Great read and insight by The Guardian
My gut feel tells me that the meat industry is at a turning point of radical historical change. Let’s face it, most of you know that I’m a gastronome with a nose for fine meat & fish. I am bold enough to admit that! Yet, I too (both from a personal & professional perspective) realise that big things are about to happen in the food industry (the meat industry in particular!). Some of which is already ongoing, witnessing Beyond Meat’s (US) and The Very Good Food Company’s (Canada) most recent IPO’s. Plant-based protein giants are gradually taking over power, gaining momentum under the Covid-19 pandemic.
I firmly believe that over the time of a decade (or two), we won’t be needing physical cows to drink animal-derived milk. Going further, we won’t be needing them to graze on multi-acred farmland or well-equipped cowsheds, simply because the animal proteins (and its derivatives) are grown / produced in labs / factories in controlled and food-safe environments. You may once even order your bespoke 3D-printed beef burger at a counter, in the weight that you require. Who says this won’t happen? The signs are already there, it’s just a matter of time…
Our next generation (including my son) may once review history and may (or may not) ask me the following question: “How the h*ll did society manage to survive dad, neglecting our own planet, realising there is no plan(et) B?!”…
Don’t get me wrong, this not a cry out to or against the meat industry to stop doing what they’re doing right away! I realise that the industry is being kept alive by national governments, because the stakes are so high! It is simply my philosophical (call it straightforward) way of thinking that what I think is about to happen in the decades ahead of us, that the meat industry is being put astray by the upcoming generation that are turning vegetarian (or even vegan). All for the sake of the Global Sustainable Development Goals 2030, laid out by the UN.
…AMEN…