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Climate Breakdown, Factory Farming & The Future of Food [part II] [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-07-11

Republished from my blog — Hannawrites.com

Explore a path to more sustainable food systems.

In a previous post, I gave a brief intro on the destructive environmental impacts of factory farming across the globe. The thought-provoking documentary: Eating Our Way to Extinction highlights the urgent need for creating a more sustainable food system.

In this blog post, I’ll discuss two new developments that could help us transition to a more sustainable food system: cellular agriculture, esp. precision fermentation [PF] and perennial grains. More in depth information can be found in George Monbiot’s book: Regenesis Feeding the world without devouring the planet.

From farming to ‘ferming’, new technologies provide promising possibilities to feed the world without the cruel slaughter of billions of animals per year, deforestation, wildlife loss, etc. As an article on alternative proteins points out:

“Animal meat is environmentally inefficient… The caloric conversion ratios — the calories it takes to grow an animal versus the calories that the animal provides when consumed — is extremely unbalanced. It takes 8 calories in to get 1 calorie out of a chicken, 11 calories to get 1 calorie out of a pig and 34 calories to get 1 calorie out of a cow. Alternative protein sources, on the other hand, have an average of a 1:1 calorie conversion. It takes years to grow animals but only hours to grow microbes”.

What is precision fermentation [PF] and why is it so promising?

Precision fermentation [PF] uses microbial hosts as “cell factories” to produce various ingredients such as lab-grown meats aka cell based proteins, fats, etc. They’re produced by taking a starter cell culture from an animal and growing these cells in large brewery-style fermentation vats in commercial facilities called bioreactors around the world. Fermented alternative proteins are nutritious and better at replicating meat’s texture, juiciness and flavor than plant-based meat products, eg. Boca Burger, Beyond Meat etc. which can be dry and lack the mouthfeel of meat so many people crave.

Research by the think tank RethinkX suggests [PF] proteins will be cheaper, healthier, less damaging to the environment and decentralize the food system — “Anywhere you can brew beer, you can create a fermentation facility to produce food” . Lest you think “lab-grown meat & dairy” is simply pie in the sky, in June 2023, two companies Upside Food and GOOD Meat received clearance to sell their “meat without the slaughter” products in the US.

Ina statement, Eat Just, the parent company of GOOD Meat, noted they have been selling their “meat without the slaughter” products in Singapore for three years.

“GOOD Meat plans to sell their first batch of cultivated chicken to Chef José Andrés, who operates more than 30 restaurants across the country and plans to serve the inaugural dishes at a yet unspecified D.C. location. Upside Foods will be distributing their initial lot to Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurant Bar Crenn

Meanwhile, in Japan, they’re creating the first wagyu beef in a lab and Perfect Day, the world’s first lab-grown dairy company, has been milking microbes instead of udders to launch milk products made from precision-fermented whey. Today, there are several products on the US market using Perfect Day’s “animal-free-milk-protein” such as: Graeter’s animal-free, lactose-free, frozen dessert, Modern Kitchen Cream Cheese, etc. Even the multibillion dollar candy / pet food company, Mars Inc. is using Perfect Day’s animal-free dairy proteins to make a milk chocolate bar — CO2Coa. The new chocolate bar, a more eco-friendly choice, is in line with Mars’ larger goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Perennial grains As discussed in part 1, we know farming is one of the most ecologically destructive things humans do. Plowing large fields & harvesting annual grain crops destroys the bacteria / fungi ecosystem in the soil, robs the soil of its fertility, and causes topsoil erosion. Using herbicides and pesticides releases toxic chemicals in the air, high nitrogen farm runoff spills into waterways creating dead zones, etc. are other ways farming contributes to environmental degradation. Additionally, while growing monoculture crops is simpler and more efficient to manage, it depletes the soil of nutrients & makes the crops susceptible to being wiped out if there is a disease / pest problem.

Luckily we have a group of dedicated researchers who are working to develop a more sustainable form of agriculture to adapt to a changing world. For over 40 years, researchers at The Land Institute on the prairie near Salina, Kansas have been grappling with the question:

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/11/2180616/-Climate-Breakdown-Factory-Farming-The-Future-of-Food-part-II

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