Meat Without the Animal?

Here is a TED talk to introduce my next topic: cultured meat. After speaking of GM crops as one of the  possible methods for future food production, I want to take have a look at another fairly controversial but promising vision for the future. Livestock production is one of the biggest contributors to the world's greenhouse emissions with estimates of as much as 18% (FAO, 2006) of all global greenhouse gas emissions (read more about the effects of meat production in my previous post). In vitro meat offers an environmentally sound, land effective way of producing meat (although hugely expensive at the moment). In addition, cultured meat would eliminate waste and crops that currently go to feed the livestock could be used for human consumption.

I will return to this issue in my next post but for now, have a look at this inspiring TED talk on how to produce meat and leather without the animal. Andras Forgacs (a Hungarian working in the United States) is an entrepreneur in tissue engineering and co-founder and CEO of Modern Meadow. His talk focuses mainly on producing leather but the same benefits come with producing meat. It is also argued that in order for people to be willing to eat cultured meat, tissue engineering and biotechnology will have to guarantee its safety, while wearing a wallet made out of cultured leather will be easier to do. Something truly innovative and worth thinking about!

Till next time,
Laura