nutritional studies that whole plant foods derived from plants such as beets, carrots, spinach, and so forth made into a powder will supply many nutrients. Add to this a bit of omega 3 oils like flax seeds or hemp seeds with a some nut/bean milk and it would be far better than these types of products.

Mr.Freeman
Mr.Freeman
9 years ago

you people are missing the point this is meant for people to use if you are a collage student who has little money and has to study all night, or a software programmer who cannot always find time to eat, it is not meant to be all you eat, it is for when you just don't want to or cannot

Matt Kovach
Matt Kovach
9 years ago

soylent is a great food replacement, it works for me

Lisa
Lisa
10 years ago

I don't see this as a new concept. Products like this, (but obviously ones that have been approperatly tested, or I hope so) are used for individuals who are unable to eat orally and rely on enternal nutrition through G/GJ tubes. Only difference is they have no choice in the matter and lucky for them they don't have to taste it.

Zac Burke
Zac Burke
10 years ago

This should be illegal, George Orwell would be proud of this creation. The reason why this project raised so much money is because rich oligarchs threw money at it, because it will ruin our health. These kids that make soylent should be tried for crimes against humanity. Support organic local farms, I hope these guys go bankrupt.

karen
karen
10 years ago

In brief, I think both the documentary and the product are ridiculous. You can basically survive on anything with calories in it for 30 days, learning very little other than whether you can humanly bear it.

The basic premise that this is 'better living through chemicals' is complete nonsense. Soylent's primary ingredients are oat flour and canola oil. For people living under a rock: OAT FLOUR AND CANOLA OIL ARE FOOD. They are processed, plant-based foods derived from grains. There is nothing futuristic about these foods, they're grown with soil, sun and water, heavily fertilized, pesticized, harvested and mechanically processed like any other mass-produced agricultural commodities. If Soylent is designed as an emergency energy-supplier, why not add a few more food-products (like HF corn syrup) and make it not only tastier but cheaper?

I don't understand what Soylent's offering that's not on a million GNC shelves all over the country. There's nothing new about nutritional supplements that claim to be full spectrum.

As far as the product itself, you want to go on a processed liquid diet of chemicals for 30 days? Try Ensure. it's marginally edible, hopefully contains fewer rat parts and just as many chemicals and GMO poisons, and is more nutritionally balanced than Soylent.

ddaba
ddaba
10 years ago

Some sort of backwards advertising campaign, first calling it Soylent ("It's people!"), then saying it's good enough for the poor.

Roy
Roy
10 years ago

Why cover a product that is not fully tested or even complete. Why not call it "Food. Step 1 of 5".

Robin
Robin
10 years ago

30 days are nothing! Try living on it for 10 years and then come back. Still good whit other perspectives.

Marc Allen
Marc Allen
10 years ago

Life without food is not worth living.

AddNewComment1
AddNewComment1
10 years ago

omg ... just order a pizza...

englishjakes
englishjakes
10 years ago

cool idea, probably would want to see clinical trials 1st. theirs 2 parts that worry me from the video the part about his jaw getting sore and the social aspect. i was juice fasting for 3 days this summer and on the last night my friends were going to the bar so i figured i was done tomorrow so itll be ok if i hit up the bar lol, 2-3 beers later i was so wasted that i could hardly walk, considering on a normal night i can handle 10 pretty comfortably it was pretty awesome.

Sally Gill
Sally Gill
10 years ago

google Soylent Green ....

Luyang Han
Luyang Han
10 years ago

The Soylent is made of some processed food, which is extracted from natural food anyway. In order to produce Soylent, someone still need to plant and grow the crops, and raising animals. Ordering from company or Amazon does not mean that it is not originated from agriculture. Plus, instead of consuming the food right away, they are heavily processed, which consumes lots of energy and large portion of nutrition is wasted in such process. The final mix of processed powder called Soylent cannot be really the solution for future food.

Lauri Neva
Lauri Neva
10 years ago

I wish we did not have to eat anything, period!

Fidel
Fidel
10 years ago

wow, all I can think of is Hubris with a capital H.

tell a lie, what also springs to mind is the "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"

his enterprise is founded on very shaky ground; believing first of all that we understand the complexities of food, and assuming that people can make food better.

