How are new plant-based meat products different ?
There are two main categories of alternative meat products : plant-based meat and cultivated meat . The former uses plant-derived ingredients to provide all of the basic building blocks of meat : proteins , fats , vitamins , etc . The result is a product with the same texture and flavor as meat but a comparable or superior nutritional profile and a far lower environmental footprint . Some new products incorporate ingredients made through fermentation that add substantially to the flavor profile , such as the leghemoglobin protein of the Impossible burger , which provides the same meaty flavor as do heme proteins ( hemoglobin and myoglobin ) found in animal meat .
Cultivated meat ( also called cultured meat , cell-based meat or clean meat ) is made by cultivating animal cells directly , in the same way that we can grow other types of cells like yeast or bacteria for fermented or probiotic foods . Animal cell culture has been performed for decades , predominantly by the biomedical industry to make therapeutics , but these same principles can be used to grow animal cells into muscle tissue — which is exactly what meat is . Unlike plant-based meat , cultivated meat is not yet available on the market . It ’ s still being developed by several dozen startup companies , and commercial launch is expected to happen in the next few years .
How do you reconcile your aims with an entire industry and livelihoods built around meat consumption ?
The meat industry has already undergone massive transitions in response to the need for increased efficiency , production and consistency . Until the last 40 or 50 years , most meat production in the U . S . happened on relatively small family farms . In the span of a few decades , that production model was completely upended as industrialized animal agriculture came to dominate the industry .
The industry is today poised for another disruption , and the meat industry itself recognizes its part in this transformation . Major meat companies are rebranding themselves as “ protein companies ,” and they have been investing for years in startups that have been leading this wave of innovation . This transition produces new jobs and new opportunities throughout the whole value chain , from plant protein crop farming to plant-based and cultivated meat manufacturing .
What would you say to someone who Just . Loves . Meat ?
The goal of the plant-based and cultivated meat industry is to provide consumers with the exact experience that they crave and love , but to do so with plantbased ingredients or animal cells . The greatest point of pride for the flagship plant-based meat brands is that as they continue to refine their formulation , their products become more indistinguishable from meat , so that the consumer experience is precisely what meat lovers want .
This is what really drew to me to the Good Food Institute — unlike other organizations working on food system sustainability , GFI recognizes there are very real consumer wants and needs , and responds with a refreshingly pragmatic theory of change . For all the increasing awareness and concern about meat , consumers always purchase food based on taste , price and convenience . Unless products can deliver on all those attributes and present sustainability , health and animal welfare benefits , there is little hope for consumer behavior change . This is where GFI is unique — we help accelerate the development of products that allow consumers to make a better choice as the default choice , rather than browbeating people to care more about the implications of their diet .
Are there any drawbacks to alternative meats ?
The biggest drawback at the moment relates to how young this emerging industry is . We are still working with a limited set of ingredients , flavor profiles , texturing methods and production
“ In the near future , we ’ ll begin to see meat alternatives that outperform their animalbased counterparts at multiple levels , from taste to nutrition . We have barely scratched the surface in terms of what ’ s possible for plant-based and cultivated meat .”
— LIZ SPECHT , PHD ’ 14
technologies . This industry has not yet achieved the same economies of scale that the conventional meat industry has enjoyed for decades , meaning that there are some temporary challenges in terms of cost and efficiency . But as the alternative meat industry grows , innovations and scale will allow this field to capitalize on its inherently high efficiency and to become more accessible and affordable around the globe .
What ’ s next for meat alternatives ?
So far , meat alternatives have mostly been focused on replicating the exact flavor and texture of conventional meats that consumers are familiar with . But the species of meat we currently consume ( cows , chickens , pigs , etc .) weren ’ t selected for being the most delicious or nutritious , these species just happened to be easy to domesticate . In the near future , we ’ ll begin to see meat alternatives that outperform their animal-based counterparts at multiple levels , from taste to nutrition . We have barely scratched the surface in terms of what ’ s possible for plant-based and cultivated meat . Once we decouple the means of meat production from the biological limitations of the animal itself , anything becomes possible .
Learn more about Specht ’ s outlook for alternative meats at tritonmag . com / notmeat
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