I love talking to ranchers and beef industry folks about lab-grown fake meat. It’s a fascinating, terrifying topic. Such conversations don’t happen often, but when they do, questions like, “Isn’t it shocking?” or “Do you think it’s a fad?” always come up. I think my quick and decisive “no” surprises people, but probably not as much as my reasoning.
I’m a life-long science fiction fan and sci-fi has been predicting fake meat for almost a century at least.
Synthetic food—particularly lab- or vat-grown meat—is a constant, familiar feature in sci-fi. For example, Star Trek (1966-present) has its food synthesizers and then later replicators that reorganize matter to be anything you want it to be, including meat. Dystopian comic book series Transmetropolitan (1997-2002) features a technology-infused future where the flesh of any animal—including humans—is easily cloned and grown for cheap, casual consumption by the masses. And, of course, there is Brave New World (1932), where both the people and the produce they eat come from factory-like laboratories.
Because of my voracious appetite for sci-fi, I wasn’t surprised when the story broke in early 2012 that Dr. Mark Post announced his efforts to make a proof of concept. But also because of sci-fi—where synthetic meat is so common that it is just part of the scenery—I worry that the beef industry is not taking lab-grown meat seriously.
Thus far, most of our industry’s engagement with fake meat has been to fight about what it can be legally called and how it should be regulated. This regulatory fight is currently most applicable to the textured plant protein look-alike products like the Beyond Burger or the Impossible Burger that are currently available to consumers. But the regulatory fight will also apply to cell-cultured, lab-grown “meat” once it hits the shelves too.
But is that all?
I’m not trying to downplay the importance of making sure the fake meat makers don’t steal our words, ride the good coattails of beef producers, or get by on regulatory loopholes. Those are important fights. Look at what has and is happening to the dairy industry with the nut, grain, and legume juice that casually gets called “milk.”
But what else are we doing?
Most of what I’ve heard producers doing is dismissing fake meat.
“No one will eat it!” “It will never replace the real thing.” “It’ll never be economically viable.”
In short, fake meat doesn’t have a realistic future, so why worry? That perspective worries me.
Investors aren’t dismissing fake meat. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Tyson, and Cargill have put their money where they think consumers mouths will be. For them, fake meat has a place in the future.
Our science fiction has consistently anticipated—and in many cases, inspired—our technology. For example, the original 1968 season of Star Trek alone casually depicted what today would be called tablet computers, bluetooth headsets, and smartphones.
In these science fiction futures where lab-grown meat is the widespread norm, a real steak is either a luxury good of prohibitive expense, or socially disgusting for being so morally backwards as to kill an animal for food. The fake meat makers seem intent on making this piece of science fiction science fact just like their product.
Though they are being careful not to come off as directly hostile to traditional meat, these lab-grown meat companies talk about “slaughter-free meat.” For example, Dr. Post’s MosaMeat company lists “improving animal welfare” as one of the primary reasons it exists. Memphis Meats proudly proclaims it is “making meat that is better for animals” and that consumers can “feel good about how it’s made.”
These are messages that appeal to consumers. Why kill an animal if you don’t need to? The claims of supposedly superior sustainability and marketing positioning as “clean meat” likely don’t hurt consumer perceptions either.
Lab-grown meat might not be a reality in your vision of the future, but the fake meat makers are imagining a future that doesn’t need or include what you do.
As an industry, we need to not dismiss this technology. Instead of assuming that it is fictional nonsense, we need to imagine the uncomfortable possibility of a future where fake meat is widespread, affordable, and accepted by consumers. Where will ranchers fit into such a future? What are we doing to make sure we will? — KERRY HALLADAY
