Cultivated Meat: A Sustainable Alternative to Conventional Protein Source

Abstract

Conventional livestock farming systems have created long-term effects on our natural resources such as water, land, loss of biodiversity, and even contribute to greenhouse gas emissions which requires a radical shift to a more feasible and sustainable solution. One such technique that can offer a way to decrease the impact on the environment and to satisfy the growing food demand for the growing population is cell-based meat or cultivated meat or cultured meat which requires cell culturing animal cells In-vitro. Many start-ups have emerged all over the globe to develop cultured meat technology yet are not in a position to bring it into the commercialization stage due to certain constraints like production cost, consumer acceptance, stringent regulatory requirements, etc. Moreover, many researchers have started working on optimized formulations, and serum-free, food-grade components to further reduce the costs of cell culture media which accounts for more than 90% of the total production cost. Apart from economics,  food neophobia, being one of the main factors of consumer perception and acceptance due to limited knowledge could be solved by providing awareness citing its strong potential to contribute to ensuring food security, nutrition, health concerns, reduction of carbon, and sustainability to enhance the overall acceptability of the cultivated meat technology.