How science is changing the future of Victorian food

From printed food to drought-resistant plants, these incredible scientific breakthroughs are changing the future for how Victorians eat.

Dr Shiwangni Rao and Dr Garry Rosewarne are trying to develop plants that can adapt to the future climate. Picture: Jason Edwards

Victorian scientists have made major breakthroughs as they investigate how to feed the state’s growing population in a changing climate.

From printed food to drought-resistant plants, science is changing the future of Victorian food in incredible ways.

3D MEALS A CULINARY REVOLUTION

Victorians could 3D print entire meals on demand in their kitchens within years in what researchers are calling the biggest culinary breakthrough since the microwave.

Researchers want to bring the flavour and texture of popular foods to life, and even help people tailor their diets to improve their health, through three-dimensional printers.

The “major” development could see entire dishes, flatpack ready-to-eat meals and individual ingredients become available in Victorian households, shops and restaurants in as little as four years.

Hearty Adventures in Food and Play research lab director Dr Rohit Ashok Khot said the technology needed to make printing food a feature of Victorian households would revolutionise shopping and eating habits in a way not seen since the microwave became a common household appliance.

A 3D pizza printed by BeeHex.

“Food printing, I think, has lots of potential for our future mainly because of the way it can connect digital with physical,” Dr Khot said.

“The last major invention that happened around cooking was microwaves, which was around the 1970s, so after that there hasn’t been anything that has actually caught the mainstream attention with respect to cooking appliances.

“Printing can change that, because it can allow us to then craft and design food digitally.”

Three-dimensional food printers typically use an “ink” – ingredients often in a paste or powder format – to print an item or entire dish layer by layer.

US company BeeHex has developed a machine which uses paste-like ingredients to print dough, sauce and cheese for a 12-inch pizza within a minute.

And Australian researchers have also previously used 3D printing to create meats for people who struggle to swallow.

The pulp-based or pulverised meat is printed layer by layer, forming a steak-like shape that can be more easily eaten.

People sample the 3D printed pizza.

The new appliance could even act as a combined Thermomix and 3D printer, allowing ingredients to be mixed, printed and baked in the one machine, according to Monash Food Innovation’s design manager Adam Norris.

It could mean time-poor bakers could throw eggs, flower and butter into the machine, which is then processed into a paste, printed and baked into a cake.

As well as allowing people to make “marvellous” or chef-quality structures from food, Mr Norris said food printing would also prove to be a “game changer” for eliminating allergy risks while producing large scale tailor-made food for health conscious consumers as soon as 2030.

“Businesses are looking at new ways to provide a bespoke experience and product,” Mr Norris said.

“We’ve realised that everybody’s needs are different.

“Why not create the food to fit you from the get go?”

Dr Koht said printing flatpack foods could also benefit consumers by providing restaurants and cafes with a novelty service while slashing the amount of packaging used to sell meals and ingredients.

“This could give people a way to engage in hospitality with a richer experience,” he said.

“Ingredients will come as a flat pack, which you can then (use to) create at your home the dish that you need.”

Mr Norris said: “The technology is so adaptable”.

SAVING LENTILS FROM DROUGHT

Victorian scientists are developing drought-resistant lentils to future-proof the state’s food supply as the climate becomes hotter and drier.

Researchers in the Wimmera are studying the physiological traits of lentils combined with farming practices to create a “crop ideotype” — characteristics of a new plant that can cause it to “look a bit different or behave a bit differently”.

They hope to be able to make recommendations to “breeders” about which plants have the best characteristics for soaking up vital water.

Dr Shiwangni Rao and Dr Garry Rosewarne are researching how to improve the drought-toleranace of lentils through science. Picture: Jason Edwards

Agriculture Victoria senior research scientist Garry Rosewarne said it could take breeders five to 10 years to develop the plant type, based on those recommendations.

“We work and live out here in the Wimmera in a changing climate. We always have intermittent droughts … And other times you get lots of rain,” Dr Rosewarne said.

“The way we see it is that these extreme weather events are just going to become more common, so we just have to work out how to get the plants better adapted.”

Lentils are grown from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia to the Wimmera in western Victoria. Between half a million and a million tonnes are produced in Australia each year.

Dr Shiwangni Rao and Dr Garry Rosewarne are trying to develop plants that can adapt to the future climate. Picture: Jason Edwards

The researchers — through a program funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and Agriculture Victoria — have found that plants with earlier and stronger growth produce the highest yields, partly because it gives growers the chance to cover the crops with soil and shade, helping to reduce water evaporation.

Research scientist Shiwangni Rao said it was important to develop plants that were adapted for the future climate.

“I’ve been here since about 2015 when the drought was so extreme and plants barely got off the ground here, and then this year we’ve had a very dry start … And now all of a sudden, we’ve got rain,” Ms Rao said. “Having all these traits and all these varieties with characteristics that are climate ready ... you’re equipping yourself before the disaster comes.”

BOOST FOR QUALITY OF LAMB

Lamb is being given a makeover with scientists uncovering an easy way to boost its nutritional value and improve its taste.

