Dinner on Mars The technologies that will feed the red planet and transform agriculture on Earth

Food scientists Newman (Lost Feast) and Fraser (Empires of Food) imagine what it would take to feed a colony on Mars in this fun survey. The same methods that will make feeding a Martian colony possible will also allow Earthlings to feed themselves in a more economic, ecological, and egalitarian way, they posit. Indeed, many technologies required on the Red Planet make sense on Earth--cyanobacteria will be "bred to turn the nitrogen and carbon dioxide in Mars's atmosphere into organic molecules" and can help with excess carbon dioxide on Earth, and hydroponic beds can be used to grow crops. Neither grains nor livestock will be an option, but the authors point out the potential of some exciting lab-grown Earth-style meat and dairy options at the cutting edge of food science. Their investigation culminates in an imagined evening out in "BaseTown," Mars's main metropolis, replete with outfits made of cultured silk and a menu of locally sourced lettuce, tuna, and red beans. The authors sagely advise that on both Mars and Earth, policies that prioritize biodiversity and human labor will have to back up the tech. This culinary cosmic outing is as creative as it is informative. Agent: Tim Travaglini, Transatlantic Agency. (Oct.)

"And that, Evan, is what happens when you head out to the great unknown and don't pack enough for lunch. It all comes down to food." Lenore leaned back in her chair and shivered a little, glancing out her window at the gray rain of Vancouver, Canada. At the other end of the Zoom call sat Evan in Ontario. He was shivering too, though the warmth of 2020's summer was just starting to push back against a chilly spring. *** On that day, we were having a bit of a brainstorm. The two of us had been chatting off and on for about two months. We'd been friends and colleagues for years, but with lockdown, our conversation picked up pace. In the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, we mostly moaned about lost travel. But in March 2020, all those other countries might as well have been on Mars. And then, one fateful day, we realized there was a place we could go to and study a global food system if we used our imaginations: we could do a thought experiment on what it would take to live on Mars. This struck both of us as a silly idea at first, but as we pondered, this thought experiment morphed into a two-year mission, conducted over Zoom, one cramped claustrophobic room to another. It was in that moment, in April 2020, when COVID was new, and there was no toilet paper anywhere, the two of us decided we should go to Mars, at least in spirit. And the first question, of course, was what would be for dinner once we got there? While this may seem like an odd question to ask, it is the one in most urgent need of an answer. Nearly two centuries after poor Franklin kissed his wife goodbye, loaded the last casks of fresh water, and sailed over the horizon, humanity is contemplating a journey into an ever-deeper desolation -- outer space. And beyond that velvet blackness, Mars. This book is about what the first Martian community must do to feed itself. As the two of us have gone on this imaginary mission, we've come to believe a Martian community can and will feed itself successfully, and that in doing so, develop technologies that will revolutionize agriculture on Earth. Seem preposterous? We don't think so. In our day jobs, we are academics. We write serious books, give serious lectures, and advise senior levels of government in Canada and internationally. In all this work, the two of us have devoted our professional energy to developing strategies to sustainably feed the world's growing population. We work on figuring out problems linked to climate change and obesity, how to help people emerge from food insecurity, and the best ways of protecting farmland. Despite all this (or perhaps because of all this), in our opinion, figuring out what the first Mars-dwellers will eat is a topic that may define the future of how we feed ourselves. Excerpted from Dinner on Mars: The Technologies That Will Feed the Red Planet and Transform Agriculture on Earth by Lenore Newman, Evan D. G. Fraser All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.