Over the last year I have been working as the Director of Responsible Research & Innovation in Europe to advance cellular agriculture in alignment with New Harvest’s vision.
This vision is a world where cellular agriculture is:
- Accessible, such that anyone in the world can participate in the understanding, production and consumption of cellular agriculture products;
- Applicable, such that cell ag technologies can be applied accordingly and appropriately to different cultures, regions, and cuisines; and
- Accountable, such that claims can be substantiated and there is transparency along the length of the supply chain.
I am pleased to announce the launch of FEASTS (Fostering European cellular-Agriculture for Sustainable Transition Solution), a groundbreaking, collaborative research programme funded by the European Union’s research and innovation Horizon programme*. Its goal is to deliver a comprehensive, unbiased knowledge base about cultured meat and seafood, and their place in the food system.
The programme had its kick-off meeting in January, and will be conducted over the next 3 years by a consortium of 36 independent institutions from 17 countries.
Read the full press release here.
This project is close to my heart, as the grant proposal was largely structured through the lens of our paper from 2021, “Cultured Meat Needs a Race to Mission, Not a Race to Market” which highlights where collaboration and focus can best be applied to achieve the mission of cultured meat.
Stay tuned as this massive consortium project develops. It is sure to create some landmark milestones for the field at large. For me, it is a ray of hope – a means for us to outlive cultured meat’s hype cycle and create lasting value for the field.
Just some of the members of the FEASTS consortium.
*FEASTS – answers to the call “Cultured meat and cultured seafood – state of play and future prospects in the EU (Horizon-CL6-2023- FARM2FORK-01-13)”, and is funded by the European Union’s research and innovation Horizon programme under Grant Agreement no. 101136749.