If he did more research he'd eventually find out that we can increase food yields dramatically by working with nature rather than against it, and by doing so could have nutritious and tasty organic food aplenty.

systems1000
systems1000
10 years ago

I wish those in power to use food as a weapon would stop being so artificial by telling the squalid masses that if they do things our way (which is to drop your trousers and try to touch your toes) that pie in the sky will drop into their laps.Better to take all the fully loaded hand guns confiscated by the Detroit Police Department in one year and air drop them into the poverity zones with notes that reads- a self inflected bullet to the head is a quick,painless,honorable death.And that ain,t no lie.

Roy Rain
Roy Rain
10 years ago

They say canola oil is "heart healthy" and similar to olive oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dangers of canola oil are many check um out ,,,,

systems1000
systems1000
10 years ago

The ONLY way that food aid can work is that it Must be accompanied by boots on the ground with fire power,to ensure that it will reach those to whom its intended for.If not then they will have to buy this food on the black market at unaffordable costs,And boots on the ground has never been very popular unless its only self interest.

systems1000
systems1000
10 years ago

People,don,t be fooled,this crap is no panacea,but is only designed for quick profiteering that will only prolong the starvation cycle.The teaming meat eaters of the world would never except this and would sooner eat each other(to be sure).I,m a semi-vegetarian (no four legged animals)but I wouldn,t touch this stuff with a ten foot pole.

Michael Carr
Michael Carr
10 years ago

This is obviously rubbish and not the way to go. However, I do have a potential answer or answers.
Please visit eco 1 solutions dottt commm. There you will see an off-the-grid living system that
includes a toilet (UDDT) that recycles human wastes and converts them to humus (compost) which is then used to grow food (work in progress)
A grow n recycle food system based on SFG (square foot gardening) that
means you "never" have to buy food again. A composting of all bio-waste
system. A water collecting and harvesting/cleaning system. A build
system using bamboo and earth to easily build your own home. All I ask
is that you hit like and spread the word to your friends. This
government-centric 'system' is breaking down and we need a replacement
(s) that that is economical, ecological and doesn't harm the planet. Please feel free to contact me via the site. thanks.
Footnote: there are 2billion people globally and 600million in India alone who do not have a toilet and have to open defecate every day. This causes devastating ecological and human problems. I am developing a system / toilet to resolve that situation. Please click 'like' and support / share. thanks.

Anti
Anti
10 years ago

mmmm sounds very nutritional, all that GMO Canola Oil.. And why only taking it for a month, should'nt he be on it permanently if its so wonderful,you can not beat food as Nature made it, man is useless when it comes to inventing what 'they' think the body needs and how to make it.

rbompiedi
rbompiedi
10 years ago

Anyone ever see the movie Soylent Green? this rings bells

karen mangini
karen mangini
10 years ago

Yes, but what about the fact that Canola Oil is genetically altered and your body does recognize it as a food, it stores it as fat, toxins accumulate in fat which is the environment that diseases eventually develop???

~Oliver B Koslik Esq
~Oliver B Koslik Esq
10 years ago

Soylent really does strike a bell with me, in the notion of its potential to feed very very hungry people, relatively easily.

Most definitely Soylent could be air droped into areas where food is scarce. However I find the real kicker may be that transporting powder will ultimately be a pound for pound, cheaper way to get food aid to those who need it.

What is the dimensional and weight comparison of 1 weeks worth of military MRE's v.s. 1 weeks worth of Soylent? Within answering that, I find Soylent a powerhouse of potential; to change the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

Great Doc, Great Reporting!
+1 on the honorable transparency!
Thx

yellowmattercustard
yellowmattercustard
10 years ago

Well there's a waste of $797,000.

Harry Nutzack
Harry Nutzack
10 years ago

65 bucks a week per person is NOT cheap, so, so much for "feeding africa" with it. by their description of its ingredients, it's "cheerios" in liquid form. 65 bucks a week for cheerios 3 times a day is a HUGE rip-off. he lost 10 lbs in a month, while living a sedentary lifestyle (he was slowly starving). his "wandering mind" and "depression" are symptoms of a sugar starved brain (your brain ONLY burns sugars). no chewing, no chance for the enzymes in your mouth to convert that oat flour to sugar. i fail to see the "freedom from agriculture", as it is oat flour (a grain), and rice protein (a grain). so, it tastes awful, makes you stink, slowly starves you, is produced in a rodent infested garment factory, at least some is contaminated with fungi, and costs 3 times as much as it should... yep, sure sounds like "mannah from heaven" to me (masturbatory hand motion combined with eyeroll)

Yogurt Head
Yogurt Head
10 years ago

What a stupid concept. If we truly are out of real estate enough to not be able to grow food for ourselves, much much much more catastrophic disasters will have happened by then.

systems1000
systems1000
10 years ago

No one to date has ever died from starvation because of lack of food on the planet but because of politics.

