F utu r e
prote i n
clean
meat
Your guide to the clean meat movement by velo mitrovich
A
book on why lab-grown meat is the protein of the future, written by a former vice president at Humane Society US, seems an odd match for MPJ at so many levels. But if you want to get a good perspective this
emerging industry that has the potential of turning the meat industry on its head, then Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World is for you. Written by Paul Shapiro, a long-time vegan, Shapiro has the odd distinction of having eaten more lab-cultured meat than anyone else on the planet. While he tells MPJ the experience doesn’t have him reaching for the real thing, it has given him an understanding of the industry and the major players in it.
cell could be grown to produce enough hamburgers to
It might be assumed that Shapiro wrote Clean Meat
feed a large army. The omission of hard science gives the
with fellow vegans in mind, but nothing could be further
book a light feel to it. In addition, during MPJ’s first read it
from the truth. “In the USA, only about five percent of
seemed like Shapiro was too caught up with some of the
the population practices some form of a vegetarian diet,
larger-than-life personalities in the industry, such as CEO
while 0.5% of the population is vegan – this is a very small
Joshua Tetrick of Just (formerly called Hampton Creek),
number,” says Shapiro, “and these people would not be
to challenge their controversial management practices.
interested in eating clean meat no matter how 'clean' it
However, in the second reading it became obvious
was produced.
that Tetrick’s firing of his entire board, being accused
“The majority of Americans are meat eaters and this
of ramping up sales of vegan mayo products, etc, had
book was written for them. If the book makes them think
nothing to do with the story Shapiro was telling in Clean
about the industry, how meat is produced, and what the
Meat.
alternatives are – maybe changing their diet so once or
“What you’re bringing up is something I talked over
twice a week they eat clean meat or a plant-based meat
with my publisher – I had wondered about the same
substitute, then I’ll feel like I’ve done my job.”
thing,” Shapiro tells MPJ. “In the end, we decided that the
Will clean meat, however, be something that we’ll see on supermarket shelves any time soon to give us that choice?
book was about clean meat, not about personalities.” MPJ can without reservation recommend this book for those of you who want a greater understanding of the
“I don’t know, most of the companies have not met
clean meat movement, who the major US players are,
their overly optimistic production dates so only time will
and why clean meat will ultimately become successful.
tell,” he says. “Compared though to how much it cost to
While it is doubtful today’s MPJ readers will be turning
produce just one clean meat burger a few years ago to
from real steak to clean meat, it is pretty much a given our
today, there has been significant progress. Will the price
children and grandchildren will be eating clean.
get down from being a Whole Foods one, to a regular supermarket price that everyone can afford, again, only time will tell.” MPJ wishes Clean Meat had more details of the actual production process, explaining how a single ‘donated’
meatpacking.info
Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World Paul Shapiro Gallery Publishing 2018
November~December 2017
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