AS plans to send a crew to Mars in the 2030s stay and climate change is increasingly becoming a global issue, a 21-year-old Filipino steers development and production of food products that could be taken, stored and consumed in extremely isolated places like the outer space and on Mars.
The company is eyeing to large-scale produce its products; it may later ship abroad, especially to Third World countries, according to Dexter Baño, cofounder and head for business at Titanium Blend.
“We will try to secure help from the Unicef [United Nations International Children’s Fund], through assistance from our investors, so we can distribute the product globally,” Baño said.
He said the start-up is constantly refining the product made of scientifically tested nutritious raw materials to achieve excellence and is working on a project to develop a radiation-proof food packaging.
“We are continuously improving the product, and are looking for measures to enable us to lengthen the shelf life and to ensure its protection from pathogens,” Baño added.
Pathogens could affect food nutrient contents, Baño explained, adding that radiation would be another concern when the foods are taken into space.
The company is also working with the Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) to refine the product, he said.
“We are now looking into different possibilities to develop a radiation-proof food packaging.”
The company has already identified some materials that could be harnessed in producing radiation-proof food containers, he pointed out. One is Demron, which has been used to tailor astronaut suits.
Climate
ONLINE data show that freeze-dried foods have sustained mankind in its trips into space in the past decades. Foods that could not be freeze-dried were thermos-stabilized and placed in the spacecraft’s sterile chamber. And tortillas have been mankind’s staple in space exploration.
In a post in WIRED magazine on March 26, 2018, Grace Douglas said that, in general, no food has a five-year shelf life, and that a three-year mission to Mars in the 2030s would require foods that could be stored for a period of at least five years.
Man’s abuse of nature could eventually lead to a multiplanetary society, according to Baño.
Climate change could trigger unprecedented impact on local habitat and food source and could force man to colonize potential habitats outside Earth, he added.
The ultraviolet rays that the sun emits influence the global climate, he explained. Climate change initiates the melting of the ice caps. When the ice caps start to evaporate around as steam, they bring about the development of more devastating natural calamities.
Third World countries contribute a large share to human waste that converts itself into pollution and in time instigates climate change, the young entrepreneur explained.
Reckless urbanizations across the world could compromise the environment and consequently global climate, he added.
Food chain
LIKEWISE, the flow in a particular food chain could be seriously disrupted when one of the organisms in the bind would be severely exploited, Baño said.
Exploiting a particular organism in a food chain would trigger a domino effect that would eventually disrupt and threaten the food web, he added.
Citing cats as examples, when felines are brought to near extinction, rodents would dramatically and massively multiply, putting crops and food supply at risk, he explained.
The impact of climate change and environmental pollution are being vaguely understood by most of the young, Baño observed. But both issues could seriously threaten food supply and man’s survival.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could be utilized in managing the impact of climate change, Baño said.
AI has been reported as a useful tool in formulating models for mitigating global warming, according to some pundits.
Their company was founded to join stakeholders in addressing and mitigating the impact of global warming, Baño noted.
“We should closely watch out for what we have in the present while we figure out and work for potential needs in the future,” he said. “Entrepreneurs should start creating future-oriented businesses.”
SDGs
BAÑO believes entrepreneurs should espouse sustainable development goals and a futuristic vision for mankind’s survival and possible expansion outside the planet.
“Our business is aligned to the UN SDGs [sustainable development goals],” Baño said.
Technology and social media should be exploited to educate the public on the impact of global warming, Baño reiterated.
“Our vision is to democratize nature through technology,” he said. “There are technologies that we can utilize to produce products efficiently.”
Baño and his fellow graduating BS in Entrepreneurship students at the Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU) co-founded the food company as a school requirement.
The university requires entrepreneurial students to establish, run and manage their own business instead of dispatching them to existing companies for on-the-job training, he said. He holds the post of the president of the school’s entrepreneurial society.
The QCPU is one of the universities that take SDG initiatives, Baño said. Their startup company was the first ever to enter into a deal with an investor since the school was founded.
Advocacy
“THE goal of our company is not only to help stakeholders achieve good health and well-being, but also to create the food of the future,” Baño said. “We are making and refining products ready for the future.”
The company would always try to develop functional food products that could compensate for lost nutrients when one missed a meal, he noted.
Young people who advocate the protection of ecological balance and mitigation of the impact of global warming, the young entrepreneur said, should not stop from communicating their point to other people, even when most seem to not care.
A person might look weird to other people at present for unconventional ideas; if his ideas are ahead of his age; but, in time, people would eventually realize he was correct, according to Baño.
“Nobody can ever write your story, but your own hand, mind and heart,” he said. “Never allow other people to hold your pencil. Once you let others do so, they will write other things about you.”
Baño lost his father at a tender age. His mother, a teacher, raised him and serves as one of his biggest influences.
Image credits: Oliver Samson