Cultivate your own meat

By November 2022, the ozone layer hole had grown to a staggering 23.2 million square kilometers. While this isn’t solely the fault of livestock farming, it’s no secret that industrial meat production is a major contributor to environmental damage. Now, companies like GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods are stepping up with a revolutionary solution: lab-grown meat—real meat without the guilt.

What Is It?

This isn’t about your typical plant-based burger or 3D-printed “meat.” We’re talking about meat that’s grown from stem cells, straight out of a lab. Using cells taken from animal fat or muscle tissue, these companies have been growing meat for over a decade. In June 2023, the FDA officially approved the sale of this cultivated meat in the U.S., following Singapore’s lead, which greenlit it back in 2020. This is the next frontier in food innovation, and it’s happening faster than you might expect.

Why Is It Cool?

• No Animals Harmed: Imagine creating chicken without the chicken. As GOOD Meat CEO Josh Tetrick puts it, animals often live miserable, short lives in factory farms. Lab-grown meat offers a cruelty-free alternative, where meat can be made from a single egg’s stem cells.
• Environmentally Friendly: Bioengineer David Kaplan explains that cultivated meat uses significantly less land, water, and resources, while also emitting fewer greenhouse gases. With the planet groaning under the weight of traditional agriculture, this could be a game-changer.
• Tastes Like the Real Deal: Because this meat is grown from the same biological materials as traditional meat, the taste is nearly identical—or so the companies claim. Say goodbye to those funky aftertastes from plant-based alternatives.

Why Does It Have Future Growth Potential?

Lab-grown meat isn’t just a new way to get your burger fix. It has the potential to unlock personalized nutrition. Imagine meat specifically tailored to your dietary needs—higher in protein, lower in fat, or loaded with extra nutrients based on your age, health conditions, or even where you live.

Of course, it’s not all rainbows just yet. While years of testing have been done, long-term impacts on human health are still a mystery. Also, while chicken is the most advanced lab-grown meat product, beef, which has a bigger environmental impact, still lags behind. And, let’s be honest—the price is currently a bit steep for most people’s grocery budgets.

But as technology improves and production scales up, this new category of meat could become a sustainable and affordable staple in diets around the world. Lab-grown meat is more than a passing trend; it’s a serious contender for shaping the future of food.

Author: Paula Daniela Arciniegas Guerrero
Editor: Andrés Felipe Velasco (Colombia)

Resourced Links:

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lab-grown-meat-approved-for-sale-what-you-need-to-know/
• https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/
• https://www.goodmeat.co/about
• https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/cultured-meat-industry/
• https://www.investopedia.com/good-meat-gets-full-fda-approval-for-lab-grown-meat-sales-7551252