Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Food Science
Beyond the buzz: A review of the prospects of replacing meat consumption with insect-based foods
Published: 2024-04-04
Subjects: Agriculture, Food Science, Nutrition
The substantial environmental footprint of meat production means that dietary shifts are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Insects may offer one alternative. However, to deliver genuine benefits for sustainability of the food system, insects must first be widely accepted and consumed by the general public. In this review, we examine the necessary stages that need to be fulfilled before [...]
Have the environmental benefits of insect farming been overstated? A critical review
Published: 2024-04-04
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Agriculture, Food Science
Humanity's food system has an immense environmental impact, and insects have been frequently proposed as a more environmentally sustainable option. The industrialised farming of insects for livestock feed and human food has attracted the attention of industry, policymakers, and the scientific community. However, many of the benefits commonly mentioned by companies and proponents of insect farming [...]
The light spectrum for plant cultivation: a source of colourful arguments
Published: 2022-05-30
Subjects: Agriculture, Food Science, Life Sciences
The concept of ``wasted illumination'' and its application to the design of light sources for plant cultivation is a good example of misuse of reductionism. Equating instantaneous rate of photosynthesis to crop yield is a prevailing but nonsensical idea, and in the case of the design of red plus blue light sources an extreme case of ignoring the multiple regulatory mechanisms and interactions [...]
Integrating natural and sexual selection across the biphasic life cycle
Published: 2021-06-23
Subjects: Agriculture, Behavior and Ethology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Food Biotechnology, Food Science, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
An alternation between diploid and haploid phases is universal among sexual eukaryotes. Across this biphasic cycle, natural selection and sexual selection occur in both phases. Together, these four stages of selection act on the phenotypes of individuals and influence the evolutionary trajectories of populations, but are rarely studied holistically. Here, we provide a conceptual framework that [...]