Meat Zero: Are You Ready for the Future of Food?

Karen Hooper and Hermione Dace are Policy Lead and Senior Policy Analyst respectively in the Science and Innovation Unit at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Their work focuses on the future of food, alternative proteins, and technology development in Asia.

This salon is part of a new ten-part series called The Future Of where we’re bringing together a broad and diverse community of people with an interest in shaping an optimistic future enabled by technology. In each salon, we take a deep dive into what is possible and propose that we get together to visualise the Future of the Internet, Cities, Food, Education, and many more.

The race is on for protecting our planet from the climate crisis. And with a global population predicted to reach 10 billion by 2050, figuring out a way to feed the world is one of humanity’s biggest challenges. Scores of new companies and technologies have sprouted with the promise of reversing or at least slowing down the effects of the warming planet. But few have hit as close to home as what we put on our plates.

While plant-based diets have grown in popularity over the years, meat consumption is still predicted to rise even further. Enter new meat alternatives, otherwise known as alternative proteins.

But how much do they really help the environment? What will it take to convert the meat eaters? And for the converted, are these new products safe to consume with ingredients lists equivalent or longer than the next ultra-processed boxed or canned item in the grocery store?

We think alternative proteins offer an exciting potential solution. Have you tried them? What has your experience been? Are you reluctant, and if so, why?

Finally, we’ll discuss whether the future must be meat zero, or if there’s a sustainable in-between.

Look out for the next salon in this series on the Future of Education.

Suggested reading:

• The protein problem: How scaling alternative proteins can help people and planet
• Global Food System Transition is Necessary to Keep Warming Below 1.5°C

Join the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn with #TheFutureOf

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