Farming's future: 'Biology is the new black'

The Impossible Burger made from plant-based meat. Photo / Supplied

When it comes to the future of New Zealand agriculture "biology is the new black", and Kiwi farmers need to be prepared, says Food Futurist Dr Rosie Bosworth.

Bosworth spoke to The Country's Jamie Mackay about a recently released report from Independent London/San Francisco-based think tank RethinkX, which suggests protein technology will cause major disruption to the agricultural sector within 10 years.

Not only that, but changing consumer interests mean there may not even be a market for animal products in the future.

"We can't discount the fact that food consumption and behaviours have changed dramatically over the decades for centuries, millennia. Who's to say they're not going to change again?" said Bosworth

"No one's particularly attached to their Sunday roasts anymore".

Generation Z and Millennials are already having an effect on consumer preferences, with growing interest in "foods that didn't exist 10 to 15 years ago" such as bliss balls and protein shakes said Bosworth.

Listen below:

"When these new foods come on board that are tasty nutritious and significantly more compelling from a cost perspective then what's to attach a millennial, or the younger generations coming through from wanting to [say] 'go out and kill me a cow so I can eat that instead''.

"I just don't buy the fact that we are so attached to the cow as we'd like to think".

Although it may seem daunting, the future wasn't all bad for Kiwi farmers and New Zealand had "huge potential" - as long as there was a focus on premium meat products and investing in education said Bosworth.

"Let's bring the universities ... to farmers and have them invest in fermentation and precision biology education so that we can become fermentation or biological leaders in this new rapidly advancing multitrillion-dollar food industry that will become a biological play rather than an agricultural play".

Also in today's interview: Bosworth takes a closer look at the Rethinx report and what it could mean for the future of New Zealand farming.