It’s really important that the traditional meat packing industry does not make a repeat of the mistakes of the oil industry when it comes to alternative fuels. As cell-based food products become commercially available, companies will have to ensure the entire v alue chain is sustainable.
Lin Fengru, chief executive of Singapore-based biotechnology company TurtleTree Labs, told the panel how governments and businesses should be willing to consider all kinds of energy sources to create a more sustainable way of producing food.įengru, whose company developed lab-grown milk to reduce pressure on land and animals, highlighted that cell-based innovations still depend on unsustainable sou rces of power and water supply.
It’s not about competing with each other but collaborating and collectively benefiting,” Berninger said. “It’s really important that the traditional meat packing industry does not repeat the mistakes of the oil industry when it comes to alternative fuels.
The agriculture sector and food producers also need to collectively consider cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy that are needed to grow, prepare and transport food. The production of feedstock for aquaculture is driving China’s excessive plant and algal growth and grain production, while Denmark’s main driver of biodiversity loss comes from the consumption of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices. A “flexitarian diet”, where consumers eat mostly plant-based food and moderate their animal-source food consumption, including meat, could help shield the planet from the more harmful impacts of intensive food production, and fulfil the demand from a growing population.Īlthough red meat and dairy consumption are the main global drivers of land conversion and biodiversity loss, it is not the same for all countries, according to the report. “Animal, cell, and plant-based proteins are what we need, not just one solution over the other,” said the former German politician who used to serve as head of the federal ministry of food, agriculture and consumer protection.Ī WWF study in 2020 highlighted that dietary shifts vary from country to country. The United Nations projects that the human population will hit 10 billion within the next three decades when Asia, the world’s most populous and fastest growing region, will have 5.2 billion mouths to feed.īiotechnology innovations are being developed to meet food demand while maintaining low environmental impact, but diets must include a “blend of the different technologies”, said Matthias Berninger, senior vice president of public affairs, science and sustainability of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG. A myriad of solutions is needed to ensure that intensive food production to feed a growing global population remains within planetary boundaries by 2050, said sustainability leaders at Ecosperity Week 2021, hosted by Temasek in September.
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