Lab-grown meat is made from taking just a few cells in a lab. It could be a critical tool in the fight against climate change, but experts say it won't be a reality in our grocery stores any time soon.A cooked piece of cultivated chicken breast is seen at the Upside Foods plant, where lab-grown meat is cultivated, in Emeryville, Calif., on January 11, 2023. What's cultivated, meat-like, and could help lower greenhouse gas emissions? Lab-grown meat — and it could be the future of protein.
Brooklyn-based writer Joe Fassler has spent several years covering the cultured meat industry, and estimates that lab–grown meat might not even be a reality in our lifetimes. "We're seeing enormous climate impacts coming out of farming animals for food," she said. "So we really do need to think about alternative ways to be producing protein for our growing population."
"We have such enormous densities in some of our farms that it's leading to epidemic viruses being created, such as avian flu and swine flu," said Datar.Not a 'near-term climate solution'Cost is one of them, and making this cultivated meat in a way that makes sense economically. He said analyses have shown that producing lab-grown meat in large quantities would need large reactors — the vessels where the cells grow and multiply. But most that are large enough aren't currently used to produce cultured meat.
'We really do need to think about alternative ways to be producing protein for our growing population,' said Isha Datar, executive director of non-profit research institute New Harvest.