Dedicated research facilities, or ‘SmartFarms’, are grazing lambs in greener, rye-grass pastures to help to draw the most nutrients from Victoria’s world class cuts.

It is believed rye-grass is high in vitamins and minerals, which can help human brain function, eye development and growth.

The tailored diets will also mean that the state could produce high-quality lamb year-round and appeal to an increasingly health-conscious market.

Agriculture Victoria senior researcher Eric Ponnampalam said studies have found rye-grass feeding systems improved the intramuscular fat content – the fat found around the sides of pieces of meat.

“Consumers particularly have a health perspective and want the nutrient content of the meat to be high,” he said.

“The rye-grass provides high levels of vitamins, and also minerals that helps the game develop benefits for human health, such as brain function, eye development and also growth.”

‘SmartFarms’ are grazing lambs in greener, rye-grass pastures to improve nutrients in the meat. Picture: Matt Turner

Dr Matthew Knight, as a senior research scientist at Agriculture Victoria, said ensuring lambs were fed rye-grass during spring and summer meant Victoria could continue producing high quality lamb year round for the state and for exports.

“If we use the best genetics, we use feeding systems for our environment in Victoria, then we’ll be able to produce a premium product for the international market,” he said.

Nutrition Australia program manager and accredited practising dietitian Leanne Elliston said preparing lamb with improved fat quality provides consumers with a healthier option.

“Many cuts of lamb can be very fatty and that is not good as the type of fat is unhealthy saturated fat that can increase cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease,” she said.

“But lamb is a great source of easily absorbed haem iron and gives meals a great protein boost.

“The healthiest way to consume lamb is to first of all choose lean cuts such as trimmed cutlets, leg steaks and trimmed lamb strips.”

Meat and Livestock Australia adoption and commercialisation manager Sarah Strachan said improving the intramuscular fat content, or marbling, of lamb would make the cut more tender and more appetising to consumers.

“That’s got a really big impact on eating quality … if you improve that marbling, the meat is more juicy, it’s got more flavour, and it’s more tender as well,” she said.

FRESH PRODUCE UNDER THREAT

Fresh fruit and veggies could be off Melburnians’ dinner plates if food bowls on the city’s fringe continue to urbanise, a leading researcher says.

The urban fringe produces nearly half of all vegetables and a majority of eggs, chicken, herbs and berries for the city’s population but is under threat according to RMIT Associate Professor Andrew Butt from the Centre for Urban Research Melbourne.

The city is forecast to hit eight million people by 2051 requiring more than a million new homes to be built in growth areas such as Casey, Cardinia and Wyndham LGAs which make up the “core of Melbourne’s food bowl”.

Urban sprawl, subdivision of farmland and market uncertainty are driving factors in reducing production which puts food security at risk.

Victorian Farmers Federation horticulture president Emma Germano. Picture: Emma Field

“It’s not a simple answer that urban growth takes that land although that is part of the equation… It’s also when growth near farmland creates tension between residents and growers,” Prof Butt said.

“Large scale production areas like south of Cranbourne with big scale celery growers there’s a reluctance for them to continue to invest in that location, if there’s uncertainty about future development.”

Moving production away from the city to other food bowls such as the Murray-Darling or Mildura would see transport costs increase which is passed onto customers and puts supply chains at risk if unexpected shocks occurred - such as labour strikes or Covid-19 travel restrictions.

“If we rely on moving production… rather than actually protecting the land around the city then we’re not making a very sensible decision,” Prof Butt said.

Instead state governments need to step up and provide certainty to growers by investing in water infrastructure and providing assurances to farmers that urban growth would be controlled.

The urban fringe produces nearly half of all vegetables for the city’s population but is under threat.

“The land and water go together… land security is about telling people ‘we’re not going to change our mind again’ (about further urbanisation) and in return here’s a major investment to create security for ongoing land use,” Prof Butt said.

“When you’ve got a city of five million people and a whole heap of water coming out of domestic systems, it may need treatment and new infrastructure but there’s massive potential for reuse.”

Victorian Farmers’ Federation President Emma Germano said urban encroachment meant more city residents would come into contact with the “sights, sounds and smells of farming”.

“Many farmers look elsewhere for land rather than deal with the stress and hassle of competing for land and dealing with complaints,” Ms Germano said.

“Food production close to Melbourne is good for Melbourne’s food security. Less food miles means fresher food, allows farmers to be more responsive to market demand and reduces carbon emissions.”

The VFF called on the governments to sure up supply chains by implementing a domestic fuel reserve and funding local manufacturing of products of fertiliser, chemicals and machinery parts which are in short supply.

“We need to get serious about domestic manufacturing to secure these supply chains to ensure agricultural production is not interrupted during major global shocks such as another pandemic,” she said.

The Victorian Government said it was committed to “protecting productive agricultural” areas from overdevelopment.

“Melbourne’s green wedges are crucial to our growth and prosperity and appropriate planning controls make sure they are protected from over development so they can continue to produce for current and future generations,” a spokesman said.