Soylent 2.0 Comes Bottled and Ready To Drink 397
An anonymous reader writes: Soylent has announced today their latest product, Soylent 2.0. It comes premixed and ready to drink in recyclable bottles. Each bottle is one fifth of a scientifically balanced daily meal plan, will last up to a year unrefrigerated, and will cost you $2.42. A Soylent blog post reads in part: "Not only are its ingredients vegan, Soylent 2.0 reaches an unprecedented level of environmental sustainability with half of its fat energy coming from farm-free, algae sources. This next generation agricultural technology has the potential to reduce the ecological impact of food production by orders of magnitude, signifying a major step towards a future of abundance, a world where optimal nutrition is the new normal."
Oblicatory (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
I'm waiting for their Green formula.
I've heard it tastes like ass.
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)
I've heard it tastes like ass.
You're thinking of Soylent Brown [salon.com].
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)
Hello!
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Dunno, but from what I've read, it will *sound* and *smell* as such.
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, the taste varies from person to person.
I thought it was all vegan (Score:2)
and not made from Donkeys?
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously, the vegans it's made from. This is revenge of the best kind - environmentally sensitive vengeance.
Soylent , I would suggest following this up with a solid, sweetened product, in a variety of flavors, called Just Desserts
Recipe for Vegan Pie (Score:3)
Soylent , I would suggest following this up with a solid, sweetened product, in a variety of flavors, called Just Desserts
This reminds me of the recipe for Vegan Pie. Step 1: Peel, core, and slice one vegan....
Re: Oblicatory (Score:2)
But that wouldn't be vegan.
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Oh, I don't know; I was actually wondering what their business plan is once they run out of vegans to grind up and bottle...
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Re:Oblicatory (Score:5, Funny)
With all due respect, I'd rather eat Ramen and take a vitamin pill than consume the current Soylent formulations and fart all night long.
Why choose only one when you can do both?
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With all due respect, I'd rather eat Ramen and take a vitamin pill than consume the current Soylent formulations and fart all night long.
Either that or the screamin' shits......
Re:Oblicatory (Score:5, Interesting)
I've had no issues with Soylent 1.4/1.5 producing the kind of room-clearing gas that earlier versions did. It's really rather disappointing.
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There is probably more nutrition in the ramen packaging than in the ramen itself. And vitamin supplements are somewhat controversial as many of them are not significantly bio-available, meaning when you're popping vitamins you're throwing your money down the shitter.
But who is to say that something like Soylent can't be done in a ramen form factor? It kind of defeats the philosophy of Soylent, but if you never bought into that philosophy then no real loss there. Top Ramen or someone ought to invest in some
Re:Oblicatory (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm waiting for their Green formula.
Regardless of company name, choosing to name a new oddball food product Soylent (as in Green) was the result of someone sitting in the marketing department wondering how they could possibly create more controversy than GMO has ever managed to muster...
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Or even better... start building GMO people! You can have the worst of both worlds when you bottle them.
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Regardless of company name, choosing to name a new oddball food product Soylent (as in Green) ...
Not as in "Green". According to the FAQ Why is it named Soylent? [soylent.com]
Our name was inspired by Harry Harrison's 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room!, which explores the impact massive population growth could have on world resources. In the book, "soylent" is made of soy and lentils and is a new food source used to accommodate overpopulation.
Re:Oblicatory (Score:5, Informative)
I've seen the film. The official explanation is that the Soylent product line was named as it was originally made from soy and lentils, though it was implied that marine algae farms were also required. At the end it is revealed that the new product Soylent Green is made from reprocessed human corpses - a desperate attempt to maximize production when environmental damage has crippled agriculture, which the government tries to hide from people out of concern there will be mass panic if it becomes known how close to starvation the world is.
Re:Oblicatory (Score:5, Funny)
This Soylent Green tastes funny... Oh look, the box says "May contain clowns".
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I know that this is the website I visit to get all my soylent news.
They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:5, Insightful)
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There are a lot of complaints and replies to the announcements regarding pricing. Not only regarding the price hike of pre-mixed Soylent vs the powder, but regarding the fact that the base powdered form is going up in price a fair bit (especially because the subscription benefit for those who buy by the month is decreasing).
Re: They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:3, Insightful)
I remember looking into this stuff a while ago. It was already too expensive for what it was when it was only powder, and since you can only get it online anyway, it's always been unavailable to people who could genuinely benefit from something like it.
