Plants, source of alternative proteins, an increasing market

Alt-protein is taking the food world by storm. Plant-based meats ranging from?nuggets?and?burger patties?to?mince,?shrimp, and?meaty mushrooms?are now widely available on supermarket shelves. With a $7 billion market size that has grown?27% in the last year, everyone from startups to leading food manufacturers are innovating in the space. The price, taste, and accessibility of next-generation plant-based meats are already competitive with conventional meat. Startups, investors, and food futurists alike are also betting on the promise of cultivated meat ? produced via cellular agriculture ? to reduce our food system?s dependence on animal-derived protein due to?environmental,?ethical, and?public health?concerns. Over?$350 million?has been invested in cultivated meat startups to date. Whether you believe that cultivated meat will and?should displace conventional meat, if you?doubt that cultivated meat can replace?or supplement animals, or if you believe that both production systems can co-exist,?greenhouse gas emissions data?makes it clear that change in our animal production system is necessary.Synthetic biology?s sustainability solutionThe?overhaul of our food systems?has had a ripple effect on other parts of the agriculture industry and is forcing us to recognize the ecological footprint of other byproducts within the sector. Some of the industry sustainability challenges include water scarcity, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, agrochemical dependence, commodity-driven deforestation, waste generation,?labour shortages?and exploitation, and diminishing availability of arable land, as well as the impact of drought, pests, and disease on yields (just to name a few.) While there are still challenges of scale associated with the applications of synthetic biology (synbio) and by extension,?cellular agriculture, it seems as though we are at the beginning of the?synbio gold rush. Q1 and Q2 2021 brought in?record-breaking investment numbers?for synbio startups. The resource intensity of the textile and fashion industry makes it no surprise that innovators and fashion houses are looking to synbio for answers. Enter the likes of?MycoWorks,?Bolt Threads, and?Ecovative, using mycelium to engineer sustainable textiles?[disclosure:?AFN?s parent company,?AgFunder, is an investor in MycoWorks.] New microbial seed coating technology, designed by companies such as?Pivot Bio,?Loam Bio, and?Indigo Ag, allow farmers to increase their crop yields through improved nitrogen fixation, or sequester carbon and access carbon trading markets. The catalyst for a lot of these companies and their developments in biomanufacturing is the reduction in the?cost of next-generation DNA sequencing; as this cost goes down, we?ll continue to see the unleashed potential of industrial biotechnology across many sectors.Other topics discussed in the article (link below) by?Saron Berhane are:- Cash crops and cellular agriculture- Chocolate, coffee, and climate change- Can tech innovation and fair solutions go hand in hand? ? SourceSaron Berhane,?Cellular agriculture & emerging markets: Just because we can, does it mean we should?Image credit:?luchschen / iStock