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GRACE GARWOOD: In June 2023, the USDA issued final approvals for two cell-cultured meat companies to sell their products to the public, making the U.S. the second country after Singapore to make such an allowance. As Reuters reported, both companies — Upside Foods, Inc. and Good Meat, a division of Eat Just, Inc. — claim they’ve already begun production for sale. This watershed moment arrived amidst a widening shakeout in the world’s alt-meat sector. As money flows less freely due to surging interest rates, investors have sharply pulled back alt-meat funding, just as inflation increases…

OLIVIA PELUSO: Globally, agriculture is the largest cause of deforestation, the number one cause of extinction and the largest user of arable land. It emits more greenhouse gasses than all of the world’s transportation combined, and contributes to a third of all freshwater pollution. “I think there would be so much attention to this issue if it wasn't what was on our plates,” says Forbes 30 Under 30 2020 lister Arturo Elizondo, the founder of lab-grown protein developer The Every Company. While working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he became impatient with the elephant in the room…

JILL ETTINGER: Gen Z is driving the rapidly growing plant-based food market. According to a recent survey, 70 percent of Gen Zers say they plan to pursue a vegan diet in the next five years but the reasons don’t necessarily track with their climate concerns. Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — have become the driving force behind the vegan food market. According to a recent survey conducted by Medical Inspiration Daily For Stronger Society (MIDSS), more than half of Gen Z chose to go vegan due to health benefits. MIDSS surveyed more than 3,000 vegans and non-vegans earlier this year…

MELISSA SCOTT: Various research studies have highlighted the factors found to potentially contribute to the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. In a study, it has been shown that consumption of processed meat could increase dementia risk. This research was carried out by scientists from the University's Nutritional Epidemiology Group. They utilized data from 500,000 people and found that consumption of 25g serving of processed meat a day, the equivalent of one rasher of bacon, is linked with an increased risk of developing the disease by 44 percent... Researchers were trying…

SOPHIE ZELDIN-O'NEILL: More than 100 supporters of Animal Rebellion stopped the supply of fresh milk across large areas of England in the early hours of Sunday, including Arla Aylesbury, which processes 10% of the UK supply. It came after the activist group, who campaign for a sustainable plant-based food system, received no response to a letter to Downing Street in August, in which they warned of disruptive action in September unless progress towards their demands was made. Members of Animal Rebellion stopped and climbed on company trucks outside four facilities supplying milk to the…

ANNE-SOPHIE BRANDLIN: New plans for regulations such as a mandatory label documenting how animals were reared are supposed to improve animal welfare. Is that a right step toward more transparency for consumers - or greenwashing? Germany's federal government has come up with a draft bill for new regulations regarding animal welfare. "I want good meat from Germany to be served in the future as well. In order to do so, our farms urgently need a perspective they can rely on," Food and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir said when introducing his plans. This perspective, he says, includes four…

JEFF McMAHON: Last week a panel of social scientists convened at the behest of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to talk about accelerating decarbonization. Being social scientists, their discussion ventured into the social... The panel was associated with a National Academies report on decarbonizing the energy sector. Energy and transportation have long been seen as the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse-gas mitigation, though they have remained nonetheless out of reach of most governments. But individuals might be able to reduce their carbon emissions even more by…

MAYO CLINIC: Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. But estimates suggest that as many as a third of cases could be prevented with diet and nutrition alone. The recipe? Many experts recommend filling your plate with foods that grow from the ground. Decades of research suggests that the best diet for cancer prevention is all about plants. That means lots of fruits, vegetables and legumes, and little to no meat or other animal products... For many Americans, meals center around the meat. After all the Department of Agriculture reports that 222 pounds of meat are sold per…

LINDSEY STOWALL: Past research has shown that media coverage of new technologies tends to be overly optimistic. Similarly, recent studies suggest that the media is making promises about the potential benefits of cultured meat that have yet to be proven through scientific research. Because there are still many unknowns about the future of cultured meat, people need to be exposed to an accurate portrayal of the production process. Premature promises surrounding the benefits of cultured meat products prevent people from understanding all aspects of the technology and may be counterproductive in…

SIMONA SHEMER: “Did you know the world is running out of honey?” asks vlogger Nusseir Yassin — also known as Nas Daily — in one of his latest one-minute viral video clips on Instagram, “Only seven bees out of 20,000 types of bees make honey. And they’re dying because we’re abusing them.” He’s not wrong. “We as humans want to use those seven species to pollinate but also to get the honey that they’re making and sell it because it’s so expensive. So we choose these seven over and over again from the other 20,000 different species. What happened — and we see it now in articles in science…