BULLETIN ISSUE 18: Summer 2017
Building our New Zealand Story … can we survive labgrown meat?
these novel food production methods, many will spurn science in their food and seek quality, nutritious foods from natural sources. As Michael Pollock commented in Growing silently in a lab in Silicon Valley, are muscle his book, In Defense of Food, consumers who desire a cells that will form into what will be called “meat”. Meat healthy diet are best off shopping the perimeter of the without animals. It’s a strange concept that is disgusting grocery store and avoiding all the heavily processed to some and fascinating for others. It’s a vegan paradox foods in the middle. Pollock recommends that we only … can you eat meat if nothing died in the process? For eat food that our grandparents would have recognised. decades, the meat industry has lamented the fact that New Zealand is in a great position to take advantage of they have to deal with an entire carcass not just the this desire for a natural, unprocessed, traditional diet. “choice” bits. Is this the answer? Shall we just grow the Our grass fed meat produced without antibiotics, GMOs, bits we want? hormones and feedlots is certainly something that our grandparents would have recognised. While crafting Regardless of your philosophy and perspective on labour New Zealand story to sell our premium product grown muscle used for food, it offers some interesting to the world, we must take care to ensure the story is paradigm shifts. Is it a “clean” food? Is it better for the protected. Greenlea has collaborated with the Red Meat environment? Advocates claim that livestock accounts for Profit Partnership to develop the New Zealand Farm 14.5 percent of greenhouse gas production – more than Assurance Programme (NZFAP). The NZFAP underpins all transportation combined. Is it safer without the risk the story and will be further developed to include of pathogen contamination during slaughter? Muscle is environmental stewardship, higher welfare and social inherently sterile, but it can be contaminated during the responsibility. Our image as a premium producer of slaughter process. Under laboratory conditions, sterility is food in a pristine environment is one that we are sure much easier to maintain. will resonate with consumers around the world. Talk to your Greenlea livestock agent about how you can get At Greenlea, we believe that while some may gravitate to involved with the NZFAP.
www.greenlea.co.nz