Due to 1990s livestock epidemics like the classical swine fever and avian flu, it is now almost impossible for humans to continue slaughtering animals at a small and humane scale. Europe has one of the highest meat consumptions compared to the global average. Once considered a luxury, meat is now very affordable. With this new accessibility comes many risks to our bodies and the environment: the saturated fatty acids and carcinogenic compounds found in red meat have lately been linked to high risk of cardiovascular diseases, type two diabetes and colon cancer; the ecological footprint of livestock, especially cattle, has a massive negative impact on the global landscape. With the perpetual increase in meat consumption, large scale slaughterhouses or kill factories appear to continue to rise with no plans of stopping.
Due to 1990s livestock epidemics like the classical swine fever and avian flu, it is now almost impossible for humans to continue slaughtering animals at a small and humane scale. Europe has one of the highest meat consumptions compared to the global average. Once considered a luxury, meat is now very affordable. With this new accessibility comes many risks to our bodies and the environment: the saturated fatty acids and carcinogenic compounds found in red meat have lately been linked to high risk of cardiovascular diseases, type two diabetes and colon cancer; the ecological footprint of livestock, especially cattle, has a massive negative impact on the global landscape. With the perpetual increase in meat consumption, large scale slaughterhouses or kill factories appear to continue to rise with no plans of stopping.
We propose a cellular agriculture project on our Castiglione d’Orcia site as the first initiative of clean meat production in Italy, a meat loving country. Cellular agriculture companies have been emerging in the past few years, and they can be found in several European countries like Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom. As meat consumption is deeply rooted into Italian culture, it is very difficult for them to abandon their tastes. Cellular agriculture is a solution that reduces both the violent meat consumption and release of cow waste (methane) in the air. It is a replacement for the brutal practices and eventual deaths that occur inside slaughterhouses. With cellular farming, we are able to produce products like meat, leather, and fur while simultaneously repopulating abandoned pastures with living species (animals, plants, and cells).
