Our global focus on producing cheap meat, dairy, and other animal products has put the planet in an incredibly difficult spot. Around half of the world’s arable land and a majority of our freshwater stores are dedicated to grazing livestock and growing feed – and yet, nearly one billion people currently suffering from hunger. If our collective demand for animal products continues to grow as we approach a population of 9.8 billion by 2050, we simply won’t have the space or water needed to keep up.
The question of how we’re going to meet the protein needs of the planet is rapidly becoming the biggest challenge of our time. But for some of the world’s top food producers and business owners, they have found the answer: lab-grown, cultured “clean” meat.
That’s right, it was recently announced that Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Jack and Suzy Welch, Kyle Vogt, Kimbal Musk, New Crop Capital (Bruce Friedrich, the managing trustee, who was recently featured on #EatForThePlanet with Nil Zacharias) SOSV, Fifty Years, Inevitable Ventures, top venture capital fund DFJ, as well as Europe’s largest venture capital firm Atomico, and KBW Ventures (led by Prince Khaled, who was also recently interviewed) have all invested in Memphis Meats, a San Franciso-based clean meat company.
Animal Ethics Project 