September 1, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Israel-based cellular meat company Aleph Farms – the company that unveiled the world’s first cellular ribeye steak grown from non-genetically engineered animal cells in February 2021 – has been recognized by the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) as an Innovation Sprint Partner. 

As part of this innovation sprint, $40 million is being invested in the advancement of cellular agriculture through Aleph Farms over the next five years with support from L Catterton, Strauss Group, VisVires New Protein, CPT Capital, Synthesis Capital, food think tank Food Tank, and advisory firm Christensen Global.

In recent years, concerns associated with animal protein production have increasingly come to the fore, including antibiotic resistance, sustainability, animal welfare, food-borne illnesses, and perhaps most pressingly, the environmental impact of such production systems.

Exacerbating these concerns is the knowledge that meat consumption is projected to grow by 40-70 percent by 2050 to keep pace with population growth and global consumption shifts. And although all food production carries with it some level of carbon footprint, beef production is a stand-out offender. 

Carbon Brief, a UK-based climate change website, recently illustrated in detail to what extent, showing data indicating that the meat and dairy industries account for 7.1 gigatons, or 14.5 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions per year. However, beef is by far the worst, responsible for 60 kilograms of emissions for every kilogram of meat produced.

For years now, the message has been broadcast from scientific and government bodies that in order to mitigate the damage being done to our environment and the worsening of climate change, meat consumption needs to be greatly reduced.

Moved to action, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates, along with 39 additional countries and more than 180 non-governmental partners, launched the AIM for Climate initiative in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26).

The mission behind AIM for Climate is to galvanize support and investments for innovations designed to advance climate-smart agriculture and food systems, to drive solutions where global hunger and the climate crisis intersect.

This mission is put into action across four focal areas for innovation sprints in 2022, and cellular agriculture addresses two specifically: methane reduction and emerging technologies in agriculture. 

“Enhancing food security via cellular agriculture empowers communities and fosters regional cooperation, spurring economic growth in the process,” said Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO, Aleph Farms. “This is why we are especially proud to be allocating these R&D funds as an AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint Partner.”

Once a topic for science fiction, the possibility of creating lab-generated meat on a commercial scale is becoming more and more plausible, while the environmental and social benefits of such a system are catching the attention of both consumers and high-profile investors.

Although short-lived, methane is a greenhouse gas mainly emitted from livestock and conventional livestock management that is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere over a 20-year period. 

Compared to traditional beef production, cultivated meat produced through cellular agriculture requires 95 percent less land, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 92 percent, and water usage by 78 percent, according to an independent Life Cycle Analysis conducted by CE Delft.

Freed-up land can be converted to producing more food, or can be reverted to habitats for greater biodiversity, which in turn, would reduce emissions even more, while cultivated meat can be produced in facilities in locations lacking in resources or in extreme climates. 

Furthermore, the sterile environment and automated way in which cultivated beef is produced would eliminate the need for the use of antibiotics, and food-borne illnesses, pathogens, and contaminants.

However, there’s more to consider. Meat represents only one-third of a slaughtered cow for conventional beef. Aleph Farms has plans to continue to expand its product line with the goal of replacing the whole cow. Following its development of steaks made directly from engineered animal cells, the company has also created slaughter-free collagen, which has multiple applications across a range of multi-billion dollar industries.

“With cellular agriculture,” said Toubia, “humanity is better equipped to overcome significant food-related challenges and bring agricultural systems back into balance.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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