The discussion about meat consumption and its negative effects on our planet is thriving. Thanks to conscious consumers and ethically motivated groups, new innovative technologies in food tech are being developed to help mitigate the environmental damage that is being cause by the meat industry.
You may have heard about cultivated meat (also termed cultured meat) in the context of alternative meat solutions. Since this novel solution is still quite new, many are searching for clarity as to what cultured meat really is and what advantages it brings to the table.
Read on. We’ll provide answers to some of your pressing questions about cultivated meat and discuss some of cultivated meat’s pros and cons. Hopefully this will help you make more conscious decisions about consuming meat in the future.
Cultivated Meat vs. Conventional Meat
Typically, animals are bred, raised, slaughtered, butchered, processed, and distributed as the conventional meat you are used to. Sadly, this entire process is proving itself to be unsustainable. For example, the agricultural industry is known to be the second-largest producer of methane in the United States (a powerful greenhouse gas). Only through its radical transformation can we mitigate a climate disaster. Cultivated meat is one revolutionary disrupter in that respect.
Cultivated meat is animal meat that does not require going through the process of conventional meat. It is meat that was produced by sourcing animal cells just one time, without harming the animal, then they are cultivated in stainless steel vessels (like those used in beer production) until they are turned into the familiar meat cuts you enjoy today.
Thanks to cultivated meat (or cultured meat), meat lovers can continue to enjoy the familiarity of its taste, texture, and mouthfeel without compromising on their beliefs. Cultured meat is the same meat you’re used to. The ethical fashion in which it’s produced is what sets it apart from conventional meat.
How is Cultivated Meat Made?
It is truly inspiring to live at a time when food engineers are able to find solutions to produce meat without the need to harm or kill any animals.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes overview of how this technology works:
The process begins by sourcing cells from an animal. This initial step does not harm the animal or cause it any pain. The great part of this step is that it needs to be done only once. Thanks to this “immortalization process”, these cells are able to perpetually multiply in stainless steel cultivators (or bioreactors) so we’d never need to return to the animal for a refill.
Cultivators are the cells’ growth environment which feed them with proteins, amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), vitamins, and additional growth factors. All these together contribute to the growth and propagation of our cells.
At the final step, when they are ready for harvesting, these meat cells go through a “structuring process”, during which the cell mass is molded into meat products us humans know and recognize. In this way, the final product is identical in flavor, texture, and appearance to farmed meat.
Why Do We Need Cultivated Meat?
People around the world love to eat meat. In fact, the global meat industry is valued at close to a trillion dollars today. But 20% of the millions and millions of tons produced every year is wasted. This is the equivalent of 660 calories or two hamburgers per person per day.
That means needless greenhouse gas emissions, wasted labor, land, water, and most importantly — excessive suffering and slaughtering of animals. Additionally, there’s a growing demand for meat worldwide. Despite the enormous amount of meat production that’s taking place, it cannot keep up with the growing demand for animal protein.
Today, the global population stands at more than 7 billion people, with expectations to surpass 10 billion by 2050. More and more food will need to be made in order to sustain life on Earth. Sadly, resources such as land, water, and animals are limited. Studies show that it will become impossible to grow enough animals to feed the entire population.
Cultivated meat is set out to feed our growing global population indefinitely, with the aim to hold the same (or better) nutritional value as famed meat.
Is Cultivated Meat Nutritious?
Cultured Meat is arguably healthier than alternative meat products offered in the market today. While it is still pending regulatory approval, the cultivated meat industry is in the process of producing meat with the same or better nutritional value of farmed meat.
Food safety and nutrition are Future Meat’s top priority. We want to ensure that consumers can enjoy cultivated meat without giving up on the nutritional values that comes with animal protein.
At Future Meat, we are racing to produce the highest quality, and most delicious, cultivated meat you’ll find once it hits the market. While we grow our meat cells in a safe and clean environment, our proprietary process also avoid the use of antibiotics and GMOs.
Rest assured that our mindset is to bring the most beneficial components cultivated meat can offer.
The Benefits of Cultivated Meat in a Nutshell
With a clearer understanding of what cultivated meat is, and how it is made, let us turn our attention to some of the leading benefits to producing (and eating!) cultivated meat.
1. Prevention of Illnesses
The COVID-19 pandemic, has immensely spotlighted the importance of food safety and consumption since it was speculated that the coronavirus was transferred to humans through the slaughter of animals for food. Since cell-cultured meat does not involve the slaughter of animals or the processing of animal carcasses, it poses a much lower risk of disease transmission or health risks posed by E Coli, salmonella, and other food-borne pathogens.
2. Lower Environmental Impact
Growing populations and the increasing demand for meat products is leading to mass deforestation to create arable lands for animal breeding. According to data from Greenpeace, about 80% of deforestation occurs because of the agriculture industry. Cultured meat production would take 99% less land to use or barely 1% space that’s needed compared to agriculture. It also produces considerably less pollution.
3. Less Water Usage
Cultured meat production also calls for much less water usage when compared to conventional meat production. Research has shown that 1 kg of conventional beef requires 550-700 liters of fresh water.
4. Better for Animal Welfare
This benefit is pretty straightforward. The process of creating and producing cultivated meat does not encompass any harm to the animals! As mentioned, there is a one-time cell-extraction from the animal (which is harmless), and then cultured meat can be created indefinitely.
5. Increase Access to Food and Reduced Global Hunger
Introducing cultivated meat at scale will have a massive social impact. As people start consuming cultivated meat, more natural resources will free up for future generations. This will increase access to food and, as a result, reduce world hunger. By making cultivated meat affordable and freeing up industrial livestock land to create more cropland for affordable food, we can help ease the burden on families who face hunger.
The Future of Meat is Here
There are many reasons to take part in the cultured meat revolution, whether it’s helping the environment, improving health, or supporting animal welfare; it’s just better meat no matter how you look at it.