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Posts Tagged ‘farming’

The Future of Meat

Monday, July 15th, 2019

July 15, 2019

Food fads come and go every year, but for most Americans, meat always has a starring role on the dinner plate. Our meat habit has a cost, however: it can harm both our health and the environment. Cutting back on meat consumption, or cutting meat out completely, goes a long way toward helping the environment and our bodies—as well as the animals butchered for meat. Searching for meat alternatives, several food industry startups are offering new forms of meat and meat substitutes that are redefining meat as we know it—and they may change forever the way we produce and consume food. Lab-grown meat or plant-based substitutes are now often indistinguishable from the flesh of animals, and the future of meat may be one that does not involve animals at all.

A hamburger is a flattened ground beef patty between two halves of a bun or slices of bread. It is one of the most popular sandwiches in the world. The hamburger in this photo is dressed with lettuce, red onions, cheese, and pickles, with French fries and ketchup on the side. Credit: © Brent Hofacker, Shutterstock

New lab-grown and plant-based meats offer alternatives to traditional meats such as the beef used to make this hamburger. Credit: © Brent Hofacker, Shutterstock

Most nutritionists consider meat to be an important component of a well-balanced diet. Meat supplies vitamins, minerals, and fats necessary for good health and growth. Meat also provides an especially good source of protein. However, meat is not universal in the American diet. Many vegetarians avoid eating meat because they believe it is wrong to kill animals for food or they consider meat to be unhealthy. Many vegetarians, however, will consume such animal products as cheese and eggs. Vegans, on the other hand, eat an entirely plant-based diet and avoid all foods derived from animals, including honey and milk.

In the United States, per capita (per person) meat consumption has grown steadily to about 95 pounds (43 kilograms) per year—more than double the amount consumed in 1960. Each year, the United States raises more than 30 million beef cattle, 73 million hogs, and a staggering 9 billion chickens. The feeding, housing, transportation, and processing of these animals into food is a global industry consuming enormous amounts of energy resources and creating vast amounts of pollution. The meat industry is also one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Supermarkets, such as the one in this photo, offer consumers a huge variety of foods. Supermarkets typically stock foods they purchase from wholesalers. Credit: © Tony Hertz, Alamy Images

Lab-grown or cell-cultured meats may soon rival traditional meats in U.S. supermarkets. Credit: © Tony Hertz, Alamy Images

Food companies have created a variety of meat substitutes over the years, from veggie hot dogs and bacon to tofurkey (tofu turkey). MorningStar Farms, owned by food industry giant Kellogg, has been producing meat substitutes since 1975. Many people consider such plant-based products to be a healthier alternative to meat, especially such red meats as beef, pork, and lamb. In general, red meats have more saturated fat, which can raise blood cholesterol and contribute to heart disease. Medical research has shown that higher meat consumption is linked to a greater incidence of certain cancers. Until now, most meat substitutes have had limited appeal. Made with products like TVP (textured vegetable protein), a by-product of soybean oil production, these products are often found to be dry and lack the look, juicy texture, and taste of meat.

Tofu is a food made of soybean curds pressed into cakes or blocks. Credit: © Shutterstock

Meat substitutes have long included such products as tofu, a food made of soybean curds pressed into cakes or blocks. Credit: © Shutterstock

Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, however, are food industry startups with new vegan-friendly products that are virtually indistinguishable from traditional meat. Beyond Meat makes its substitute beef using pea protein isolate, coconut oil, and canola oil in a ratio that mimics the fat and protein content of ground beef. Impossible Foods uses soy and potato protein, sunflower seed oil, and coconut oil. Other ingredients include water, salt, and methylcellulose, a substance derived from plant fiber that is widely used in the food industry as a thickener and emulsifier. (An emulsifier bind liquids in an emulsion, a mixture of liquids that do not dissolve in each other.) Beyond Meat uses natural coloring agents derived from beets to provide the juicy appearance of a rare-cooked burger. Impossible Foods uses genetically modified yeast to make soy leghemoglobin (also called a heme), a molecule identical to the blood-red pigment in meat, to provide an appetizing color, meaty flavor, and a juicy sizzle.

Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods hamburger substitutes have modestly better nutritional profiles compared to beef burgers. Both meatless products have fewer calories, slightly less fat, and similar amounts of high-quality protein. The meatless burgers also provide a modest amount of dietary fiber. Beyond and Impossible emphasize the benefits of their products for health, animal welfare, and combatting climate change. However, should we assume that such ultra-processed foods are always better?

In 2019, government health agencies in Europe and the United States released reports that linked higher consumption of ultra-processed foods to an increase in rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease. Such processed foods, including canned foods and most snacks, are made with highly refined ingredients and many additives to improve flavor, texture, and shelf life. Impossible and Beyond burgers are made from an extruded paste of mechanically extracted proteins mixed with vegetable and seed oils, spices, and other ingredients to add flavor and provide meat-like texture. Each lists at least 20 ingredients. Some health experts also worry that they may include several potential allergens that could cause problems for sensitive individuals, although there have not yet been any reported issues.

There is also a certain suspicion that tends to surround mass-produced food substitutes meant to replaced cherished favorites. While meat has a complex composition and structure—made up of amino acids (the building blocks of protein), fats, minerals, vitamins, and water all woven together—it is usually considered a single ingredient—a whole food that is proven safe to eat. Companies producing plant-based meat substitutes are not immune from being labeled “Frankenfoods” by advocacy groups if their production processes are too complex or secretive.

In 2018, the American hamburger chain Burger King began selling an Impossible version of their trademark “Whopper” hamburger in several Midwest cities on a trial basis. The chain has plans to make the sandwich available nationally by the end of 2019. Burger King will do a plant-based burger for European locations, too–but it cannot use Impossible burgers there because of the use of genetically modified yeast. In 2018, the European Court ruled that gene-edited crops are subject to the same strict regulations Europe has for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). European real food advocacy groups worry that products like the Impossible burger will increase public acceptance of genetically engineered food and highly-processed food over whole foods grown by farmers.

In this photograph, a food researcher tastes a hamburger patty made from "beef" grown in a laboratory. The patty was formed from protein strands grown by cattle cells cultured in a laboratory, rather than by slaughtering and butchering a cow. Credit: © Toby Melville, Reuters/Landov

A food researcher tastes a hamburger patty made from meat grown in a laboratory. The patty was formed from protein strands grown by cattle cells cultured in a laboratory, rather than by slaughtering and butchering a cow. Credit: © Toby Melville, Reuters/Landov

As plant-based meat substitutes gain in popularity, some food industry experts believe that the future of meat is in cell cultures. In 2013, scientists in the Netherlands took cells from a cow and produced muscle fibers in a laboratory—the first lab-grown meat. That summer, they revealed their work to the world in a news conference. As the press looked on, a chef prepared the laboratory product into a hamburger. Today, proponents of lab-grown meat say the technology has the potential to produce real beef, pork, chicken, and fish grown from a small cell sample, eliminating the need for farms, feedlots, slaughterhouses, or even animals. Some animal-welfare groups favor this “cellular agriculture” because it diminishes the need to kill animals to provide food for human beings. They see cellular agriculture as a way to establish a more humane world without livestock farms and slaughterhouses.

New Harvest, a company headquartered in New York City, holds an annual conference on advancements in cellular agriculture. Connecting scientists and businesses, New Harvest helps to establish companies that produce cell-cultured food. The laboratory process reduces land and water costs and produces a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions compared with factory farms. Companies in the United States and Europe are already producing cell-cultured foods. One of them is Muufri, which produces animal-free milk. Another is Memphis Meats, which introduced cellular-grown meatballs in 2016.

But will people eat a hamburger that was grown in a lab? Public perception is just one challenge facing lab-grown meat. To overcome the many challenges, cultured meat proponents are upfront and transparent about the technology and the manufacturing processes involved, emphasizing the many positive environmental and ethical benefits.

Another challenge involves how these products are overseen within the heavily regulated food industry. In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish regulatory jurisdiction over the production of meat that does not involve animals. Under the plan, the FDA will oversee the collection and growth of cultured cells. The USDA will regulate the processing of those cells into meat and determine how the products will be labeled.