Kansas Devil
Kansas Devil
10 years ago

I think I will wait until the price comes down, the popularity goes up and I get caught in a food crisis.

Max Milligan
Max Milligan
10 years ago

I think this will do a lot of good for people who don't have food. Along with basic dietary supplements and survival rations, something that can prevent starvation and hunger could be a huge step forward. Now the problem would become preventing overpopulation, otherwise..."it's made of people!!"

systems1000
systems1000
10 years ago

I think that the only hope for the world is if some egg heads and their computers can come up with some kind of virtual food.

Johanna
Johanna
10 years ago

They guy who invented Soylent should really do some research before making general claims about human nutrition and global issues like food and water crisis. His ideas are based on his narrow-minded opinions, such as the strangeness of "eating leaves", and not based on any actual knowledge, like the necessity of ingesting vitamins in their natural form vs synthetic form.

And based on the Soylent ingredients listed in the documentary, it could be much healthier. Maybe Soylent (if the proper research is done and has been improve substantially) has a future feeding the sick, impoverished, or military when food cannot be eaten, but only as a temporary thing. Might I add that his idea is definitely not unique, and that better products exist.

Matt Kukowski
Matt Kukowski
10 years ago

Great, so when the riots really get on there way, the govt can just start throwing bags and bags of SOLENT at them to fix the problem.

Matt Kukowski
Matt Kukowski
10 years ago

Ok, this is fine. Good for storage and long term shelf life. BUT, what about Vertical Farms? What about Variety?

See what SUPER POOR well educated, but economy so bad ca not find a job does to people? Makes PHD students struggle to come up with a food/drink to survive.

The real issue is money and how that is our value system. But, non-the-less you can drink this crap all day for all I care. I bet it gives you the shits all day too.

Plus, who knows what the 'OTHER' ingredients are.. Are there any GMOs in there to give you cancer?

Maddestmax
Maddestmax
10 years ago

You can live indefinitlly on coconut and guiness, although I should add that the nutritionist that told me this was very very drunk.

pwndecaf
pwndecaf
10 years ago

I don't see what makes this special. There was no indication that it is any different from SlimFast and the like, except that it didn't make any weight-loss claims.

I would like to see Human Chow, a bag of crunchy stuff with different flavors and textures that would be a reasonable meal substitute for when it just seems too much to prepare a meal. Everyone has those days. If it can be kept on your shelf and you can do different things to it, like heat it and/or moisten it easily - great!

This isn't it. It is SlimFast without even a pretense of good taste or weight-loss, which is what people will be thinking when they buy it, marketed as such, or not. Con job, IMO.

Paul Gloor
Paul Gloor
10 years ago

I don't see it becoming something on tap, but I can certainly see it becoming a staple food supplement and an absolute boon in disaster relief efforts. Its obvious it can sustain a person well enough for an entire month which is probably enough time for traditional food supplies to be organized. Vacuum packing the product would likely help shelf life and reduce the chances of molding and take up less space.
If enough people test it out critically, under medical supervision and submit results then the formula can be refined.

Angellinegirl
Angellinegirl
10 years ago

And why should there be so many constraints on us humans that we have no more time to eat normal food? Do we really want to sacrifice our health and wellbeing in favour of money? I could see how this would be a great invention for say.. astronauts or to feed the starving people of world (should this guy want to give it to them for free - doubt it?)
But i reckon it would be a bit extreme to have a diet consisting only of this and some fish oil pills for the rest of ones life. Personally i would get sick of it after a week or less no matter how nice it tasted. Like, imagine eating a protein shake for all your meals every day? Not to mention the human body needs the raw fruits and vege and a diet variety in order to function properly in the long run. Yeah one could do short courses on this but imagine living on it for the rest of your life - they should do an experiment where someone lives only on this (no cheat days!) for longer than 10 years and see if that person is stll alive and well after.

lorijb
lorijb
10 years ago

GMO food, how sad.