Lab-grown food products are among the latest trends in the food supply chain. They are neither plant nor animal-based; rather synthesized by studying the cellular components and multiplying them to create the whole desired food. This regeneration is done with the use of actively growing bacteria, enzymes and stem cells entirely in the laboratory and tastes exactly like the real food; soon to be referred to as vintage if this trend takes off all over the world. Singapore already has lab-grown food on market shelves. 

Many biotech companies are leading the way in this area of food production technology. Some of the notable ones are:

• Mosa Meat was created by Professor Mark Post after presenting the first lab-grown beef burger prototype in 2013. They currently make 80,000 burgers from cell clusters as tiny as a sesame seed.
• Eat Just (a food technology company with a mission to build a healthier, safer and more sustainable food system in our lifetimes) is known for the creation of Cell-cultured chicken.
• Perfect Day produces animal-free milk, ice cream and cream cheeses by equipping fungi with gene sequences used by cows to produce milk proteins.
• TurtleTree Labs in Singapore pioneering the use of mammalian stem cells to make milk.

Large-scale adoption of Lab-grown food will change food production; farmlands will disappear along with the challenges of soil degradation. The definition of the vegetarian option would change because animals are not harmed in this food production process. Other promises that will be fulfilled by the trend are:

• New investment opportunities: Most new technology that shows promise in solving climate change problems attracts investors. The cultured food trend is highly marketable with China signing a $300 million deal with Israel to import lab-grown meat from 3 Israeli companies. 

• Creation of healthier versions of food products: not only are lab-grown food devoid of antibiotics, fertilizer or mercury in the case of fish there is a chance to exclude or substitute some substances to make them healthier for human consumption; saturated fat could be substituted with omega 3 fatty acids in meat and healthy vitamins could also be included in milk.

• Increase in rate and amount of food production: the process of growing food in the laboratory is much faster than on the field with weather and climate change interferences; giving a chance for production rate to catch up with demand. For instance, within 2 months thousands of tonnes of pork meat could be synthesized from a few muscle cells from a pig.

The assertions above are phenomenal but can Lab-grown food deliver on them sustainably and ethically or are they simply overpriced ultra-processed sources of food? Before these questions can be answered, the following should be considered as well.

1. The source of the nutrients for the bacteria and tissue regenerations raises questions about ethical acceptance.
2. A lot of energy is consumed in the process of regenerating cells from scratch
3. Possibilities of bacterial contaminants in the food created
4. Carbon dioxide emitted in the process of regenerating muscle cells for meat may be safer than the methane produced in factory farming however CO2 takes longer to leave the environment and will increase our atmospheric carbon; potentially worse for climate change.

The planet needs urgent intervention in the area of food supply and innovations in this area are required, however, all factors involved in developing a system that works need to be reviewed to ensure that they do not cause more harm than good in the end.

Reference list

1. BROWN, J., 2021. Why cellular agriculture could be the future of farming. [online]. www.bbc.com. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211116-how-the-food-industry-might-cut-its-carbon-emissions.
2. Earth911. (2021). How Sustainable Is Lab-Grown Meat? [online] Available at: https://earth911.com/business-policy/is-lab-grown-meat-sustainable/#:~:text=The%20Downsides%20of%20Lab-Grown%20Meat%20Animal%20agriculture%20accounts.
3. FILCAK, R., POVAžAN, R. and VIAUD, V., 2020. Artificial meat and the environment. Available from: https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/artificial-meat-and-the-environment/file.
4. GILLIVER, L., 2021. Cell-Cultured Meat Could Be Part Of Climate Solution, Says BBC. [online]. Plant Based News. Available from: https://plantbasednews.org/news/environment/cell-cultured-meat-part-of-climate-solution-says-bbc/.
5. HENSHALL, A., 2021. Can we stomach the latest emerging food innovations? BBC News, 1 Nov [online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59044820.
6. MONBIOT, G., 2020. Lab-grown food is about to destroy farming – and save the planet | George Monbiot. [online]. the Guardian. The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/08/lab-grown-food-destroy-farming-save-planet.