Christmas is a time characterized by family, food and looking to the future.
But the traditional festive meal might soon start to look a bit different, according to experts.
Scientists at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have come up with a ‘Christmas dinner of the future’, boasting seaweed-fed pigs in blankets, turkey accompanied by ‘alternative’ protein and genetically engineered ‘super spuds’.
Their predictions are based on a range of projects they currently fund across the country.
Innovations like these, they say, will keep food that is tasty, nutritious, affordable and healthy on the table for generations to come.
A future starter, for example, could be ‘SuperSoup’, supercharged to help support metabolic health over the festive period.
The soup, launched in 2022, was developed by Smarter Naturally – a spin-out company from the Norwich-based Quadram Institute.
It includes a special type of broccoli with increased levels of glucoraphanin, a chemical compound that helps maintain healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels – a key risk factor for developing diabetes.
Christmas is a time characterized by family, food and looking to the future. But the traditional festive meal might soon start to look a bit different, according to experts
Pigs in blankets – a firm favourite at Christmas – could soon come from seaweed-fed animals (stock image)
Meanwhile pigs in blankets – a firm favourite at Christmas – could soon come from seaweed-fed animals.
Researchers at Queen University Belfast are studying how animals fed with the aquatic plant have a reduced need for antibiotics.
The main course – turkey with all the trimmings – could also be tweaked.
Festive turkey centrepieces might soon be accompanied by lab-grown meat to reduce demand on poultry, scientists said.
Researchers at the national alternative protein innovation centre based in Leeds, The Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub in Bath, and the Imperial College-led UKRI Engineering Biology Microbial Food Hub are all on a mission to develop sustainable, affordable, healthy and tasty alternative proteins that in the future we might all be enjoying as part of our Christmas dinner.
Another festive favourite is roast potatoes.
In Lincoln, B-Hive Innovations is developing the ‘super-spud’ by harnessing the power of engineering biology through its TuberGene project.
They are developing improved potato varieties that are healthier, bruise resistant, and faster to cook.
It’s not Christmas without after-dinner cheese. Researchers at the University of Nottingham spin-out The Good Pulse Company have developed ‘Cheese from Peas’ (stock image)
They’re also working to keep potato farming sustainable, so that there will be potatoes on the table for decades to come.
While they can be controversial, many people also enjoy sprouts with their main. Wild weather threatening their supply could be combatted through research at the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
Their work is helping to reduce the vulnerability of our brassica food supply chain, including our traditional Brussels sprouts, to fluctuations in climate change.
It’s not Christmas without after-dinner cheese.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham spin-out The Good Pulse Company have developed ‘Cheese from Peas’.
These innovators are using new techniques to turn yellow peas grown in the UK into a sustainable plant-based cheese.
This alternative has similar properties to dairy cheese without the need to use high levels of fat, resulting in a healthy, tasty vegan cheese to put on your crackers.
Meanwhile wheat varieties, being developed as part of the Delivering Sustainable Wheat programme, will be more resistant to climate change to ensure we still have crackers and bread for our cheeses.
Finally, AI company Deep Planet is working with Sussex-based Rathfinny Wine Estate to use remote sensing and artificial intelligence to help wine growers better predict the health, yields and maturity of their crops.
This should improve supplies and bring down costs. The company is also working with wine growers around the world to help improve the health of wine grapes across several key wine-producing regions.
Stella Peace, Interim Executive Chair IUK and UKRI’s Food Champion, said: ‘Food is at the heart of so many cultures, bringing people together to share traditions and create new memories, as well as delivering nourishment and health.
‘As friends and families come together in the coming weeks, our opportunity is to make sure that the food we share is healthy, nutritious, and sustainable through research and innovation.
‘Let’s be the change we want to see this Christmas.’
