• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Politics
    • Joe Biden
    • Extremism
    • Europe
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab World
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate Change
    • Smart Cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
Fair Observer Logo Fair Observer Logo
  • Sign Up
  • Support FO°
  • Login
  • LOGIN

    • Lost your password?
    Forget Password?

    New to Fair Observer? Register Now

    Contributor Member
Fair Observer Logo

40

forty

Meat Without the Moo

Wade Roush - August 12, 2017

In this episode of Soonish, we start from one simple idea: On a planet that will likely be home to 10 billion people by 2050, we’re going to have to think about replacing a lot of the meat we currently get from pigs, chickens, cattle and fish with other forms of protein. We take a close look at where alternative-protein technology is going in the near future, and what those other forms might be. And we talk with people who are starting to think about the best ways to package and promote alternative-protein products.

There are all sorts of reasons why we’re probably approaching the point of “peak meat,” after which consumption of meat from farm animals will have to go down.

The biggest one is the environment. If everyone got as much of their protein from meat as denizens of Western countries currently do, there simply wouldn’t be enough land or water to raise all the needed animals. On top of that, we know that livestock agriculture is a major contributor to global warming. (When you count up the carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation, feed production and farm transportation, and add in methane generation from belching cows and decaying manure, livestock accounts for as much as 18% of overall greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.)

And that’s to say nothing of the nutritional benefits of a diet that’s higher in plant-based foods, or of ethical concerns, shared by many, about the way farm animals are raised and slaughtered.

But this episode doesn’t dwell on the case for (or against) vegan or vegetarian diets.

Rather, we ask: In a future where there’s a rising demand for protein — or at least for a meaty centerpiece for each meal — what sources will be available other than traditional ones like fish, chickens, pigs and cattle? And we look deeply into three answers.

1) Fiber-rich plants like jackfruit: In this episode we talk with Annie Ryu, who started The Jackfruit Company to buy jackfruit from farmers in India and package it for consumers in America. And we get some perspective on Annie’s success from Adam Salomone, a food-tech industry observer and CEO of The Food Loft, a Boston-based coworking space for food and technology companies.

Embed from Getty Images

2) Insects: We visit Tiny Farms, a startup in California working to develop an industrial-scale way to farm tropical house crickets, an excellent source of protein (whether eaten plain or ground up as cricket flour for use in products like energy bars).

3) Cultured meat: Researchers in the burgeoning field of cellular agriculture are beginning to learn how to immortalize muscle cell lines from animals and grow them, under controlled conditions, into edible muscle tissue. Our introduction to this field comes from Natalie Rubio, a PhD student in biomedical engineering at Tufts University who is the very first graduate student to receive a research fellowship from New Harvest, a New York-based nonprofit promoting cellular agriculture.

There’s a fourth alternative as well: plant-based “imitation meat” from companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. These products, often built around proteins from soy or peas, are marketed as meat look-alikes and taste-alikes. And while they’re perfectly tasty (as my dinner guests can tell you), these companies may be stumbling unintentionally into the culinary equivalent of the uncanny valley.

That’s an idea from robotics that says people like mechanical-looking robots just fine, but they start to get creeped out by robots that look almost-but-not-quite-human. (The same goes for animated characters.) In a similar way, the harder companies try to make plant-based products look and taste like meat — going so far as to add “blood” from beets or plant-derived heme — the harder it may be for them to win over committed meat-eaters.

As Fast Company reporter Jessica Leber writes, these companies are “trying to convince the carnivore’s stomach, rather than his heart or mind, that he should eat less meat.” But the stomach knows the difference — and if the stomach rules, plants will lose. Veggie burgers will have to be better than meat to succeed in the marketplace, Leber and others argue. And so far, they’re just not.

“At best, assuming some amazing discoveries and research, the Impossible Foods burger will be merely as good as something literally everyone already has access to,” writes Dan Nosowitz at Modern Farmer. “This is a huge problem … imitation is never a good selling point.”

