aspen ideas festival: The Fate of Food

This is the last of the Aspen Ideas Festival blog posts. I hope you enjoy.

This talk was about growing food in a changing world. Because of climate change, it is becoming harder to grow produce and farm animals. Land is drying up, while other land is getting flooded more frequently. Because it is getting hotter in more areas, it has allowed bugs to inhabit more parts of the world, infesting the plants. Also the growth of plants and animals has a toll on the environment. Pesticides and GMO used on plants is not good for the environment, while overfishing, the methane from cows and pigs, and over growth is not good for the environment either. What I’m saying is, it is becoming harder to grow farm animals, and do it all responsibly. This is not good, especially since the demand for food is growing rapidly.

Three people, Uma Valeti, Will Clem, and Nicholas Genovese, noticed this problem and came up with a solution. They call it Memphis Meats. Memphis Meats grows this meat from the cells of the animal. They have created everything from meatballs to chicken. This way of growing meat from the animals cells is way more sustainable. Cell based meat uses less land because you don’t need to have grazing land. You also don’t need to water all that grass, meaning it uses less water. It also uses less food and water since you don’t need to feed and hydrate a whole animal. When you feed an animal food the food doesn't just make the animals grow, it also makes the brain and bones grow. With cell based meat, the food only makes meat. It also does not contribute to climate change as much. When food breaks down in a cow’s digestive system, the cow lets off methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and is one of the strongest. With cell based meat, there is no digestive system, you're just growing the meat, so there is no contribution to climate change(unless you count transportation, which conventional farming also has). Over all, this is a more sustainable way to grow meat. But for now, while they continue to perfect the process for large scale production, you can turn into a vegetarian or vegan. 

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