Welcome to Pluripotent — it’s Thursday, June 11th. I’m writing to you from a research wormhole, thanks to Tim Noakesmith of Vow Food, who recently in passing told me about naturalists who’ve reported eating their subjects. Feel free to send other naturalist writing on this topic and news tips through direct message and follow me @chasepurdy.
NEW YORK — A few days ago, I was asked in an interview for Food Technology magazine if it unnerved me that the success of cell-cultured meat in US might necessarily shift yet more power to people who operate from Silicon Valley.
It was a loaded question, but it made me think about one the things I noticed while reporting out Billion Dollar Burger, which is that even in casual conversation many of the entrepreneurs and innovators with whom I spoke referred to their products as “technology,” while others spoke of it as “food.”
On a few occasions, I pointed this distinction during my interviews, looking to gauge any reaction I might get. Sometimes it would lead to discussions about functional foods. But it usually led to this question, “Do you think cell-cultured meat companies have a responsibility to make for consumers the same types of meats with which people already have familiarity?”
To my surprise, the answer was never very straightforward. But then, maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me. After all, who would want to saddle themselves with the responsibility of replicating every cut of meat from one or more species?
It’s possible this issue will be solved via the relationship between supply and demand. It’s possible that it isn’t as important a question as I presume. Even still, in the book, I thought of it this way:
Whether we have the money to eat the fanciest caviar or only enough for a humble potato, we ingest food the same way. We are all equals when it comes to satiating our own hunger, and for that reason our relationship with food is highly intimate. It becomes even more so if your family has passed down barbecue recipes for generations or mocotó from Brazil, pašticada from Croatia, or even my mother's own pot roast recipe, which simmers away for hours. As cell-cultured meat companies gear up to introduce their products to the public in restaurants, food service, and grocery stores, important questions will emerge about how these cuts of environmentally friendly, man-made meats will impact the culture of cuisine.
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These dishes have special cultural significance, and the industry seeking to reshape the meat system as we have known it should heed the importance of those cultural touch points—its success may rely upon them.
Obviously, if cell-cultured meat winds up being a success story it won’t happen overnight. The gradual introduction of cultured meat over a number of years (or even decades) is how this industry’s story will play out. Still, I’d be interested to know from folks in the industry how much they’re thinking about this element of the business.
In other news…
Harvard University Law School’s Animal Law and Policy program submitted its comment (pdf) to USDA FSIS over the labeling of cultured meat.
Drovers dug into some of the numbers of how meat alternatives have performed against the conventional variety during the pandemic.
The University of Missouri’s Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute predicts US per-capita meat consumption will fall for the first time in six years.
Vow Food takes us behind the scenes of its new — and visually interesting — website.
Finally…
Billion Dollar Burger officially comes out in five days! The Wall Street Journal this week reviewed it positively. Lots of stuff happening in the next couple weeks. A reminder you can RSVP and tune into several events related to the book, including these:
On June 17, WeWork Food Labs will host a conversation between me and The Counter’s Kate Cox.
On June 23, Christopher Leonard (author of The Meat Racket and Kochland) and I will be taking part in a discussion hosted by New America.
On July 8, I’ll be in a conversation about Billion Dollar Burger with JUST founder and CEO Josh Tetrick. That event will be hosted by The Battery in San Francisco.
On July 9, I’ll be chatting with Sophie Egan, the author of How to Be a Conscious Eater, as part of The Commonwealth Club's environmental series called Climate One.
That’s all for now. Feel free to drop me line, letting me know what kind of stuff you’d love to see explored as the newsletter evolves.