Week 7: What are the social and political challenges?

When discussing the science behind alternative proteins, we sometimes lose sight of the significant cultural role that food plays in people’s lives. Is it more than just a case of “if we build it, they will come”? Other than flavour and cost, what factors will play a role in consumer uptake of alternative proteins? Where might alternative proteins sit within religious or other cultural dietary practices? 

As well as consumers, meat has a huge impact on the lives of the millions of people that produce it. If the alt-protein sector were to replace factory farming, would it be able to absorb the same workforce? What new skills might be needed and how could this transition be handled in a way that benefits the most people across all demographics?

The aim of this session is to get you thinking beyond the technological practicalities of alternative proteins and to consider meat’s place in society more broadly. You will examine the socio-political and regulatory hurdles involved, as well as considering the parallels with another major food technology, GMOs, and the lessons we can learn from that industry.

Core Material [~2hrs 5mins]

• Bringing cultured meat to market: Technical, socio-political, and regulatory challenges in cellular agriculture - Stephens et al. (2018) [Paper, 25 mins] 

  • Sections 1, 5 and 6

• Social and Economic Opportunities and Challenges of Plant-Based and Cultured Meat for Rural Producers in the US - Newton et al. (2021) [Paper, 50 mins]

• Cell-cultured meat: Lessons from GMO adoption and resistance - Mohorčich & Reese (2019) [Paper, 50 minutes]

Discussion Prompts:

General

• Argue for and against this idea: “ultimately, looking to biotechnology to solve ethical crises is fraught with danger and should be avoided”

• Cultivated meat is only likely to enter the market in a substantial way a number of years after other alternative protein technologies do. To what extent do you think this will help public perception as they are accustomed to other novel foods entering the market?

• Who do you anticipate being the winners and losers of the emerging alternative protein sector? 

• Envisage a future where cultivated meat is widespread:

  • Who will be producing the cultured meat? Farmers, agribusinesses, bioscientists, others?

  • Who is already enabled to adopt, and potentially profit from, this technology?

  • Where will production take place? Global North/South? On farms/in factories?

  • What are the associated social, political, environmental and ethical implications of these developments?

• To what extent do you see uptake of alternative proteins causing a reduction in animal farming (substitution effect) vs adding to the total meat consumption as the demand for meat overpasses the supply from animal-farmed meat (addition effect)? How could we avoid an addition effect? 

• It is clear that the current set of cultured meat groups are motivated by altruistic or social and environmental goals and work to develop innovative approaches that maximise potential benefit. However there is no guarantee that these motivations will be shared and pursued by future cultured meat producers. Do you think that the benefits are necessarily inherently embedded within the technology or could it misfire in the wrong hands? 

• Of the opportunities listed for rural producers (below), which seem the most likely to materialise? Which seem the most profitable if they do?

  • Growing Ingredients for Plant-Based Meat

  • Growing Feedstock for Cultured Meat

  • Genetic Material for Cultured Meat

  • Bioreactors on Farms

  • Transition Into New Sectors

  • Regenerative Agriculture and High-Animal Welfare Farming

  • Jobs in Production Facilities

• How do you assess the roles and relative importance of Government Agencies, Universities and NGOs in this potential alternative protein transition?

Comparison of Cultivated Meat to GMOs

• GMOs are a novel food technology whose adoption has very publicly faced widespread resistance. Can you think of any other novel food technologies whose uptake has faced public resistance, as well as any that have not? Are there any distinguishing features between these two groups?

• To what extent do you think that the current position of the cultivated meat industry is similar to GMOs in the 1980s and where do you think this analogy is less accurate?

• Resistance to GMOs is not universal and varies between geographical regions. To what extent do you think acceptance/resistance to cultivated meat might follow a similar geographical pattern?

• In what ways do you think cultivated meat companies can learn from the mistakes of GMOs and avoid those levels of public resistance?

Further Resources:

General

• Culture, meat, and cultured meat - Bryant (2020)

• Raising the steaks: developing a market for alternative protein in the UK - Social Market Foundation (2021) [Briefing Paper]

• FOOD 2030 Pathways for Action: Alternative Proteins and Dietary Shift - European Commission (2020)

• What if all our meat were grown in a lab? - European Parliament (2018)

Consumer Acceptance

• Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: A systematic review - Bryant & Barnett (2020) [Paper, 45 mins] 

• The Red to Green Podcast - Season 3: Promoting Alternative Proteins (2021)

• The effect of information content on acceptance of cultured meat in a tasting context - Rolland et al. (2020) 

Regulation

• Alternative proteins and EU food law Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al. (2021) [Paper]

• Food Made with Cultured Animal Cells - FDA (2020)

• The Regulatory Environment of Plant-Based and Cultured Meat - Seehafer & Bartels (2019)

• Cultured Meat: How to Regulate Alternatives to Farmed Meat - How to Regulate? (2020)