[00:42.95]COLIN: I haven't seen you for a bit, Marie.
[00:45.51]MARIE: No. I've been busy with my project.
[00:48.78]COLIN: You’re making a vegan alternative to eggs, aren't you
[00:52.59]Something that doesn't use animal products?
[00:55.36]MARIE: Yes. I’m using chickpeas.
[00:58.43]I had two main aims when I first started looking for an alternative to eggs, but actually I’ve found chickpeas have got more advantages.
[01:07.64]COLIN: Right.
[01:08.80]MARIE: But how about your project on reusing waste food - you were looking at bread, weren't you?
[01:16.38]COLIN: Yes. It's been hard work, but I've enjoyed it.
[01:20.51]The basic process was quite straightforward - breaking the stale bread down to a paste then reforming it.
[01:28.60]MARIE: But you were using 3-D printing, weren't you, to make the paste into biscuits?
[01:33.84]COLIN: Yeah, I'd used that before, but in this project I had time to play around with different patterns for the biscuits and finding how I could add fruit and vegetables to make them a more appetising colour, and I was really pleased with what I managed to produce.
[01:51.71]MARIE: It must ‘ve been a great feeling to make something appetizing out of bits of old bread that would’ve been thrown away otherwise.
[02:00.33]COLIN: It was. And I'm hoping that some of the restaurants in town will be interested in the biscuits.
[02:06.86]I’m going to send them some samples.
[02:09.44]MARIE: I came across something on the internet yesterday that might interest you.
[02:14.54]It was a company that's developed touch-sensitive sensors for food labels.
[02:19.75]COLIN: Mmm?
[02:20.62]MARIE: It's a special sort of label on the food package.
[02:24.91]When the label's smooth, the food is fresh and then when you can feel bumps on the label, that means the food's gone bad.
[02:34.21]It started off as a project to help visually impaired people know whether food was fit to eat or not.
[02:40.83]COLIN: Interesting. So just solid food?
[02:44.63]MARIE: No, things like milk and juice as well.
[02:48.76]But actually, I thought it might be really good for drug storage in hospitals and pharmacies.
[02:55.24]COLIN: Right. And coming back to food, maybe it’d be possible to use it for other things besides freshness.
[03:03.25]Like how many kilograms a joint of meat is, for example.
[03:07.43]MARIE: Yes, there’s all sorts of possibilities.
[03:58.75]COLIN: I was reading an article about food trends predicting how eating habits might
change in the next few years.
[04:06.60]MARIE: Oh - things like more focus on local products?
[04:11.18]That seems so obvious, but the shops are still full of imported foods.
[04:16.36]COLIN: Yes, they need to be more proactive to address that.
[04:19.91]MARIE: And somehow motivate consumers to change, yes.
[04:23.88]COLIN: One thing everyone’s aware of is the need for a reduction in unnecessary
packaging – but just about everything you buy in supermarkets is still covered in
plastic.
[04:35.64]The government needs to do something about it.
[04:38.67]MARIE: Absolutely. It’s got to change.
[04:42.01]COLIN: Do you think there'll be more interest in gluten- and lactose-free food?
[04:47.93]MARIE: For people with allergies or food intolerances? I don't know.
[04:53.57]Lots of people I know have been buying that type of food for years now.
[04:58.25]COLIN: Yes, even if they haven’t been diagnosed with an allergy.
[05:01.84]MARIE: That's right. One thing I've noticed is the number of branded products related to
celebrity chefs-people watch them cooking on TV and then buy things like spice
mixes or frozen foods with the chef’s name on…I bought something like that
once, but I won't again.
[05:22.79]COLIN: Yeah – I bought a ready-made spice mix for chicken which was supposed to be used by a chef I’d seen on television, and it didn’t actually taste of anything.
[05:33.94]MARIE: Mm. Did the article mention 'ghost kitchens' used to produce takeaway food?
[05:40.53]COLIN: No. What are they?
[05:42.34]MARIE: Well, they might have the name of a restaurant, but actually they're a cooking facility just for delivery meals - the public don't ever go there.
[05:52.33]But people aren't aware of that - it's all kept very quiet.
[05:56.66]COLIN: So people don't realise the food's not actually from the restaurant?
[06:01.39]MARIE: Right.
[06:02.21]COLIN: Did you know more and more people are using all sorts of different mushrooms now to treat different health concerns?
[06:11.15]Things like heart problems?
[06:13.63]MARIE: Hmm. They might be taking a big risk there.
[06:17.46]COLIN: Yes, it’s hard to know which varieties are safe to eat.
[06:21.90]Anyway maybe now…