Part of their hype... Er, stated goals, is to change the way the world thinks about food supply, reduce environmental impact, and improve the affordability of nutrition. But their crap is only cheap if you customarily go to Starbucks every morni
Re: They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:5, Insightful)
I wouldn't shove them into the same category as Tesla myself. Soylent's hype was about taking something existing (liquid food) and retooling it for the masses (basically liquid food but with a different nutrient balance for the non-bedridden). If they had met their promise and actually produced a product that would reduce food costs for the masses and be accessible to the general public on basic food benefits it would have been great, but hey, like you said - hype.
Tesla/SpaceX on the other hand are developing revolutionary technologies that didn't exist previously and building a massive electric vehicle infrastructure available to all EVs as well as opening up their tech to the competition. If they tip the automotive balance over to EVs and help to produce a market of affordable electric vehicles they'll have surmounted a significant environmental and social hurdle to the benefit of the entire planet.
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What exactly does this stuff TASTE like?
Re:They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:5, Interesting)
Well first I'd say that you have to have it for a few days before getting used to the taste. The closest thing I could use as an analogy is VERY thin pancake batter. Very little texture to speak of, just mostly drinks like water and is very slightly sweet. I enjoyed the taste but the liquid part of it set off my reflux :/
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What exactly does this stuff TASTE like?
disturbingly neutral. Like scientifically engineered inoffensive blandness.
I think if I were too busy to care about eating, it would be a useful product. Imagine the weightloss if eating became a boring chore. I might even find other things to do instead to avoid eating, like clean the house.
Re:They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:5, Funny)
disturbingly neutral. Like scientifically engineered inoffensive blandness.
So English food?
Re:They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:5, Insightful)
Your steadfast determination to show everyone how unimpressed you are shows you're more of a hipster than you'll ever accuse anyone of being.
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In this case, he's got a fair complaint. The original concept of THIS soylent was to make a cheap food to get poor people their nutrients (especially those out in "food deserts").
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Ironically, something that looks like a cracker would probably be a much better option. That's a much more portable approach that doesn't require extra resources when eating in the field. Armies have even used this sort of concept for their field rations.
Something that requires mixing assumes infastructure and resources that may not exist.
Plus everyone knows that real Soylent looks like crackers...
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The guy lived on it exclusively for a few months and had regular blood tests to make sure his health was maintained.
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He just sounds like a reasonable guy to me.
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Well, if you got off your food stamps, maybe you could become middle class and afford it too.
(BTW, I think it's overpriced too, but have still been vaguely interested in trying it. I wish there were a low(er) cal version though. I *know* that's not the point, but a version that provided all of the nutrition necessary but was ALSO low(er) calorie, could be a way to skip some meals..)
Re: They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Because something requires education doesn't make it wrong. The expense is somewhat hard to measure, because we subsidize the meat and dairy industry in the US by $5B. With estimates of around $400B in cost to society (I'm a bit skeptical of that one, I have no done the research myself, relying on Google here).
If meat were more expensive, such that the poor could not afford it, then we as a society would be forced to educate everyone on how to get the necessary nutrition on a vegan diet. I don't think this
Nonsense (Score:3)
Because a vegan diet that is actually complete is unquestionably harder and more expensive than a non-vegan one.
I'm not a vegan (or a vegetarian), but that's total nonsense. Just because some people make it "harder" (whatever that means) or more expensive doesn't mean it inherently is. Back up you claim. WHY is a vegan diet intrinsically "harder" and more expensive?
Rice and beans make a cheap, complete protein. There are all sorts of vegetable oils for fats (no need for extra virgin olive oil), or eat some peanuts (or real nuts if you want to splurge). You get your carbs from grain/bread/etc. If you can't stand veggi
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Just the necessary clue to eat your greens with some fat puts even the "low fat" non vegan dietary fad into the "too hard to be sustainable" category. Anything that requires the consumer to have any sort of clue is doomed to increase the general malnutrition level of the population.
It doesn't even have to be a diet for rich political extremists.
People write entire books about this kind of problem.
The heuristic "eat a little bit of everything in moderation" is a much more viable approach.
Viable diets exist w
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You suffer from that magical view of the past thing as well. Your list ("obesity, heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, and many many other serious medical issues") existed prior to modern foods. We just died of o
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Been there. Did that. Moved on. Grew Up.
We could also feed the world by simply distributing the food that we let rot because it isn't perfect enough or to prop up commodity prices.
Haitians don't want our feed corn.
Although I could see you forcing it on yourself strangely enough.
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Oil the hinge of the needle of your scale.
Re: They aren't revolutionizing shit. (Score:2)
Bowl of snot (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bowl of snot (Score:4, Funny)
... It doesn't have _Everything_ the body needs...
Re:Bowl of snot (Score:4, Funny)
It has electrolytes, and that's what a body craves.