Beyond Meat and other plant-based “meat” products are important as part of an overall mix of meat alternatives. I agree with Natalie Rubio, who says in this episode: “Animal agriculture is such a huge, massive, impending problem that we need to come at it from all angles. We need so many people working on every possible type of solution as fast as possible, so that we can take away these negative impacts that are happening to our planet.”

A decade or two from now, people may be eating some plant-based simulated-meat products in place of meat from livestock. But they’ll also be eating new foods like jackfruit that can take the place of meat in a main dish, and insects, and actual meat that comes from laboratories. Today’s episode tries to offer a glimpse into that world.

*[This podcast was originally featured by Soonish.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Drew Rawcliffe / Shutterstock.com

More Episodes

The Hot Mic: Trump Trumped, Looming Recession and India-China Clash

Atul Singh & Christopher Roper Schell, January 11, 2023

As US and China Clash, Taiwan Moves Closer to the Brink of Disaster

Atul Singh & Glenn Carle, August 15, 2022

Serbian City Novi Sad: European Through Culture

Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, August 13, 2022

Joe Biden’s Saudi Arabia Visit to Meet Mohammad bin Salman

Arab Digest, August 12, 2022

Must Listen

Fair Observer

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Russia-Ukraine War

Arab Digest, August 6, 2022
Fair Observer

India & Japan: Implications of Ukraine on Asia (Episode 2)

Fair Observer, August 3, 2022
Fair Observer

Putin Takes the Middle East and North Africa to the Precipice of Disaster

Arab Digest, July 29, 2022
Fair Observer

Italy, Tunisia and Algeria Form a Mediterranean Energy Treble

Arab Digest, July 22, 2022
Fair Observer

Realpolitik: Implications of Ukraine on Asia (Episode 1)

Fair Observer, July 21, 2022
Fair Observer

Media in the 2022 Kenyan Elections

Fair Observer, July 21, 2022
Fair Observer

Egypt’s Dictator Sisi is Ringmaster of a Near-Bankrupt Circus

Arab Digest, July 15, 2022
Fair Observer

Reinventing the Sheikhdom: how MBZ has shaped the UAE

Arab Digest, July 10, 2022
Fair Observer, 461 Harbor Blvd, Belmont, CA 94002, USA
Subscribe

Subscribe

Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.

Subscribe

Publish

Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.

Subscribe

Donate

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Republish
  • Authors
  • Privacy Policy
  • FO Store
  • Terms of Use
  • FAQs
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Asia Pacific
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • Central & South Asia
  • North America
  • Europe

Topics

  • Politics
  • Environment
  • Economics
  • Global Change
  • Business
  • International Security
  • Culture
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • Video
  • The Interview
  • Podcasts
  • In-Depth
  • Interactive
  • Insight
  • My Voice
  • Quick Read

Daily Dispatch

Designed, Developed and Maintained by Netleon Technologies
© Fair Observer All rights reserved
Fair Observer Education Logo Fair Observer Leadership Academy Logo

    Fill below form to share your concern with us

    *Indicates required field

    BOOKMARK

    Want to save this post?

    Register as a member to support independent journalism and enjoy subscriber benefits.

    BECOME A MEMBER

    NEWSLETTER

    Make Sense of the World

    Unique Insights from 2,500+ Contributors in 90+ Countries

    NEWSLETTER

    Make Sense of the World

    Unique Insights from 2,500+ Contributors in 90+ Countries

    We Need Your Consent
    We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Edit Cookie Preferences

    The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

    As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

     
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    These cookies essential for the website to function.
    Social Media
    These cookies are used to enable sharing or following of content that you find interesting on our website. These settings apply to third-party social networking and other websites.
    Performance & Functionality
    These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our website. They provide statistics on how our website is used and help us improve by measuring errors. Certain functionalities on our website may become unavailable without these cookies.
    Analytics
    SAVE & ACCEPT