Billionaires Richard Branson and Bill Gates have teamed up to invest in a new startup that can grow “clean meat.” According to Bloomberg, Memphis Meats produces beef, duck, and chicken meats directly from animal cells without having to raise then slaughter cattle or poultry.
The way conventional meat is produced today creates challenges for the environment, animal welfare and human health. These are problems that everyone wants to solve.
This bold action is helping humans tackle challenges to the environment, and ensure cruelty-free meat at the same time.
The investment pool is headed up by Cargill, Inc. who have pumped funds into a promising technology to make clean meat from self-producing animal cells. The innovative method is in direct response to rising consumer demand for protein that’s not reliant on feed, land, and water.
According to reports, the latest fundraising round was led by venture-capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), who is attuned to arranging to fundraise for innovative new startups, and for bringing in high-profile investors like Gates and Branson.
“I’m thrilled to have invested in Memphis Meats,” Branson told Bloomberg News. “I believe that in 30 years or so we will no longer need to kill any animals and that all meat will either be clean or plant-based and will taste the same and also be much healthier for everyone.”
Experts claim that a move like this from one of the world’s largest agriculture giants is a step in the right direction, especially as millennials are moving away from eating meat and the public response to cruelty-free meat.
The surging demand for organic products and meat-free diets is growing at a rapid rate in the United States, and more companies are gearing their operations toward a more environmentally and animal-friendly outcome.
“The world loves to eat meat, and it is core to many of our cultures and traditions,” Uma Valeti, co-founder and chief executive officer of Memphis Meats, said “The way to conventional meat-free is creating challenges for the environment, animal welfare, and human health. These are problems that everyone wants to solve.”
We recently revealed how Bill Gates invested in a similar project where scientists created the Impossible Burger, a new vegetarian alternative for meat-free has been developed at a molecular level to produce the exact taste, look, texture, smell, and nutritional value of beef.
Experts from Impossible Foods created proteins, amino acids, fats, and vitamins from plants. Following five years of development, the creators found that by using wheat and potato proteins, coconut oil and critical nutrients, along with a “magic ingredient” of Heme, the product inherits the exact and distinct attributes of beef.
By using only plant products, Impossible Foods claims it will dramatically “reduce the resources needed to feed the world’s population and free land for wildlife and biodiversity.”
Meat farming is estimated to produce around “25% of global freshwater use” – clean meat production is set to eliminate these negative outputs. The latest meat-free farming methods are most certainly a bold action that will hopefully lead humanity toward a healthier and friendlier lifestyle.
