A new report from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has looked at the potential impacts of cultivated meat on farmers. Farmers were, the report revealed, concerned about its impact on society as a whole. Nevertheless, many were open to compromise and saw opportunities within the sector.
According to the report, the cultivated meat industry’s often aggressive stance on traditional meat, sometimes overtly stating an aim to replace it, had fostered distrust among farmers, who often feel their livelihoods are at stake.
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They also expressed concern that cultivated meat would concentrate all power in the industry into the hands of large corporations, leaving them with ‘less decision-making and negotiation power.’ This ‘seems likely,’ MacMillan told us, but stressed the potential impact of raising such concerns early in the industry’s development.
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Despite these many concerns, however, UK farmers also saw many opportunities in cultivated meat, in how they could adapt their livelihoods to suit this brave new world. ‘Farmers are used to the unpredictable,’ the report pointed out.
One of the chief opportunities for farmers suggested by the report is to sell key ingredients to cultivated meat companies. Key components of the growth media, such as glucose and amino acids, can be derived from agricultural and animal by-products. Ingredients such as pectin and cellulose can be used in the scaffolding of structured cultivated meat. Also, farmers could source animal cells from their livestock for cultivated meat.
