Is growing meat in a cultivator the answer to preserving the environment?

The production of meat has continued to rise rapidly to meet the current needs of our ever growing population. However, with this booming production comes negative effects such as environmental waste, loss of land for livestock production, and the struggle to keep the livestock crops sustainable. In the past decade, a new technologically innovative industry has emerged to help solve this issue while also fighting critics' views of their unconventional methods. Memphis Meats, a California based start-up, plans to bring cell-grown meats to your plates in the next coming years.

Notable businessmen and companies have already put their financial support into this growing start-up such as Bill Gates and Tyson Foods. However, the company is currently struggling with keeping production costs low to optimize on producing the most efficient, affordable product for their consumers. Currently, it costs $2400 to grow 1 pound of chicken in the cultivator.

Memphis Meats CEO, Uma Valeti, says some of the benefits of their cell-based chicken is that it’s better for the environment, it can be grown at a faster rate than the current livestock crops, and can match the increased demand for meat.

However, some opposers question the ethical nature of creating meat in a lab, and if it truly has all the same nutritional value of a farm-raised chicken. If the FDA approves the production of cell-based chicken, cell-based chicken may soon become more normal than chickens grown on a farm.

Currently there are 27 companies that culture edible meat from animal cells. The companies still have a long way to go before this innovation reaches the stores to be sold commercially. Would you eat chicken grown from a cell in a lab? Comment below.

Interested in reading more about this topic? Here’s where:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2020/01/22/798515259/ready-for-meat-grown-from-animal-cells-a-startup-plans-a-pilot-plant

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-startups-are-growing-meat-from-animal-cells