We all have eaten fermented foods. Fermented foods are known to be great for the gut microbiome. But why is that the case? You will find out in this episode. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation is 13,000 years old. These residues of beer were found in Haifa, Israel. For the longest time, humanity used fermentation without a clue what it's was all about. You may remember Louis Pasteur from our food history episode on canning. He is known as the father of fermentation, as he uncovered the process in 1857. Pasteur proved that living cells, yeast, were making sugar to alcohol. And that a microscopic plant caused the souring of milk - the lactic acid fermentation. You will hear more about it in a bit. Pasteur figured microorganisms are responsible for good and bad fermentations, which spoil the taste of milk, wine and vinegar. He tested whether heat could sterilize products, and he was right. We now know this process as pasteurization.  That led him to suspect that microorganisms may also be causing disease and enabled the development of vaccines. During this season, we covered biomass, precision fermentation and gas fermentation. Before we move on to other topics, we round it up by looking into the past - traditional fermentation, also known as microbial fermentation.  You will hear from Lars Williams, co-founder of Empirical Spirits, "The Man Behind The World’s Most Innovative Distillery" according to Forbes. They incorporate fermentation deeply into their process of making novel alcoholic drinks. LINKS Check out our supporter of this season FoodLabs and their Climate Program: https://www.foodlabs.com/ Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program: https://provegincubator.com/ More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/   For sponsorships, collaborations, volunteering, or feedback write Marina at change@redtogreen.solutions Please leave a review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/red-to-green-food-sustainability/id1511303510 Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/ Hashtags and topics of the episode Microbial Fermentation microbial fermentation process microorganisms in fermentation sauerkraut history Traditional fermentation Kimchi fermentation Kombucha fermentation Lactic acid fermentation Alcohol fermentation acetic fermentation Topics and hashtags of the season Biotechnology in food What is biotechnology food Food biotechnology examples Food biotechnology startups Biotechnology food companies Biotech food in usa Food biotechnology examples