Is lab-grown meat the future of sustainable eating?

In 1894, modern civilisation looked doomed. The manure of horses, the main means of transportation at the time, was expected to fill up urban streets and poison the air within 50 years. Neither attempts at regulation – the first international urban planning conference in 1898 was a failure – nor individual responsibility were enough to tackle the issue. In the end, the Great Manure Crisis was solved by the invention of the engine and the advent of motor transport. Often, technological advancement is at the same time humanity’s self-destruction and its salvation.

New crisis: old solutions?

Today, man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are driving Earth’s ecosystem towards collapse. In this new crisis, international regulatory efforts are proving as inconclusive as in the past. The Paris Agreement, our main instrument of global climate governance, is a non-binding international treaty. As such, it relies on the pledges of single countries, and, five years after its adoption, the picture isn’t encouraging. But once again, technology could offer a partial solution, and progress is unwinding right under our noses.

“Lab-grown meat has been hailed as a ground-breaking innovation for the environment and a turning point for animal welfare”

Recently, Singapore has approved cruelty-free, lab-grown chicken meat for consumption. The unusual chicken nuggets are produced by the US-based company Eat Just, one of several start-ups that are studying solutions to make edible meat from cultured animal cells. For now, the news only concerns one restaurant in Singapore but the country’s landmark decision could facilitate approval by further state authorities – and for products beyond chicken. Meat cultivation, regardless of the type, largely follows the same procedure: animal stem cells are grown in vitro using a protein-rich serum; cells are then aggregated to make tissue, which is in turn molded into the desired shape.

Lab-grown meat has been hailed as a ground-breaking innovation for the environment and a turning point for animal welfare. However, its effective benefits both as a substitute of meat and an alternative to plant-based products are still up for debate.

A ‘clean’ meat industry

“Livestock farming is the source of 14.5% of global emissions”

It’s no mystery that intensive animal farming is unsustainable and unethical. Livestock farming is the source of 14.5% of global emissions. It also depletes the planet’s natural resources such as land, fisheries, and water. Finally, it is responsible for the suffering of over 70 billion animals per year. For these reasons, scientists and climate activists have long argued that curbing our consumption of animal products significantly, or stopping it altogether, is the most effective decision we can make to avoid ecological catastrophe.

American writer, Jonathan Safran Foer, explored the topic in his books Eating Animals (2009) and We Are the Weather (2019). A vegetarian himself, Foer admits that he misses meat and that giving it up involves willpower and awareness of the climate crisis as an existential threat. In fact, Foer’s take appears very flexible compared to scientific evidence suggesting that the best way to make a positive impact on the global environment is to forego all animal products – in a word, veganism. However, by the time most people are able and ready to go meat-free, it could be too late to avoid climate catastrophe.

Lab-grown meat could then become a transition food, or a middle way, between a diet rich in animal products and a largely plant-based one. According to FAO estimates, a 3% decrease in per-capita meat consumption occurred in 2020 following a trend already observed in 2019. Widespread access to cultured meat may convince undecided meat-eaters to switch to a greener and more ethical alternative that isn’t too different from the original thing. However, lab-grown meat shouldn’t be the arrival point when it comes to eating sustainably.

Ethics vs sustainability

“cultivated meat is only relatively greener than traditionally farmed meat, and not more sustainable than other foods”

Cultured meat has the undeniable quality of not requiring the killing of animals as it is grown from cells taken through biopsy. A non-animal solution has also apparently been found for the medium to grow the cells, which used to be extracted from unborn calves. Eat Just reportedly grows its chicken in a serum of non-animal origin now and other companies will probably follow suit. Lab-grown meat could hence be a good compromise for people who want to eat meat without feeling guilty of animal cruelty.

However, cultivated meat is only relatively greener than traditionally farmed meat, and not more sustainable than other foods. While it cuts on emissions produced by livestock, on the water consumed, and on the land occupied by cattle or devoted to its feeding, growing meat in labs impacts the environment in other ways. To avoid bacterial contamination in the lab, the process would require the use of plastic materials and chemical cleaners as well as hormones to grow the animal muscle tissue.

It must be kept in mind that at the moment, lab-grown meat has high prices associated with the high production costs. The diffusion of cultured meat on the market might solve the problem in the long-term but it will take time. Overall, there’s no strong environmental or practical reason why people should choose to consume lab-grown meat rather than switching animal products in general for cheaper plant-based alternatives.

Ultimately, lab-grown meat could be one of the tools to lower the environmental impact of the meat industry, but is far from the best one. It’s currently less accessible than plant-based substitutes and it will remain less ethical and less sustainable. If technology is going to solve the climate crisis, cultured meat alone won’t be enough.

 

Francesca Di Fazio

Image courtesy of Emerson Vieira on Unsplash. Image licence found here. This image has in no way been altered.