Alternative Protein Fundamentals Programme

Policy & Entrepreneurship Track

Week 1: Motivating the case for alternative proteins

Industrial animal agriculture lies at the intersection of some of the most pressing issues in the world today: climate change, zoonotic pandemics, antibiotic resistance, food insecurity, biodiversity loss and animal suffering on an extraordinary scale. 

Although vegetarianism and veganism are becoming more mainstream, global demand for meat continues to rise. One way to induce mass changes in consumer behaviour is the provision of better alternatives.

This session is about exploring the dominant arguments in favour of reducing traditional meat consumption and introducing the three main pillars of alternative proteins: plant-based, fermentation and cultivated meat technologies. You are encouraged to consider the issues with factory farming and draw your own conclusions as to the extent to which alternative proteins would be an impactful way to mitigate each of these.

Core Material [~2hr 5mins]

You are expected to read/watch these and think about the discussion prompts ahead of your discussion session each week.

Major Issues with Factory Farming [~1hr 20mins]

Introduction to Alternative Proteins [~45mins]

Discussion Prompts

  • Consider the issues discussed in the resources (animal suffering, climate change, zoonotic pandemics and antibiotics) and for each of these issues consider the question:

    • How ‘bad’ is this issue? (left deliberately vague - interpret this however you would like)

    • To what extent does factory farming contribute to this issue?

    • To what extent would widespread production and consumption of alternative proteins mitigate this issue? What further information would you like to know about alternative proteins to help you answer this question?

    • How likely is the widespread production and consumption of alternative proteins? How might we be able to increase this likelihood? What further information would you like to know about alternative proteins to help you answer this question?

    • We hope that the following seven weeks will provide you with more information to help you better answer the final two questions. It would be useful to keep these questions in the back of your mind as you progress through the programme.

  • What other issues associated with meat eating should we consider? Impact on human health etc. (note the EAT-Lancet report in the further resources digs into this)

  • Do you feel that rearing livestock for food is an issue in general? Or only when it is done intensively on factory farms? Why?

  • What other strategies can you think of to help tackle the impacts of animal agriculture? (e.g. organic farming, social activism, policy change). How effective do you think these strategies are relative to the development of alternative proteins? How can they be used most effectively in combination?

  • Why do you think factory farming still exists, and continues to grow globally, despite the rising public awareness of the issues? (Money/political power of large agri companies, government subsidies, consumer demand etc.)

  • What are your thoughts on the need for individual action? Do you think it may play a more important role than Bruce Friedrich suggests? (i.e. the rise of the flexitarian). 

  • What are your thoughts about alt. protein start-ups partnering with large meat companies (through investment, strategic partnerships etc.)? Is it necessary to gain traction in this industry? What issues might this present?

  • Do you agree that consumers will switch to alternative proteins provided they “taste the same or better and and the cost the same or less”? Do you think there are other factors at play that cannot be replicated using cell cultures or plants? (e.g. status signalling, masculinity, culture, religion etc.) 

Further Resources

These are not mandatory, however, they provide some additional context/information if you would like to find out more.

General

Animal Suffering

Arguments for expanding our moral circle to include animals:

Animal welfare in other global regions:

Climate Change

Antibiotic Resistance

Zoonotic Disease

Impact on Human Health

Arguments for Factory Farming

Note that most of these examine the benefits of factory farming relative to less intensive animal agriculture (rather than compared to alternative proteins). The main arguments against alternative proteins (cost, energy efficiency and consumer uptake) will be examined in weeks 6 and 7. Consider how important these points are, especially in the newer context of alternative proteins, and how you might challenge them.