Bruce Friedrich makes the case that inventing outstanding meat replacements is the most effective way to help animals

Abstract

Inventing outstanding meat replacements is the most effective way to help animals. This is the argument advanced by Bruce Friedrich, executive director of The Good Food Institute (GFI), in a recent podcast interview. Friedrich argues that creating plant-based and clean meat alternatives is the best way to reduce animal suffering, as these alternatives compete with conventional animal agriculture on the basis of price, taste, and convenience, shifting consumer choice away from industrial farming practices. Friedrich further argues that creating alternatives will help people see animals in a new light, breaking down the speciesist barrier that prevents them from extending moral consideration to animals. Friedrich believes that the plant-based meat alternatives currently available are not yet close to perfectly replicating the taste of meat, but that new technologies such as clean meat, or meat grown in a lab, are poised to achieve this. He expects that clean meat products will be commercially available within the next few years. He also argues that clean meat offers significant benefits over conventional meat in terms of its environmental impact, as well as the incidence of food-borne illnesses. Friedrich also discusses the importance of finding the right people to work on developing these alternatives, as well as the importance of creating the right kind of working environment to foster innovation. – AI-generated abstract