As the global population rises alongside a worsening climate outlook, alternative strategies to mitigate and reduce the negative effects of animal agriculture are needed. Alternative proteins such as plant and cell-based meat provide exciting avenues for meeting the increasing demand for meat sourced from animals and have implications for planetary and human health. The creation of new food technologies which are appetizing, affordable, and scalable enough to shift towards alternative food sources requires significant scientific efforts and investment. While food science is a well-established field with a rich history, inclusion of methods and research paradigms from the materials community can accelerate the development of promising food technologies. Engineering these new technologies requires a deeper understanding of functional plant-sourced ingredients, relationships between processing and material structure, biomaterial development, and methods for prolonging food longevity. In this symposium, we bring together industry and academic leaders from across disciplines to discuss applications of chemistry, engineering, and materials science towards the advanced food technologies.

biomaterial biomimetic biomimetic (assembly) viscoelasticity