In the “pig in the backyard” scenario, micro-farmers (and “the storybook view” with which they’re still connected, as Monbiot notes) facilitates the perception of cultured meat as a “good, natural” product, acting as repositories of rural traditions.Īdmittedly, this scenario sounds “too good to be true” (as several of the participants involved in the focus group remarked). Otherwise, the risk is a publicity fiasco akin to the one that smeared GMO crops.
To succeed, cultured meat needs to be publicly accepted and perceived as a good, healthy and “natural” option, not as a lab-grown, sci-fi and artificial abomination. The study highlighted an important issue and hinted at a possible solution. This hybrid process, which combines rural traditions and advanced technology, thrilled the participants in the focus groups, especially those who previously expressed doubts about cultured meat’s unnaturalness. Nevertheless, a small number of farmers may still be key to pave the way for the public acceptance of cultured meat.Ĭor van der Weele, a philosophy professor at the University of Wageningen, has been studying the cultural and social impact of cultured meat for years and her most recent research project tackles precisely how cultured meat can be an opportunity, rather than a threat, for farmers.ĭuring a focus group conducted for a study she co-authored with Clemens Driessens, participants were asked to express their thoughts and feelings about a meat production scenario called “the pig in the backyard.” In this speculative production scenario, cultured meat is made in small, local factories using cells from animals kept in small yards. Yes, if alternative meat technologies take hold, the farming industry will probably collapse, factory farming will disappear and extensive farming will provide negligible amounts of food. Thing is farmers are still likely to play a crucial role in the future of food. On the other hand, one of the documentary’s main limits is failing to recognize the pitfalls of this uncompromising approach. On the one hand, it’s admirable how Apocalypse Cow decided to focus his critique on extensive farming, a practice that it’s usually perceived as more sustainable than intensive farming but, under many counts, may be equally, if not more, environmentally damaging. “It’s time to throw away our storybook view of farming and turn to something that looks like science fiction,” he urges, hinting at cultured meat and similar technologies. Predictably, the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU) reacted pointing out that “farming is not just an industry it’s the lifeblood of Britain’s rural heritage.” But Monbiot has no doubts.