Best Foods/Plants to Grow in Generational Spaceship?
Hopefully this isn't a duplicate; I wasn't able to find another question which addressed this, at any rate.
Let's say I have a generational spaceship going off to another solar system to establish a colony. The problem is, I need to feed my colonists for generations, not to mention for a while once they land on their new planet while they begin terraforming it. Fortunately, I have artificial gravity and power generation on the ship taken care of, but there's no way I can do livestock or dirt-grown gardens.
I know a few basics: I will probably be growing my plants hydroponically with nutrient recycling from waste, and bamboo is likely to feature heavily, as it can also be used as a construction material. Cloned meat is a possibility as well. But my problem is, I'm not exactly a food scientist, and have no idea which plants would take well to hydroponic cultivation in a cramped spaceship. what are my colonist's main foodstuffs likely to be? Potatoes? Mushrooms? Are apples a realistic option? Is anyone going to bother with wheat, or would that take too much processing to be worth it?
My question, basically, is which plants would be the easiest to grow hydroponically in deep space, and which would be inviable. Some basic GMOs are a possibility, but I'd really prefer not to just handwave 'everything can be cloned, pick any foods you want'; I'm only barely conceding cloned meat because it's starting to become practical now.
The best answer will account for nutrition and ease of cultivation and will include specific ideal staple foods or categories of staple foods (e.g., "Your colonists will eat bamboo and root vegetables for fiber and carbs, mushrooms for protein, and leafy greens (like kale) and chili peppers for vitamin c. Your colonists will not have many fruits which grow on trees or grains like wheat, corn, etc.")
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1 answer
Protein:
Crickets are not only the food fad of the moment but they are easy to raise, don't have the same ethical problems to kill as most meat animals, and are loaded with protein. My spouse thinks they taste terrific. They can be even roasted or ground into a flour for cooking.
Oysters can be raised in underwater farms using waste (manure). This can also be done in a recirculating aquaculture system. In addition to high protein, they've got a ton of nutrients.
Legume seeds also have a fair bit of protein and aren't hard to raise. The bonus is that legumes fix nitrogen in the soil (meaning you grow them with other crops or you alternative seasons). Given that your ship is generational, you might use some soil for your gardens instead of just hydroponic systems. Think edamame/soy, chickpeas, lentils.
Carbs/Calories:
Potatoes are pretty easy to grow in a lot of situations. Heck, even on Mars. Sweet potatoes are similarly easy.
Jerusalem Artichokes aka sunchokes are tubers from a plant related to sunflowers. They can be grown hydroponically.
Rice is already being grown hydroponically.
Fats:
Seeds from small plants are the way to go. Some smaller varieties of sunflower, hemp, flax, canola, etc. Many of these are already grown hydroponically.
Vegetables:
Leafy Greens such as lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, basil, mint, other herbs, are also easy to grow hydroponically.
Cucumber, Tomato, and other vine crops, also easy.
Fruit:
Trees such as apple are harder but not impossible. Apples can be shaped easily so can turn into fences (with wire to help hold it) or other flat surfaces, or can be grown normally as part of a park for residents.
Don't forget fruits like strawberries (easy to grow hydroponic) and cane fruits like blackberry and raspberry (which can be grown with little water and reproduce with ease).
Conclusions:
A lot of this research is already done. If you have the space and resources for hydroponic gardens, you can choose from a wide variety of plants and easily make a healthy and varied diet. Small animals and non-animal protein sources aren't hard to incorporate. And you can even have some trees and parks. You might choose some soil-based plants or animals for variety, and as a way to recycle your plant and animal waste. Add in your original thought of bamboo for construction and food, and you're pretty much set.
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