An introduction to clean meat & why it is game-changing

What’s in a name?

While it may seem trivial to discuss the words we use to refer to our food, imagine if we described burgers made out of ground meat as made out of ground “flesh”? Do you think that would change their appeal? Probably for most people. In the same vein, cultivated meat is currently facing a nomenclature issue. Unfavorable names and terms, like “lab-grown” meat, are being used to describe meat produced in a bioreactor. Despite being an accurate term for the origin of cultured meat, it’s obvious that “lab-grown” is not the best or most appealing descriptor for alternative proteins.

Media and the lab

In reality, most of the foods we consume today started out in a lab. It’d be absurd to assume our favorite junk foods are crafted in an artisanal kitchen. In episode 7 of the Red to Green Podcast, Lou Cooperhouse, President and CEO of BlueNalu, draws attention to the irony of people’s disgust towards the idea of lab-grown proteins, given the popularity of processed foods. This aversion is all the more bizarre since cultivated meat will be made in a food processing facility– the lab is largely used for R&D.

“I come out of the food industry and everything starts in a lab, but then it goes to a factory. This is no different.” – Lou Cooperhouse, Episode 7 of the Red to Green Podcast

First impressions matter

“While the industry was debating and arguing ‘Is it cultivated?’, ‘Is it cultured?’, ‘Is it something else?’, The media was running away with ‘lab-grown’ and ‘fake.’” – Irina Gerry, Episode 8

As a medium dependent on clicks and viewership, sensationalism is a frequently preferred angle of the mainstream media. Unsurprisingly, in the case of cultivated meat, it was no different, and the news outlets capitalized heavily off of the lab-grown image following their first peek at the product after years of guarded R&D.

This imagery has unfortunately impacted many peoples’ views of cultivated meat, and first impressions matter, according to CMO of Change Foods Irina Gerry.

“First impressions matter and because people don’t dig into it, language matters. I think what you call it is absolutely critical because most people don’t even read the rest of the article.” – Irina Gerry, Episode 8

It doesn’t seem like this debate is ending anytime soon– if at all. Nomenclature related to alternative protein might remain a tense topic for the foreseeable future; both for what the public, and especially the media, use to refer to cultured meat and the name the industry itself chooses. But we know one thing for sure: if you don’t want to be called lab-grown meat then probably stop giving interviews from the lab.