Before cell-cultured meats hit supermarkets, a range of other questions still remain to be answered. What sort of products will be available, exactly how healthy will they be, and what will they cost? Perhaps the most important question is: How will they taste?

Tags: animals, climate change, conservation, farming, food, hamburger, meat, science, technology, vegetarianism
Posted in Animals, Business & Industry, Conservation, Current Events, Economics, Environment, Health, People, Plants, Technology | Comments Off

The Fall of Rusty Patched Bumble Bees

Wednesday, January 18th, 2017

January 18, 2017

For the first time in the continental United States, a wild bee has been designated as an endangered species. What was once a thriving bee in 28 states and 2 Canadian provinces, the rusty patched bumble bee is now weakly carrying on in scattered populations in just 13 states and the province of Ontario. In the past 20 years, the insect’s population has dropped 87 percent because of habitat loss, disease, pesticides, and climate change. In 2013, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation filed a petition for the rusty patched bumble bee to be listed as an endangered species, but it took until last week to make it happen.

The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis). Credit: © Rich Hatfield, The Xerces Society

The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) was listed as an endangered species in January 2017. Credit: © Rich Hatfield, The Xerces Society

The bumble bee is a large, burly bee that often has mostly black-and-yellow coloring. Bumble bees may be seen flying among flower blossoms during spring, summer, and fall. The rusty patched bumble bee lives only in the upper Midwest and northeastern United States and in Ontario. Like most bumble bees, rusty patched bumble bees have black heads, but workers and males have a rusty reddish patch on their backs.

Bumble bees are among farmers’ best friends, and protecting them is important. They pollinate (help fertilize) numerous wild plants and such food crops as blueberries, cranberries, clover, and tomatoes. The agriculture industry leans heavily on such native pollinators as bumble bees.

Now that the rusty patched bumble bee is listed under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service must assess, protect, and help restore the insect’s population and habitat.

By protecting the environment, people can help save the rusty patched bumble bee. On an individual level, you can help simply by growing a garden. A garden of plants native to your region will attract and nurture native pollinators. Bumble bees love lupines (such as peas), colorful asters, and, as its name implies, bee balm (flowers that also attract nectar-loving butterflies and hummingbirds). Choose a variety of colorful plants that flower at different times, providing nectar and pollen throughout the growing season. Limiting or avoiding the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers also helps, because they can kill or seriously harm bumble bees.

Tags: bees, bumble bee, conservation, endangered species, environmental protection, farming, pollination
Posted in Animals, Conservation, Current Events, Environment, People, Plants | Comments Off

Climate Change Panel Issues Strong Warning, Offers Some Hope

Monday, March 31st, 2014

March 31, 2014

Climate change is seriously affecting every continent and all of the world’s oceans, a major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded. The authors of the massive report, which was compiled by more than 300 scientists from 70 countries, stated that rising global temperatures are threatening the world’s food supplies, intensifying violent storms and droughts, pushing sea levels dangerously higher, and causing serious disruptions in land and ocean ecosystems. For the first time, the IPCC also warned that climate change poses a threat to human security by increasing the risk of violent conflict over natural resources and because of large-scale migrations by people fleeing difficult environmental conditions. However, the scientists also noted that because of a significant increase in the amount of climate change research, governments have a much better understanding about how they can protect their people and resources.

The IPCC is a United Nations committee that periodically provides reports to world governments regarding the impact of human activities on global warming. The report is the second in a three-part series. The first report in the series, published in September 2013, concluded that scientists are 95 percent certain that humans are the “dominant cause” of global warming. The third report, which will focus on steps governments can take to reduce the effects of climate change, is due in April.

The report identified eight key risks from climate change.

  • Rising sea levels, storm surges, and flooding will claim increasing numbers of human victims and cause increasing damage to property and livelihoods in coastal areas and on small islands.
  • Inland flooding will cause severe health problems and economic problems in some large cities.
  • Extreme weather events will damage roads, bridges, and other infrastructure networks and interfere with governments’ ability to provide electric power, water supplies, and emergency and health services.
  • More people living in cities will die in heat waves, especially the elderly and the young and people working outdoors.
  • More people will go hungry as warming, drought, flooding, and heavy rains reduce harvests, lead to higher food prices, and interfere with the distribution of food. Poor countries, which generally have contributed the least to global warming, will suffer more than richer high-polluting countries. Also, the poor in richer countries will also bear a heavier burden than their wealthier countrymen.
  • People in many rural areas will suffer because they will have less water for drinking and irrigation.
  • A loss of ocean species will hurt fishing communities.
  • Farmers and livestock producers–and the consumers who depend on them–will suffer as water becomes less plentiful.

Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana, has retreated because of global warming. In the photo taken around 1940 (top) Upper Grinnell Lake had only begun to form at the glacier’s end. By 2006, bottom, melting ice had caused the lake to swell in size. (Glacier National Park Archives, top, U.S. Geological Survey, photograph by Karen Holtzer, bottom)

The report urged governments to take immediate and ambitious steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We live in an era of manmade climate change,” said Vicente Barros, a meteorologist from Argentina who chaired the report. “In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.” American climate researcher Chris Field, a lead author of the report, noted, “Climate change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms, and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation. This
experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”

Additional World Book articles:

  • The Great Meltdown (a special report)
  • Methane (a special report)
  • Meltdown: Climate Change in the Arctic (a special report)
  • Probing the History of Climate Change  (a special report)
  • What We Know About Climate Change (a special report)

Tags: climate change, extreme weather, farming, fishing, global warming, ipcc, livestock production, sea level
Posted in Business & Industry, Current Events, Economics, Environment, Government & Politics, Health, Military Conflict | Comments Off

Genetic Roots of Europeans Revealed

Friday, April 26th, 2013

April 26, 2013

The genetic roots of modern Europeans do not stretch as deep into prehistory as most scientists had thought, reports a joint team of German and Australian scientists. A new analysis of ancient skeletons found in Germany indicates that a major population upheaval occurred in Europe around 4,000 B.C., when long-established populations were suddenly displaced by other farming people moving into the region. These more recent migrants, rather than the older populations, seem to be the direct ancestors of most living Europeans today.

Archaeologists have found fossils and stone tools that show early humans first lived in Europe more than 700,000 years ago. The Cro-Magnon people hunted throughout Europe from about 35,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago. By about 6000 B.C., farming peoples migrated into Europe from the Near East. Most scientists had believed that modern Europeans were descended from these ancient populations. The new findings, however, suggest that most living Europeans are descended from farmers who migrated into the region only about 4,500 years ago.

A megalithic monument near Carnac, France, is one of many of these stone structures made by prehistoric people. The best-known monuments are in western Europe and the Mediterranean region. These sites were built between about 4500 and 1400 B.C., during the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age. The builders made them for religious purposes or as burial places. (© Joe Cornish, Tony Stone Images)

The scientists based their conclusions on an analysis of DNA from 39 ancient skeletons excavated from the Mitelelbe Saale region, near Lepzig. The analysis was published April 23 in the online journal Nature Communications. The team focused their study on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)–a form of DNA found outside the chromosomes in cellular structures called mitochondria–that was preserved in the bones. In humans, mtDNA is inherited only from the mother. This makes the material useful to biologists for helping to determine relationships between groups. The scientists chose to examine a particular variety of mtDNA known as haplogroup H, the most common mtDNA variety in Europe, found in about 40 percent of Europeans today. However, haplogroup H is not common in the mtDNA from skeletons of Cro-Magnons or other early European hunter-gatherers, suggesting they made little genetic contribution to modern European populations.

The mtDNA from skeletons dated to the early Neolithic period of Europe, about 7,500 years ago, shows that farmers from the Near East migrated into Europe carrying a version of the haplogroup H with them. However, the international team found that by the Middle Neolithic, around 4,500 years ago, this early version of haplotype H was suddenly replaced by the version seen in modern Europeans.

Scientists are not certain where this newer haplotype H originated. But such a rapid replacement could only result from the migration of new populations into the region. The research shows that the movement of populations in prehistory and the genetic history of modern populations is much more complex than scientists had thought.

Additional World Book articles:

  • Agriculture (History)
  • Cave dwellers
  • Genetics
  • Prehistoric people
  • Stone Age

Tags: agriculture, ancient people, cro-magnons, europe, farming, migration, mitochondrial dna, population genetics
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