Today is the third class in your current four class set. We will start class with a casual conversation. Our reading this week is about a ‘gator’ sighting and our listening is about no kill meat. Please listen and follow the transcript. For grammar will practice ‘hope and wish’ sentences.
Click HERE for our reading
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has, for the first time in history, given a green light to two U.S. companies to sell meat that is grown directly from animal cells without slaughtering the animal. Until recently, it was called lab-grown meat, since scientists were developing it in labs. Now, though, the labs have been replaced by production facilities that can grow tens of thousands of pounds of meat a year.
NPR's Allison Aubrey has visited these companies and tasted the meat and joins us now. Hey, Allison.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: So Allison, what exactly did the USDA approve today?
AUBREY: Well, for thousands of years, eating meat has meant slaughtering animals. But the scientists behind the two companies that received USDA clearance today say that's no longer necessary. Instead, they produce meat by extracting cells from an animal's body, and then they feed the cells and literally grow meat in big stainless steel tanks. Their production facilities look like breweries almost, but instead of beer, they're brewing meat, so to speak.
SUMMERS: I do not know how I feel about that.
AUBREY: (Laughter).
SUMMERS: But, OK, let's go on here. We have been hearing about so-called fake meat for a long time now. I mean, a lot of us have eaten our fair share of veggie burgers or Impossible burgers over the years, but what makes this different?
AUBREY: This is nothing like the Impossible burger or a veggie burger, which are made from vegetable proteins - so soy, potato protein and a bunch of other ingredients that are mixed together to taste like meat. What's approved for sale today actually is meat. When I visited Upside Foods, which is headquartered in Berkeley, they prepared their chicken, which is grown directly from chicken cells - it's more than 99% chicken cells. It was pan-seared in a kind of lovely, buttery wine sauce.
SUMMERS: I mean, Allison, you're kind of burying the lead here. How did it taste? How was it?
AUBREY: You know, I think almost anything cooked in butter and wine probably tastes good, right?
SUMMERS: Oh, yeah.
AUBREY: What did impress me is the texture. They've basically replicated the texture of chicken breast. I told the CEO of Upside Foods, Uma Valeti, hey, it tastes just like chicken.
UMA VALETI: It is chicken. It is just chicken grown directly from animal cells in a different way, in a very clean, controlled environment.
AUBREY: Now, Dr. Valeti is a cardiologist who became a vegetarian, but he loves the taste of meat. And he thinks this is a better way to produce meat, one that could be better for the environment. And as the son of a veterinarian, he likes the idea of sparing animals' lives.
SUMMERS: OK, so where can people buy it or get a taste of it?
AUBREY: Right now, don't expect to see it in grocery stores. To start out, both companies have kind of teamed up with famous chefs. Upside Foods is working with chef Dominique Crenn, a Michelin-starred chef in San Francisco. And Good Meat, the other company that got clearance today, has partnered with megastar Jose Andres, who will serve cultivated chicken at one of his restaurants.
SUMMERS: I mean, so why should people want this? What is wrong with the way that meat's produced today?
AUBREY: It depends on who you ask. The traditional meat industry says the status quo is efficient, but meat production has a big environmental footprint. I talked to Bruce Friedrich, who heads the nonprofit Good Food Institute. He tracks investments in protein alternatives and says there are more than 150 companies working to bring cultivated meat and seafood to market. Some are working on beef. He says global demand for meat is expected to double by 2050.
BRUCE FRIEDRICH: Cultivated meat gives consumers everything that they like about meat, but it requires a fraction of the land, requires significantly less water.
AUBREY: Now, it remains to be seen whether cultivated meat production can lower greenhouse gas emissions from producing meat. But what is clear is that now that cultivated meat is approved for sale, it is no longer science fiction. People will get a chance to taste it.
SUMMERS: All right. That is NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thank you so much.
AUBREY: Thank you. Great to be here.
(SOUNDBITE OF LIL WAYNE SONG, "SHOOTER")