Viewpoint: Industry consolidation — Large meat and dairy companies dominate nascent plant-based and cellular meat industry

Credit: Food Ingredients First
Credit: Food Ingredients First

Nearly every week a major media outlet publishes a headline announcing that a giant meat or dairy processor has acquired full or partial ownership of an “alternative protein” firm—such as JBS buying the Dutch firm Vivera, which competes with Beyond Meat in the European market, earlier this year. These new companies are making plant-based meat, dairy, or fish substitutes, working to commercialize lab-grown meat, and incorporating insects into foods like pasta and energy bars.

Follow the latest news and policy debates on sustainable agriculture, biomedicine, and other ‘disruptive’ innovations. Subscribe to our newsletter.

In a recent research article, my colleagues and I found that this trend is placing control of the food system into a shrinking number of hands, while presenting an illusion that there are numerous, competing alternatives. In the case of products that are designed to present an alternative to industrial agriculture and reduce harm to animals and the environment—or at least cultivate that appearance—this poses a complex dilemma for many consumers.

What can we do to reverse these trends? There are no easy answers, but to start with, policymakers should face more pressure to dismantle government subsidies to giant firms, block additional mergers and acquisitions, make it easier to identify and support independent producers with high values, and more difficult for corporations to engage in greenwashing.

Credit: Civil Eats

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here.

{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }}
{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }}
{{ options.labels.newReviewButton }}
{{ userData.canReview.message }}
screenshot at  pm

Are pesticide residues on food something to worry about?

In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring drew attention to pesticides and their possible dangers to humans, birds, mammals and the ...
glp menu logo outlined

Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required
Email Lists
glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.