Innovations in the Food System Exploring the Future of Food: Proceedings of a Workshop (2020) / Chapter Skim
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4 Innovations in Alternative Food Production and Implications for Food Systems
4 Innovations in Alternative Food Production and Implications for Food Systems
Pages 25-36
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From page 25... ...
Conventional Meat Production in America Dutkiewicz explained that the United States is generally a meat-eating nation in part because of the historical success of the American meat industry in providing cheap protein and embracing such technologies as refrigeration and long-range transport that allow centralized production to reach distant consumer markets. For example, he noted, the first industrialscale slaughterhouses in Cincinnati and Chicago pioneered the disassembly 25
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From page 26... ...
In addition, he noted concerns regarding animal welfare, which have increasingly entered mainstream discussion. The Emergence of Meat Alternatives Dutkiewicz pointed out that historically, attempts to address the negative externalities of conventional meat production have targeted the values of individual consumers, including by calling on individual consumers to buy local or become vegetarian or vegan.
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From page 27... ...
alternatives, such as the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger®, from traditional plant-based products by pointing out that producers of the latter products did not aim for taste parity with meat by targeting an audience that was already vegetarian or vegan or concerned about health. In contrast, the new products target consumers who like meat and are intended to compete with conventional meat on price, taste, and habit but with less of an ecological impact.
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From page 28... ...
Dutkiewicz concluded by pointing out that cellular agriculture technology is disruptive because it has the potential to create meat as a food product that is distinct from agriculture and offers major ecological benefits, but he noted that the impacts on labor and land use are unknown. ALTERNATIVE FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS: THE SCIENCE AND IMPLICATIONS James Reecy, Iowa State University, spoke about the science and implications of in vitro meat, comparing and contrasting it with the conventional meat industry and the incremental innovation that has occurred within the meat industry.
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From page 29... ...
Reecy noted that manure provides value as organic matter that can go back into the soil. With lab-grown meat, inputs include purified amino acids and glucose, and outputs include a waste product in liquid form, that is, spent cell culture media, in addition to the meat.
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From page 30... ...
Hansen compared the ingredients, nutritional qualities, and climate impact of the Beyond Burger, the Impossible Burger, the Amy's Organic California Burger, and a ground beef burger. He also identified safety concerns with the Impossible Burger and provided information about cell-cultured meat, including the findings of a consumer study.
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From page 31... ...
Potential Concerns with Impossible Burger Components Hansen stated that the Impossible Burger contains genetically engineered soy leghemoglobin and 46 proteins from Pichia pastoris yeast, a combination termed "soy LegH Prep." He explained that, following several years of back and forth between Impossible Foods and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
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From page 32... ...
These effects included a decrease in body weight gain; changes in blood chemistry, such as a decreased reticulocyte count, which can be a sign of anemia or damage to bone marrow; decreased clotting ability; decreased
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From page 33... ...
SOURCES: Presented by Michael Hansen on August 7, 2019, modified from Peachman, 2019. blood levels of alkaline phosphatase, which has been linked to malnutrition and celiac disease; increased blood albumin, which can result from acute infection or damage to tissues; an increase in potassium values and decreased blood glucose and chloride, which could indicate kidney problems; and increased globulin values (Fraser et al., 2018)
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From page 34... ...
AUDIENCE DISCUSSION An audience member from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service commented that USDA and FDA held a series of public meetings in 2018 on meat alternatives. One key takeaway from these meetings was that stakeholders disagree regarding what cell-cultured meat products should be called, with traditional meat producers being opposed to use of the term "meat." This audience member also said that development of a regulatory scheme has been suspended until scientific and technological issues
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From page 35... ...
Dutkiewicz responded, noting that producers of alternative meat products are not attempting to mitigate the animal welfare, environmental, and labor impacts of traditional meat production. He asserted that the production of meat alternatives has the potential to make obsolete aspects of the food system that are particularly exploitative of the environment, animals, and labor.
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