What Is Meat?: It’s probably not what you thought
Alternative meats are a solution to nearly every major disaster harming our planet and its people. Industrial animal agriculture is responsible for about one-fifth of global emissions and is a top cause of deforestation, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss. As people form the mindset for understanding how accessible, affordable, economical, environmentally friendly, and healthy new sources of meat are, it will be better for them, their companion animals, and the planet — a win-win for all.
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY: A new and highly anticipated book titled ‘Meat’ by Good Food Institute founder and president Bruce Friedrich, … is page-turning work that “offers a hopeful and rigorously researched exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world’s soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world”…
There is also an important psychological aspect associated with a change in diet for both humans and nonhumans. As people form the mindset for understanding how accessible, affordable, economical, environmentally friendly, and healthy new sources of meat are, it will be better for them, their companion animals, and the planet — a win-win for all. To facilitate these changes, here’s what Bruce had to say about his long-time journey into food production and what needs to be done right now to improve our planet’s well-being and that of countless residents—human and nonhuman, alike…
Marc Bekoff (MB): You present alternative meats as a solution to nearly every major disaster harming our planet and its people, from preventing pandemics to reducing hunger and malnutrition, safeguarding the environment, and even strengthening national security. How is this possible?
Bruce Friedrich (BF): Yes, that’s chapters 1-4 of the book. Industrial animal agriculture is responsible for about one-fifth of global emissions and is a top cause of deforestation, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss. It’s also one of the two primary drivers of antimicrobial resistance, which threatens to make routine surgeries life-threatening again. And industrial animal farms are pandemic powder kegs — 75 percent of emerging pathogens are linked to animals…
Plant-based and cultivated meat solve for all of this, and, in fact, a 15 percent shift to alternative proteins would reduce emissions more than electrifying every bus, light truck, and passenger car on Earth—while also reducing food prices, improving food security, and freeing up land for restoration…
MB: In Chapter 8 of Meat, you liken the rise of alternative meats to breakthroughs like cars, cell phones, AI, and even ice cubes, everyday innovations we now take for granted. What makes you so optimistic that alternative meats will follow the same path to ubiquity?
BF: History shows us that once the kinks get worked out and prices come down, adoption of transformative technologies moves far faster than anyone expects. More than 500 car companies went bankrupt before the cheaper and easier-to-operate Model T was introduced, but once that happened, cars took over from horse-drawn carriages in about 15 years…
The scientists closest to the work on alternative meats are incredibly optimistic about success, and I dive into the reasons for their optimism in Chapters 6, 7, and 11. The challenges are nowhere near what we overcame to control nuclear fission, put humans on the Moon, and invent high-efficiency solar power.
We already know where we’re trying to go, and the path to success is reasonably clear. Plus, both plant-based and cultivated meat use a fraction of the inputs of conventional meat, so first principles point to far lower costs at scale…
MB: You say in the book that successful innovation rests on a “three-legged stool” of science, industry, and government. What does true collaboration among these three pillars look like?
BF: Most major technological leaps have relied on coordinated support from science, government, and industry: Scientists do the fundamental research, governments provide funding and create favorable regulatory environments, and industry brings products to market at scale. Think penicillin—discovered by Fleming, developed with support from the U.S. government, and then scaled by industry to save millions of lives.
For alternative meats, that means government-funded basic research and government support for industry-led scale-up. In today’s world of global markets, countries that don’t support their industries risk falling behind. MARC BEKOFF
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