This workshop highlights the many opportunities to bring our rich culture of Earth-based fermentation practices to space. There is great potential for investigation into space fermentation—from the microbiome scale to the “envirome” scale—both to design beneficial applications for astronauts and to learn more about the biology of the human space environment. Fermentation might be harnessed in space to preserve fresh ingredients, repurpose food waste, improve astronaut gut health, create new sensory experiences (e.g., umami), expand representation of culture, develop new cooking practices, and enhance astronaut wellbeing. Later this year we’ll be deploying samples of fermented food to the International Space Station (ISS) to investigate its unique microbiome and explore a new space “terroir." We’ll be bringing together academic researchers, chefs, food scientists, designers, and explorers to rethink and redesign the role of food in space.

• Space Food (Maggie Coblentz, MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative)
• Fermentation + Evolution (Josh Evans, Oxford, University of Copenhagen, Empirical Spirits)
• Gut Health + Microbiome (Blanca Del Noval, BCulinary Lab)
• Science of Fermentation (Pia Sorensen, Harvard)
• Creative Process + Food Waste (Blanca Del Noval, BCulinary Lab)
• Emerging Technologies (Rebekah Carlson, MIT Media Lab OpenAg)

Email Maggie Coblentz (mcoblent@media.mit.edu) to RSVP.