Make Me Smart How can our food systems become more sustainable?
Oct 23, 2025
Amy Scott, host of Marketplace's Climate Solutions podcast and reporter, dives into the intricate links between food systems and the climate crisis. She explores the burgeoning world of cell-cultivated meats, discussing their potential benefits and the backlash they face. Amy also highlights trade-offs in modern farming, efficiency versus animal welfare, and the importance of individual action, like reducing ruminant meat consumption. Plus, she shares a heartwarming thrift-store story about finding vintage china that underscores sustainability.
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Food Systems Are A Major Emissions Source
- About a third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from our food system, including CO2 from land use, methane from cattle, nitrous oxide from fertilizers, and fossil fuels for transport and waste.
- Even if we cut fossil fuel emissions, food systems still present a large emissions challenge requiring targeted solutions.
Tasting Lab-Grown Salmon
- Amy Scott visited companies making cell-cultivated foods and tasted products like chocolate, chicken, and salmon grown from cells.
- She described Wild Type's cultured salmon as tasting like deli lox and indistinguishable from conventional salmon.
Cultivated Meat Faces Cultural Pushback
- Cultivated meat meets cultural resistance and political pushback partly because meat production is tied to identity and livelihoods.
- States like Texas and Florida have moved to ban cultivated meat to protect incumbent industries and values.
