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> The big-picture implications are also interesting. Rob Rhinehart definitely has grand ambitions for this product and hopes it will play a role in alleviating

by jeswin 12y ago

> The big-picture implications are also interesting. Rob Rhinehart definitely has grand ambitions for this product and hopes it will play a role in alleviating hunger. Well, this is the part that excites me a lot. Industrial scale production and distribution of a nutritionally sufficient meal could do wonders in the developing world. As of now, even though there are food subsidies for the poor, there are additional expenses (gas, stoves) and wastage involved. And the saved time could be put to work. A different incarnation of solyent could change the world. Last time I said this [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7765697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7765697], I was surprised I got downvoted into oblivion. I was genuinely curious why this isn't a good idea to take up at the governmental level.

DanBC 12y ago
Because there is already enough food for the world, that food is just poorly distributed. But concentrating on just the specialist end of disaster nutrition: World Food Programme et al already have products that are vastly cheaper than Soylent. 20% of the world population live on less than $1.25 per day. About one billion people lack access to clean drinking water (the primary ingredient in Soylent). Here's what the world food programme does: https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/how-wfp-fights-malnutrition https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/how-wfp-fights-malnutrition Here's a list of special nutritional products: https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products Here is the factsheet about existing WFP products (note price and shelf life) : http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp255508.pdf http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/co... Soylent is far far too expensive for this role. It requires clean water. Rob making the claim that Soylent could help world hunger is yet another sensationalist sleazy claim made in ignorance of existing market.

by jeswin 12y ago

DanBC 12y ago

Because there is already enough food for the world, that food is just poorly distributed. But concentrating on just the specialist end of disaster nutrition: World Food Programme et al already have products that are vastly cheaper than Soylent. 20% of the world population live on less than $1.25 per day. About one billion people lack access to clean drinking water (the primary ingredient in Soylent). Here's what the world food programme does: https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/how-wfp-fights-malnutrition https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/how-wfp-fights-malnutrition Here's a list of special nutritional products: https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products Here is the factsheet about existing WFP products (note price and shelf life) : http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp255508.pdf http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/co... Soylent is far far too expensive for this role. It requires clean water. Rob making the claim that Soylent could help world hunger is yet another sensationalist sleazy claim made in ignorance of existing market.