Cultured meat and cowless milk: on making markets for animal-free food

Abstract

Animal-free food products, such as cultured meat and synthetic milk, aim to overcome problems associated with conventional animal product consumption. They have the potential to reduce environmental impacts, improve animal welfare, and address public health concerns. However, there are challenges related to technical feasibility, consumer acceptance, and the ethical and ontological status of these products. This paper examines animal-free foods from a social studies of economies and markets perspective, focusing on the market-making processes and the role of biocapital formation. It argues that the making of markets for animal-free food involves the construction of ethical agency, the objectification and singularisation of the products, and the flow of venture capital. This perspective reveals the constitutive role of markets in shaping the ontological and ethical aspects of animal-free foods in a world shaped by neoliberalism and financialisation. – AI-generated abstract.