Science fiction on the farm? What about this? Take a series of biopsies from live meat animals, place the cells, suspended in nutrients, into large bioreactors and wait for them to grow into a larger mass that can be processed into products like burgers and sausages.
When asked for his opinion on this method of meat production, an old beef breeder said, “What will they come up with next?”
Opponents of this new technology – and there are many – describe it as a corporate culture run amok and derisively call it ‘lab meat’, ‘fake meat’ or ‘alt meat’.
General terms are ‘cultured meat’ and ‘cultured meat’.
Not surprisingly, many meat producers are warning that this threatens traditional agriculture and their livelihoods.
It appears that agriculture is such a major threat that Florida passed a law in May making it illegal for anyone in the state to produce, possess or offer for sale or distribution cultured meat. Several other states have followed suit.
Unsurprisingly, a lawsuit against the ban has already been launched.
Across the pond, Italy joined the fray in 2023 and became the first country to ban cultured meat, making it a law that lab-grown meat cannot be produced or marketed in Italy.
Although the BBC, which has covered the subject, says that regulators in most countries say food safety is the main issue, Italy’s ban goes further than that. According to a statement from the Italian Minister of Agriculture, “the ban seeks to protect food traditions and farmers.”
Decentralization of meat production
Looking to the future, proponents — some of them meat producers themselves — say this new technology could decentralize meat production by allowing farmers to actually produce the cultured meat on their own farms.
Some even see this as a way to diversify and produce meat with fewer animals and sell their meat locally. Not to mention the environmental benefits of this approach. And the humane part of the picture – that no animals need to be slaughtered – is something animal rights activists are rooting for.
Antibiotics are commonly used in meat animals and poultry to combat disease and accelerate growth. However, lab meat researchers say they don’t need to use antibiotics in their products because the sterile lab process makes them unnecessary. Likewise, they do not need to use growth-promoting hormones.
Proponents also say this method is a definite plus when it comes to food safety because it doesn’t require all the blood, guts and manure typical of slaughterhouses.
Proponents of cultured meat describe the benefits of this technology over conventional methods of raising livestock as “clean, safe and humane.”
Others warn that cultured meat is not a panacea. It is not possible to produce enough of it at a reasonable price.
History
The first cell-cultured meat product, a hamburger, was created in 2013 by Mark Post, a scientist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Research and development continued. In 2022, the U.S. Drug and Food Administration granted a pre-market review and approval for two companies, GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods, to sell cell-cultured chicken in U.S. markets.
“The world is experiencing a ‘food revolution,’” said a statement at the time from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Director Susan Mayne.
What the hell is this all about?
It is about the future that is finding its way into the agricultural landscape, although it will be a while before it actually appears on the market. Still, cultured meat maker UPSIDE Foods received the green light from the FDA for its chicken grown from animal cells in late 2022, marking the first regulatory approval for any cultured meat in the United States.
“We have no questions about these foods at this time. . . consisting of or containing cultured chicken cell material resulting from the UPSIDE production process. . . are as safe as comparable foods produced in other ways,” the agency’s no-questions-asked letter to UPSIDE said.
So far, the only market approvals are in Singapore, Israel and the US. And while the industry has seen progress, most consumers have yet to see cultured meat.
In July 2023, UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat sold the first cell-cultured chicken in restaurants in San Francisco and Washington DC, respectively.
What’s important to keep in mind about all of this is that cell-based meat, also called cultured meat, is not a plant-based “meatless meat,” like products like MorningStar Farms’ chicken nuggets, Beyond Burger and Awesome Burgers, which are made from a variety of vegetables .
How will it happen on the farm?
Cultured meat is typically made in large bioreactors that are centralized in one facility. But in the case of farms that adopt this technology, the main production of cultured meat will take place on the farm, says Alexander Heuer, co-founder and co-CEO of German start-up Meatosys in an interview with FoodNavigator.
The plug-and-ply bioreactors will be housed in 40-foot shipping containers set up on the grounds of individual farms. And while the equipment will be made elsewhere, the ultimate growth and differentiation will happen on the farm.
“This is what we call decentralized: instead of a single large production facility, our production will be distributed among all farms that choose to install our equipment, supported by regional logistics hubs,” Heuer explains.
Heuer emphasized that his company does not want to abolish livestock farming, but simply create more opportunities for farmers.
“Livestock farming is part of a much larger ecosystem and is connected to many other aspects that go far beyond just basic meat production,” he told a reporter. “Our farmers still have animals, just fewer of them, because our technology acts as a multiplier.”
The voice of the farmer
In the 1980s, Willem van Eelen started working on the technology that produces cultured meat. And now his daughter, Ira, with RESPECTfarms (https://www.respectfarms.com) continues his work.
Fourth-generation Dutch farmer Teun de Jongh of RESPCTfarms said changes in society and the market have opened his eyes to the need to consider producing cultured meat on his farm.
“I saw a new opportunity for my company,” he said in video on the website. “I work with experts to prepare my company for the future. It is an opportunity with potential economic and technological benefits.”
As Ira van Eelen explains in the video, the farm is a smart location for this, because everything you need is already there. You have the animals and their cells, a place to generate energy, but also the people who are skilled in handling them, are familiar with the following processes and know how to deal with hygiene. Farmers can play a role in feeding the cells and processing residual flows through recycling and waste management.
“So why not do it in a place like that?” she asks.
RESPECTfarms is working to fully optimize its first farm by 2029, hoping to spark a movement that can help scale up the process starting in 2030.
“Our first long-term vision is the transformation of 1,000 farms by 2038, with a growing network to expand and maintain,” says van Eelen.
But how much will it cost?
According to a report from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU), farms producing cultured meat would cost on average 30 percent more than large factories doing the same. Although this research was carried out with British farms in mind, it still highlights significant challenges.
Still, advocates are optimistic that continued research into this “young industry” will find ways to keep costs down.
That has already happened on the market. The first lab-grown burger cost $330,000 in 2013. Since then, the price has dropped to just under $10 today.
According to the RESPECTfarms website, “The technological development of cultured meat can help provide the world and its ever-growing appetite for meat with a solution: sustainable, locally produced beef, pork and poultry.
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