It’s getting harder to produce the volume of meat people want to consume, and the trend seems to be getting worse. So what can be done about it?
The planet can handle an awful lot of stress, yet sometimes an awful lot just won’t satisfy us. Too much industry puts pressure on the ice caps. Too much fishing leaves too little in reserve.
Logging kills forests. Dumping waste wrecks oceans. And too much water, grain and land put into farming livestock manages to place environmental strain at the very epicentre of the western diet.
But just like anything on Earth, something’s gotta give.
What’s the future of meat?
A lot of the world’s grain harvest is dedicated to meat production, so, too, plenty of land. The meat produced might not even be good for us.
Technology, though, is fighting back. It was only a matter of time until the food chain was handed the ultimate disruption tool, with a US company claiming it’s now lab-growing meat for human consumption.
Free from the contamination that sees bacteria flourish and containing lower saturated fat levels, Memphis Meats’ business model could prove revolutionary.
Taking regenerative stem cells from animals, they are put on a petri dish with oxygen, sugar and other minerals fed into them, with Uma Valeti saying his company is “motivated” by the idea of customers popping into a store and buying straight off a shelf, with none of the legacy costs of beef, chicken or pork.
There are other projects to take note of, such as industry alignment with IoT, but in general ‘less is more’ will probably be our future.
This infographic from Quid Corner perhaps explains it best.
Cows image via Shutterstock
