“Cultivating doubt: why I no longer believe cultivated meat is the answer” by Tom Bry-Chevalier🔸

Introduction

In this post, I present what I believe to be an important yet underexplored argument that fundamentally challenges the promise of cultivated meat. In essence, there are compelling reasons to conclude that cultivated meat will not replace conventional meat, but will instead primarily compete with other alternative proteins that offer superior environmental and ethical benefits. Moreover, research into and promotion of cultivated meat may potentially result in a net negative impact. Beyond critique, I try to offer constructive recommendations for the EA movement. While I've kept this post concise, I'm more than willing to elaborate on any specific point upon request.

From industry to academia: my cultivated meat journey

I'm currently in my fourth year (and hopefully final one!) of my PhD. My thesis examines the environmental and economic challenges associated with alternative proteins. I have three working papers on cultivated meat at various stages of development, though [...]

---

Outline:

(00:13) Introduction

(00:55) From industry to academia: my cultivated meat journey

(01:53) Motivations and epistemic status

(03:39) Baseline assumptions for this discussion

(03:44) Cultivated meat is environmentally better than conventional meat, but probably not as good as plant-based meat

(06:29) Cultivated meat will remain quite expensive for several years, and hybrid plant-cell products will likely appear on the market first

(08:58) Cultivated meat is ethically better than conventional meat

(10:26) The main argument: cannibalization rather than conversion

(16:46) Strategic drawbacks of the current focus

(19:11) The evidence that would make me eat my words (and maybe cultivated meat)

(20:37) What Id like to see change in the Effective Altruism approach to cultivated meat

(22:14) Answer from GFI Europe

---

First published:
April 30th, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TYhs8zehyybvMt5E4/cultivating-doubt-why-i-no-longer-believe-cultivated-meat-is

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---