Meat consumption is the subject of a trickle of news and controversy, heightened over the past decade, now extending to alternative sources of protein. Ethical, environmental and health-conscious instances appear to have cornered intensive livestock farms (whose operations in any case continue to thrive) and exploded the Alt Meat market.
The need to obtain proteins from alternative sources, with the least possible impact on the environment, thus inspires research and innovation in the various fields of biology and biotechnology, agronomy and food technology. The results, moreover, tend to reflect the goals, not always noble, of each initiative. A brief review of solutions in existence and becoming. (1)
1) The omnivore’s dilemma.
‘When it is possible to eat almost everything nature has to offer, deciding what is good to eat inevitably generates some apprehension, especially if certain foods may prove harmful to health or even lethal.’ (2)
The omnivore’s dilemma was proposed by Michael Pollan way back in 2006, the geological era before the Global Financial Cris is (2007-2009), the pandemic crisis (2020) and World War III just around the corner (2022-todate).
The share of the population truly able to afford a balanced diet rich in fresh foods has therefore tapered, as has the middle class in the countries of the West. And yet it is still possible to exercise some basic choices.
2) Global meat consumption
Global meat consumption has increased 5 times in the past 60 years, from 50 million tons in 1961 to over 300 million tons today. Far beyond the population of the world (3 to 7.6 billion individuals). To the point of exceeding 80 kg per capita annually, in the richest countries, where 26 kg would be more than enough for a healthy adult. (3)
The vertical growth in global meat consumption should also be attributed to the unexpected ‘Westernization’ of lifestyles of populations in emerging economies, in Asia especially. FAO(Food and Agriculture Organization) predicts a further increase in the demand for meat, +75% in the coming decades, due to the increase in world population (estimated to reach 11 billion in 2050).
3) Global meat production and resource limits.
FAO (2019) recommended a series of interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in animal husbandry. UNEP (2020) in turn highlighted the urgency of addressing the issues of antibiotic resistance (AMR) and animal welfare.
The most serious limitation of livestock farming–also pointed out by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (2022)–is that it takes up three-quarters of the available agricultural land to produce feed.
4) Alternative sources of protein
Food security – #SDG2, Zero Hunger – is a problem of such magnitude and extent, moreover growing, that it cannot be solved by a single solution. IPES Food (2022) better than others clarifies the role of livestock in peasant and regenerative agriculture.
Alternative protein sources, in turn, are of essential significance to the extent that populations can be put in the effective capacity to produce them, as well as to consume them. Without having to depend on patent licenses, multimillion-dollar investments or exclusive novel food approvals. Food access and food sovereignty.
4.1) Plant protein
The combination of legumes, grains, and seeds yields proteins with high biological value due to the combination of amino acids contained in the various matrices.
Wheat, for example, is characterized by glutamine (an amino acid that makes up muscle fibers). As well as for the presence of minerals (iron, potassium and phosphorus) and vitamins (B1, B9, PP and H).
The most widely used plant proteins are glycine, proximilin, legumin and albumin, globulins and glutelins from legumes and seed oil; gluten, gliadins and glutenins from wheat, rye and barley; and beta-conglycinin from soybeans. (3)
4.2) Mycoproteins and microbial proteins.
Mycoproteins, contained in the cytoplasm of fungi, contain the eight amino acids essential to humans (4,5). Particularly lysine, which is deficient in plant proteins. Their growth potential is promising, as seen.
In contrast, precision fermentation (fermentation-based cellular agriculture) uses microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, yeasts, fungi, microalgae), to produce organic molecules similar to those of animal origin(e.g., milk).
4.3) Algae and microalgae
Algae and microalgae are characterized as renewable sources of protein, Omega 3 fatty acids and micronutrients, with unparalleled environmental performance(negative carbon footprint). (6)
Several research projects, including in the EU, are therefore dedicated to reducing their production costs and promoting their use in a variety of foods, traditional and innovative.
4.4) Insects
Insects at the table are an age-old tradition for many populations, from Central America to Africa and Asia. Conversely, their food use is marginal in Europe.
The extraordinary ability of insects to convert organic waste (e.g., side streams from agricultural and food processing) into protein and their minimal environmental footprint garner increasing attention, including from the FAO (2003). (6)
5) Alt Meat. Industrialization of meat-like products
Alt Meat
is a concept that expresses the industrialization of meat-like products with protein from alternative sources and organoleptic properties-appearance, texture, taste-similar to those of meat and meat products. This product category consists of plant-based meats and lab meat.
5.1) Plant-based meats
Plant-based meats
is an oxymoron reported to designate-with names inspired by those of meat and meat products (
meat sounding
) – products of similar appearance but made with plant-based ingredients. The ingredients used are often soy protein and/or other legumes and/or cereals, sometimes with the addition of mycoproteins and soy leghemoglobin.
The products plant-based with mycoproteins are generally obtained by submerged liquid or solid state culture of filamentous fungi and edible fungi. Mushrooms, whose fibrous structure is similar to that of muscle tissue, can among other things be cultivated by upcycling agricultural byproducts.
5.2) Lab meat
Lab meat
Is meat obtained by cellular agriculture. An innovative technology that has garnered billion-dollar investments in just a few years and uses cells that multiply in vitro or in bioreactors using biotechnological processes as the protein matrix. (8)
The cells used to start the culture can be obtained by biopsies from muscles of live or slaughtered animals. That is, through cell lines (stem cells) using genetic engineering methods, gene editing or induced or spontaneous mutations. With possible addition of other GMO-derived ingredients (e.g., heme).
6) Interim Conclusions
Technology cannot suffice to solve the social and geopolitical crises on which the health and food security, as well as physical security, of populations depend.
The ten criteria underlying agroecology(FAO, 2019) should in any case guide the transition to integrated and sustainable food systems.
- diversity; synergies; efficiency; resilience; recycling; co-creation and sharing of knowledge,
- human and social values; culture and food traditions,
- responsible governance; circular and solidarity economy. (9)
Dario Dongo and Giulia Pietrollini
Notes
(1) Singh A., Sit, N. (2022). Meat Analogues: Types, Methods of Production and Their Effect on Attributes of Developed Meat Analogues. Food Bioprocess Technol 2022, 15, 2664-2682 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-022-02859-4
(2) Michael Pollan. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Penguin Press, NY, 2006. ISBN 9781594200823
(3) Charles Godfray, Paul Aveyard, Tara Garnett, Susan A. Jebb et al. (2018). Meat consumption, health, and the environment. Science 361, eaam5324. doi: 10.1126/science.aam5324
(4) Dario Dongo, Andrea Della Penna, Novel food. Green light in EU for protein from mushrooms, rice and peas, insects, milk and new sugars. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 14.1.23)
(5) Dongo and Della Penna, Proteins from fungi and micro fungi, mycoproteins, the ABCs. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.10.22
(6) Dario Dongo, Andrea Della Penna, Insects as novel foods, state of the art in European Union and UK. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.8.22
(7) Dario Dongo, Andrea Della Penna, Algae and microalgae for food use in Europe, the ABC. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 14.11.2022
(8) Dario Dongo, Israel, Future Meat. First lab-grown meat industry kicks off. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.7.21
(9) Dario Dongo, Camilla Fincardi. Agroecology, SDGs, salvation. FAO’s decalogue. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.4.20
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in industrial biotechnology and passionate about sustainable development.
