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Planet Now
Blog on Effective Environmental Communication
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Last spring I had the exciting opportunity to take one of the first cellular agriculture courses in the world!
The class largely focused on cultivated meat, which is a meat-like product grown from animal cells (the definition of meat, and whether cultivated meat can be called meat, is debatable). You probably know that meat production is a major contributor to climate change and other environmental problems. As a class speaker, Amy Huang of the Good Food Institute said industrial animal agriculture accounts for about 20% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It significantly contributes to land use, water consumption, nutrient runoff, and biodiversity loss. Production of lab-grown meat can be more sustainable by releasing less greenhouse gases and using much less land and water. It can also increase food security as the world population increases and the need for protein rises in the coming decades. Unlike plant-based meat that has gained popularity in recent years, lab-grown meat is not yet available in stores. However, it reached a milestone in November. The U.S. FDA gave safety clearance to Upside Foods for its lab-grown chicken, which is the first time the FDA has cleared lab-grown meat. This is a big deal since regulation has been a key challenge for the cultivated meat industry (safety first, of course). Other challenges that remain for increasing lab-grown meat include the high production costs and getting it to seem close enough to “real meat” for the public to accept it. Many people will want their cultivated meat to have a similar taste and texture to “real meat.” They also may want to be able to cook it the same way as they would any other meat. Language will be an important part of marketing cultivated meat and helping consumers overcome hesitancies to try a new food product. People may be more keen on trying “cultivated meat” or “alternative proteins” than “lab-grown meat” or “fake meat.” Emphasizing environmental benefits and connecting climate change to people’s values (like saving money and helping others) could be a key way to influence some people to eat these new meat products. Would you consider eating meat grown in a lab? Share why or why not in the comments!
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Welcome to my blog! It is a combination of posts from my strategic writing (spring 2022) and personal branding (spring 2023) courses at UNC. I hope you will enjoy reading the posts and learning about the environment and communication.
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