Firms developing cultured meat could provide new opportunities for British farmers, according to new research by the Royal Agricultural University (RAU).
The report suggests that farmers could provide by-products to scientists and companies, in turn helping cultured meat become more sustainable and cheaper.
It is already possible to grow animal cells in the lab and make simple forms of cultured meat, such as mince or nuggets.
The challenge now facing this emerging industry is to scale up production and bring down costs, while convincing regulators and the public that the new technology is safe.
The National Food Strategy called for a 30% cut in meat consumption over 10 years, and argued that developing better and cheaper alternative proteins could help.
"While the jury is out on whether cultured meat will fit the bill, we’ve found that it needn’t spell disaster for farmers," said Professor Tom MacMillan, who led the study.
Farmers who spoke to the RAU for the research had concerns about the technology but, for the most part, had many bigger challenges on their plates.
Some were also interested in its opportunities, from supplying raw materials to even producing it on their farms.
Possible by-products that could be used include the leftovers from making rapeseed oil, some of which currently goes to animal feed.
It is rich in amino acids which are the costliest and least sustainable ingredients used to grow cultured meat.
Professor MacMillan added: "Building bridges with farmers is certainly in the cultured meat companies’ interests, as some are starting to see.
"More surprisingly, we found that keeping the door open may serve farmers better too.”
This research found that using by-products, instead of synthetic amino acids, could reduce the environmental footprint of cultured meat by using less energy, water, and land, and make the end product more affordable.
Importantly, linking cultured meat production and farming could also benefit some farmers and address concerns over the threat the new technology poses to traditional farming, which has led Italy and some US states to ban cultured meat.
The team partnered with nine UK farms to find out what cultured meat might mean for their individual businesses.
Compared with challenges such as changing weather patterns and global commodity markets, the threat of competition from cultured meat felt like a ‘slow burn’ to them.
Their main concerns were about wider social issues, such as big companies controlling the food system or the knock-on effects for rural communities, more than about the direct impact on their businesses.
One of the farmers who contributed to the study said: “The cultured meat industry needs to talk more about what they’re up to, rather than keeping everything behind closed doors.
"But I also think that us farmers could listen a bit more too.”
