Rob Rhinehart

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“He Stresses This Does Not Mean The End Of Eating For Pleasure”

July 24, 2016 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

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Rob Rhinehart’s Soylent is a tougher sell in developed countries with endless food magazines and cooking shows, though those chugging Red Bulls and wolfing down Devil Dogs shouldn’t look askance at the meal-replacement beverage. The beverage would seem to hold special promise as a sustenance provider in places where scarcity still reigns supreme.

Two excerpts follow from Tom Braithwaite’s smart Financial Times profile of Rhinehart, who somehow manages to live off the grid while living in Los Angeles.

Rhinehart is convinced we will start to abandon three meals a day and instead sip functional foods whenever we need to. “Being wrapped up in breakfast, lunch, dinner came from an agricultural society and the industrial revolution. We don’t work on farms, we don’t work on assembly lines and I don’t think we should eat like we do. I think people will switch to eating when hungry rather than eating on a schedule.”

He stresses this does not mean the end of eating for pleasure. “You get home from work, you’re not in the mood to cook or you’re running out the door in the morning, you don’t have time, but then Friday or Saturday night rolls around and you want to go out with your friends. That’s what I think we’ll move towards.”•

One foot in the future and one foot in the past seems to sum up Rhinehart. His latest project is building a home in Los Angeles, off the grid. This is surprisingly possible in one of the world’s most urban environments. He found disused land in an unfashionable part of town and plonked a shipping container in it, which he now lives in.

This might be eccentric but it’s not a millionaire’s whimsy. The land was cheap because it is not served by electricity or water; the shipping container was $1,500. Rhinehart proudly says he is not wealthy — whatever his paper worth, he draws a fairly modest salary.

“Do you wanna see a picture?” he says, passing me his phone. “The only drawback is the area’s still a little rough, so it got graffitied.”

The container’s power is solar-generated. Of course there is no need for a kitchen. Rhinehart is currently relying on a “Porta Potty” but has hopes for advances in new toilets that vaporise waste. He once tried to save water by taking an antibiotic to minimise trips to the toilet. “I massacred my gut bacteria,” he wrote in his blog.•

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“I’m Certainly Taking Less Of A Risk Now Than I Was With A Diet Known To Be Unhealthy”

August 8, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

Monica Heisey of Vice has an update on an earlier story about Rob Rhinehart, who began living on a meal-replacement drink of his own making about seven months ago. Despite receiving massive criticism from nutritionists and foodies, he says his health has been good and now he’s incorporated. From the piece:

“Vice:

A lot of people got mad when you claimed Soylent was as nutritious as fruit or vegetables.

Rob Rhinehart:

Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s safe or healthy, and just because something is artificial doesn’t mean it’s unhealthy or dangerous. Look around you. Nothing we buy is natural. Everything useful is designed and manufactured, and food should be no different. People are afraid of sweeteners when it’s real sugar that’s killing us. They’re afraid of preservatives when food waste is rampant. McDonald’s is trying to engineer lower-calorie food that is more filling to fight obesity, but people are demanding natural-sounding ingredients. It’s frustrating to watch. The idea of ‘real food’ is just snobbery. Everyone has the right to be healthy, even people who don’t like vegetables.

Vice:

If it’s all completely approved why do you think people are still afraid of it?

Rob Rhinehart:

Fear makes a better story—fear-mongering in food is too easy for many media outlets and entertainers to resist. Part of the reason I created Soylent was to avoid the cacophony of opinions and misinformation around food and diet. I’m certainly taking less of a risk now than I was with a diet known to be unhealthy. People fear what they don’t understand. By being transparent and clear we will continue to bring more people around to this important idea.

Vice:

Nutritionists, foodies, and other critics seemed particularly attached to the idea of chewing, and are mad at you for taking it away. Are you dedicated to the smoothie medium or could Soylent move into bars and cereals and other solid foods?

Rob Rhinehart:

We can make anything, but a liquid is the best for nutrient absorption. Humans started chewing in the first place because it makes food closer to a liquid.”

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“Food Should Be Optimized And Personalized”

March 14, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Food is inefficient, so Rob Rhinehart doesn’t eat anymore. The Atlanta software engineer has created Soylent, a drink that contains the nutrients of a balanced diet without the additives, preservatives and most of the calories. From “This Man Thinks He Never Has To Eat Again,” by Monica Heisey at Vice:

“Question:

How could Soylent affect the world’s eating habits?

Answer:

Consumer behavior has a lot to do with cost and convenience. There are plenty of ways to be healthy, but Americans are more likely to be overweight simply because the food that’s cheap and convenient is unhealthy. I think it’s possible to use technology to make healthy food very cheaply and easily, but we’ll have to give up many traditional foodstuffs like fresh fruits and veggies, which are incompatible with food processing and scale.

Question:

That sounds ominous.

Answer:

I don’t think we need fruits and veggies, though—we need vitamins and minerals. We need carbs, not bread. Amino acids, not milk. It’s still fine to eat these when you want, but not everyone can afford them or has the desire to eat them. Food should be optimized and personalized. If Soylent was as cheap and easy to obtain as a cup of coffee, I think people would be much healthier and healthcare costs would be lower. And I think this is entirely possible.

Question:

And it sounds like it could potentially help with world hunger.

Answer:

Yeah, I’m very optimistic at the prospect of helping developing nations. Soylent can largely be produced from the products of local agriculture, and at that scale, it’s plenty cheap to nourish even the most impoverished individuals. People may giggle when I say I poop a lot less, but this would be a huge deal in the developing world, where inadequate sanitation is a prevalent source of disease. Also, agriculture has a huge impact on the environment, and this diet vastly reduces one’s use of it.”

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