Social media users reacted to elites discussing the consumption of lab-grown meat products during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.
A video clip circulated on social media on Thursday of Andrea Illy, an Italian businessman and chairman of the coffee company Illycaffè, pushing for the adoption of tech foods.
‘This, I know, it’s kind of a cultural revolution.’
Sam Kass, a former White House chef and senior policy adviser for nutrition under former President Barack Obama, said, “A lot of what we’re starting to see are these replacements for these core foods. I’ve tasted a bunch of, you know, ‘future coffee, fake coffee.’ How do you see that application?”
Kass asked for Illy’s opinion on the matter, noting that, while the technology of cultivated food is “smart” and “interesting,” “from a values perspective” and as a chef, he does not want to see a future “where we’re starting to drink coffee from a factory as opposed to from a tree.”
Illy responded, “There is a terrible cultural resistance from [the] consumer to accept tech foods. But in my opinion, they represent the way forward.”
“We know from statistics … that 70% of the ecological footprint of agriculture is due to animal proteins,” Illy continued.
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Andrea Illy. Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for illy caffe
He argued that the “excessive consumption” of meat “is the first cause of noncommunicable diseases,” which he claimed is “the number one health problem in the Western society.”
Illy suggested reducing meat consumption to a “healthy” level, while considering “the environmental impact.”
“Why should I use animals when I can cultivate meat and get only the best part of it?” Illy questioned.
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Andrea Illy. Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“This, I know, it’s kind of a cultural revolution,” he added, estimating that it would take decades to get people to adopt lab-grown meat as the new norm.
The WEF website boasts the adoption of cultivated meat. The organization explains that lab-grown meat begins with “extracting stem cells from a small sample of animal tissue” and placing those stem cells in a bioreactor. The WEF claims that cultivated meats offer “a multitude of benefits,” including reduced environmental impacts, lower resource use, elimination of the need to slaughter animals, and elimination of antibiotic use.
X users in the comments seemed less than enthusiastic about tech foods.
“They will eat steaks from the finest beef. Everyone else cancer cells cultivated in a laboratory,” one user wrote.
“Gross,” another stated.
“WEF is full of demons,” a third wrote.
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