> Beyond that though, I'm really interested in foods that could be created that don't mimic existing foods derived from animals or plants. That's literally wha

> Beyond that though, I'm really interested in foods that could be created that don't mimic existing foods derived from animals or plants. That's literally what processed food is. Nothing from a Twinkie to cheese (one of the oldest processed foods) resembles anything that comes from animals or plants. Humanity has been doing this for all of recorded history. Often the processing came of necessity: many of our culinary traditions are simply things that evolved such that we could preserve food pre-refrigeration. The problem is that we still don't seem to be very good at making healthy processed foods, and once you stray away from basic foods, there's strong market pressures to optimize for taste (and, let's be honest, borderline addictiveness) above nutrition.