Now stop talking like such a fag.
I don't get it,... five a day? (Score:5, Interesting)
"Each bottle is one fifth of a scientifically balanced daily meal plan, "
$2.42 per 400-calorie bottle so $12.08 a day,... cooking my self I can manage a (I hope) tastier alternative for less,...
Sorry, but I really don't get why this is interesting at all, for a short moment I thought: "Okay, may be for long term 'food' storage, then I read '"However, we counter that by the fact that the drink does not require refrigeration and also does not spoil until at least one year."
=> What is the gain in using this?
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Soldiers typically need a lot more calories. Where it would interesting is an emergency food source or part of one for disasters ans such. I keep MREs around just because in the winter, it is possible i can get snowed in for two or three days without power or water (well run off electric )
Re:I don't get it,... five a day? (Score:5, Informative)
The idea was to have foodstuff that is easy to prepare, low-cost, and includes all of your dV of various dietary needs. One of the promises/mission statements by Rob Rhinehart was to reduce the cost of Soylent over the time - there's some consternation in the Soylent community right now because with the announcement of 2.0 they are also increasing the cost of the base powder form of Soylent with no material change to the formula - your standard price hike, quite contrary to the promise of lower costs over time.
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Silicon Valley 1.0: Let's build something cool and make the world a better place.
Silicon Valley 2.0: FUCK YEAH DISRUPT ALL THE THINGS BECOME BILLIONAIRE!
The "benefit" of Soylent is you can make millions of dollars by convincing other wannabe-millionaires by giving them Life Hacks(tm) so they can Bro Down(tm) and Code(tm). Flavor is an impediment to Productivity(tm). Concern for presentation is an impediment to Agility(tm). Time that you spend cooking and eating food
Re:I don't get it,... five a day? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think it's really meant to be a complete food replacement for most people. I make my own based off of what I saw on the DIY Soylent page. Mine's a bit more nutritionally complete than most DIY stuff, is a little cheaper, and is fewer calories than actual Soylent. It also contains no soy or oats (which can cause gas). I only consume it for breakfast and lunch, Monday through Friday. I really love it though. It's quick, easy, low cost, filling, and nutritionally complete. How much molybdenum do you get? How about Selenium? Enough?
My only worry is absorption. It's all well and good to say that I am putting the National Institute of Health's RDI of each vitamin, mineral, and macronutrient; but I don't really know if I'm absorbing all of that. Still, I feel great, I'm losing weight, and my bloodwork is good.
My guess is the bottled product is part of a long-term strategy to eventually push to sell the product in grocery stores. It will be meant for grab-and-go eating that some people will pay a higher price for given the convenience. Soylent will wholesale it to the stores who will then mark it back up to a price that Soylent can say people are already comfortable paying.
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Re:I don't get it,... five a day? (Score:5, Funny)
i can buy a pound of hamburger, one tomato, one onion, head of lettuce, loaf of bread, for about 20 bucks, and cook four hamburgers, and feed four people and it will taste a heck of a lot better, thats about 5 bucks each a day, a lot better than a liquid diet too
But that's not nutritionally complete.
You need to add bacon and cheddar cheese.
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I think it's the food equivalent of (the apparently apocryphal story that) "Albert Einstein had 7 of the exact same suit".
Some people apparently don't like food much, so they just want to get the nutrition and be on with their day.
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> cooking my self I can manage a (I hope) tastier alternative for less,...
I don't eat much (once a day). I routinely forget to eat. I do not cook (my home's kitchen is pristine). For me, it's been a chore to eat, for as long as I've been alive.
Who wants to drink pureed vegans? (Score:5, Funny)
>> Not only are its ingredients vegan
Who the f*** wants to drink pureed vegans?
If I'm going to get my liquid cannibal on, I want the taste of real hamburger-fed 'muricans!
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>> Not only are its ingredients vegan
Who the f*** wants to drink pureed vegans?
If I'm going to get my liquid cannibal on, I want the taste of real hamburger-fed 'muricans!
Too fatty. Besides, vegans are grass-fed. Gives better flavor than grain-fed.
Not A Slashvert for the Competition...! (Score:5, Funny)
I forgot about Soylent. I read the headline and thought, "Wow, Soylent News' new business model is pretty interesting!"
"...Wait, why is this on Slashdot..?" //reads more carefully:
"Oh."
Sustainable? (Score:2)
...an unprecedented level of environmental sustainability with half of its fat energy coming from farm-free, algae sources.
Because plant sources of fat are not environmentally sustainable?
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Because plant sources of fat are not environmentally sustainable?
Not as modern agriculture is practiced.
