The Food Revolution

I think you will agree with me that straw, wood, and sawdust contain nothing to whet the appetite or tempt one to eat — even if these things were foodstuffs. And yet, in the past few years, scientists have extracted many tons of good food from these very materials. It is not unlikely that in the future we shall hear a great deal about proteins — which are what build up flesh — and how we obtain them from wood or straw or sawdust. True, it may not be so in England; but it may well be so in the regions where timber abounds, such as Sweden and the United States, or some parts of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

During my recent visit to Germany, I saw the similar efforts scientists were making there to produce the foodstuffs needed by man and beast. The basic theory followed in obtaining foodstuffs from wood is that the wood is first converted into sugar. This may come about by mixing the sawdust or wood chips or straw with certain acids; or the sugar may be produced as a by-product of the process of converting wood pulp into rayon, or artificial silk. In that case we find the sugar mixed into the surplus liquor which results from the main process. Whether this process or another is followed, the sugar is taken and fermented in various ways, using kinds of yeast, and it breaks down into alcohol or into food yeast, or into both. The theories of fermentation on which the method of producing food yeast rests are the same theories followed in extracting food yeast from black treacle or dibs (grape or carob molasses) — a method the world is now greatly inclined to adopt. And all one has to do to ferment the yeast is to add to it — besides the sugar — some nitrogen, in any of its forms.

It is worth noting that the nature of the materials produced is good from the nutritional standpoint. Proteins, as you know, are usually divided into 'first-class' proteins, like those we obtain from meats, and 'second-class' proteins, like those we obtain from vegetables. Yeast is only a vegetable organic compound; yet the kind of protein we obtain from it

is good. It has been found that dry yeast contains at least forty or fifty percent of this protein, or nitrogen, and of the nutriment it carries.

Scientists now know enough about how to obtain food yeast from wood to warrant the judgment that this process has actually passed out of the experimental stage — indeed, that it can become a profitable economic enterprise in some parts of the world. There is no disputing that the production of food and foodstuffs from these sources I have just mentioned — especially at the present time, when the world feels an enormous shortage of proteins — I say, there is no disputing that producing food in this way is a thing of great benefit. Even setting aside the temporary shortage, there are regions of the world that always feel a shortage of proteins, and it would therefore be sounder to look to them, if it is desired to produce foodstuffs from wood and other growing things. Nor should we forget that the yeast obtained in this way contains great quantities of vitamin B, which is essential for the maintenance of health and growth.

There are also kinds of yeast suited to the production of fat, and some factories have succeeded brilliantly in producing it; but time must pass before this process becomes profitable. And if the supplies of fats regain their former level, it is not likely that scientists will go on with this enterprise. But I shall not be exaggerating, at the present time, if I say that from a single plank of wood it is practically possible to obtain a piece of beefsteak, a bottle of whisky, a pair of ladies' silk stockings — and perhaps a couple of kilos of sweets as well.