Abstract
Cellular food technologies aim to decouple animal protein production from animal bodies and address the negative environmental, ethical, and human health implications of animal agriculture through its substitution. This marks a major rupture with previous expectations for agricultural biotechnology. If technically and commercially successful cellular agriculture could have far reaching effects that have yet to be the subject of concerted public or political discussion. These include, fundamentally altering human-nature relations, disrupting existing food systems, patterns of land use, rural economies, drivers of environmental change and biodiversity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.In this paper we explore the environmental and rural visions of cellular agriculture in mainstream news and industry media, their contestation and the narrative silences. These silences represent the under- and un-explored questions, contingencies, and eventualities of envisioned developments. Our analysis highlights how anticipated efficiency gains are central to the realisation of several interlinked but separate positive environmental visions. Notably, that cellular agriculture will be able to replace conventional agriculture and feed the future whilst reducing environmental burdens and land use pressures. However, these visions leave many potential consequences unaddressed. We therefore explore these narrative silences. In doing so we explore the creative and destructive potential of these technologies with a specific emphasis on their environmental, rural, and spatial implications. In conclusion, we identify and anticipate environmental and rural policy implications stemming from these technologies that require further consideration, public and political discussion.
Highlights
On August 5th 2013, Mark Post, - a scientist from a research group at Maastricht University - unveiled the world’s first laboratory grown burger at a press conference in London
The aim of this paper is to examine how future environments and rural landscapes are represented in the promissory narratives of cellular agriculture articulated within news and industry media, how these promissory narratives are contested, and the narrative silences
In doing so we investigate how environmental futures are being represented within the prominent visions and promissory narratives circulating in discussions of cellular agriculture as well as elucidate some of the narrative silences, that is, the under- and un-addressed questions, uncertainties, contingencies and eventualities of these potential developments
Summary
On August 5th 2013, Mark Post, - a scientist from a research group at Maastricht University ( known as Mosa Meat) - unveiled the world’s first laboratory grown burger at a press conference in London. Less than 6 years later, saw Perfect Day bring the first food product made from synthesised rather than natural animal proteins to consumers – an ice cream made available in the US as a limited run product. Cellular agriculture – “a field including tissue engineering, stem cell biology and in some cases synthetic biology and genetic engineering, dedicated to produce animal products without using living animals” In a very short timeframe cellular agriculture has gone from being considered an ‘absolutely insane’ proposition (Dance, 2017) to promising a diverse array of cultured products from beef to egg whites to leather, and delivering tangible (albeit still limited) consumer products that replicate the same proteins contained in their natural counterparts
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