"farm-free, algae sources" (Score:3)
What's wrong with farmed algae?
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It's easier if you catch it in the wild than try to get it to go through all those turnstiles to be slaughtered.
Re:"farm-free, algae sources" (Score:5, Funny)
Well, there's not much wrong with free-range, locally-sourced algae, but the real problems come from the container-bred, factory-farmed algae.
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And how is wild algae more sustainable than farmed?
Re:"farm-free, algae sources" (Score:5, Funny)
farmed algae is inhumane. Constrained to live in limited vats I eat only free range algae. They get to exercise you see.
Everything (Score:3)
What's wrong with farmed algae?
It's not people.
At $363/month per person, not sustainable (Score:2)
How are urban hipsters supposed to come up with $363/month PER PERSON, in addition to the rent on their industrial loft, $15/day coffee habits, and fixed-gear bicycles?
Re:At $363/month per person, not sustainable (Score:5, Funny)
Patreon.
Darn (Score:2)
" signifying a major step towards a future of abundance"
Too late.
A world where optimal nutrition is the new normal? (Score:3)
Space Food Sticks v2.0 (Score:3)
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...non-frozen balance energy snack in rod form ...(yep "rod form", that's exactly missing here)
They couldn't get a cafeteria full of grown adults to start gnawing on their rods for lunch.
Far too expensive (Score:2)
That's Crazy Expensive (Score:5, Insightful)
Ensure is 1/3 of a daily meal plan and costs $1.19/unit. In order to be successful, a new product has to be cheaper and better. If your definition includes sustainability then it might be "better", but at literally twice the price of the entrenched competition, it's got to be twice as good. But it's little more than half the food value... So it's got to taste almost four times as good as Ensure to be compelling. Guess what?
Errr... no. This isn't more nutritious. (Score:3)
People live off of Ensure, Boost, Nutren, et al., as their sole source of calories for years on end and don't seem to develop nutritional deficiencies. Maybe Soylent is more "natural" (whatever that means), but the established alternatives (which, in addition to being sold by people that know what they are doing, are cheaper) have a proven track record. At best, Soylent meets basic requirements, but frankly I have my doubts, given how they (last time I checked) STILL didn't have an actual nutritionist che
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Screw Soylent! (Score:4, Funny)
It doesn't even have ELECTROLYTES!
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Damn, you beat me to it!
Maybe it's just me... (Score:2)
...but I wouldn't name a food "Soylent" and then brag about how green it is...
Context (Score:2)
Soylent has announced today their latest product, Soylent 2.0
Some explanation of Soylent 1.0 might be nice for those of us who might not have seen previous reporting on the subject. Otherwise, I might just assume it's people.
Water is heavy and expensive to ship (Score:2)
I'm not sure that pre-mixed is the most economical move. Water is very heavy by volume and makes the nutrients takes up a lot more space. This is why dried beans, concentrated fruit juice, and powdered supplements are cheaper. (Powdered milk is dirt cheap, but it tastes spoiled, so there are exceptions.) With the powdered formula, they could keep the costs down. With the liquid formula, shipping is going to wreck the economics of it. I could see having some liquid formula in the fridge for when you're
Does it taste (Score:2)
Actually, an old recipe (Score:4, Funny)
Handed down from visiting aliens in a book titled "To Serve Man".
Terrible name (Score:2)
They should have called it "Po Pi Po" - then they'd at least get a catchy theme song :-P
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Don't know if you noticed but "flavour" is one of those things that, by mass, contributes almost nothing to your meal. As such, it doesn't really matter about the flavour as you can add it later with a tiny "essence" of the original flavour.
You can complain as much as you like, but flavour is a secondary option to the majority of the world when it comes to food.
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-1 disagree. every single person on earth will tell you that flavor is important and that things that taste gross are bad. name one who doesn't.
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Well, gee, I always wanted live in a game of Shadowrun. It may only be soy, chummer, but at least I got a full set of flavor faucets!
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Le p'tit paquet d'biscuits sans sel, sans sucre, sans agents et sans goût, c'est 100 piasses! -François Pérusse
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Since TFA refers to it as "oddly named", perhaps the connotation is fading into old-fart memories...
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wat? explain again, is $4.86 per shake, or $4.86 per day of living only on shakes, or $4.86 on thrice day, is that three times a day or every three days? wat?
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Either food in America is super cheap
Must be, since we feed a family of 4 on $900, and that's on the high side...
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Maybe you think food in Spain is cheap as well, but I don't know how I'd manage to spend 11€ on food in one day unless I go to a restaurant. And I cook for one, so I don't get much by way of economies of scale.
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Happy now?