The next global agricultural revolution
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0:02 - 0:06In 2019, humanity received a warning:
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0:06 - 0:0830 of the world's leading scientists
released the results -
0:08 - 0:12of a massive three-year study
into global agriculture -
0:12 - 0:16and declared that meat production
is destroying our planet -
0:16 - 0:17and jeopardizing global health.
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0:18 - 0:20One of the study's authors explained
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0:20 - 0:23that "humanity now poses a threat
to the stability of the planet ... -
0:23 - 0:28[This requires] nothing less than
a new global agricultural revolution." -
0:29 - 0:31As somebody who's spent
the last two decades -
0:31 - 0:34advocating a shift away
from industrial meat production, -
0:34 - 0:38I wanted to believe that this clarion call
was going to make a difference. -
0:38 - 0:43The thing is, I've seen this sort of thing
again and again and again for decades. -
0:44 - 0:47Here's 2018 from the journal "Nature,"
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0:47 - 0:502017 from "Bioscience Journal,"
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0:50 - 0:542016 from the National
Academy of Sciences. -
0:54 - 0:58The main point of these studies
tends to be climate change. -
0:58 - 1:02But antibiotic resistance
represents just as big of a threat. -
1:03 - 1:06We are feeding massive doses
of antibiotics to farm animals. -
1:06 - 1:10These antibiotics are then
mutating into superbugs -
1:10 - 1:13that threaten to render
antibiotics obsolete -
1:13 - 1:16within all of our lifetimes.
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1:16 - 1:17You want a scare?
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1:17 - 1:20Google: "the end of working antibiotics."
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1:21 - 1:23I'm going to get one thing out of the way:
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1:23 - 1:25I am not here to tell anybody what to eat.
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1:26 - 1:27Individual action is great,
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1:27 - 1:30but antibiotic resistance
and climate change -- -
1:30 - 1:32they require more.
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1:32 - 1:36Besides, convincing the world
to eat less meat hasn't worked. -
1:37 - 1:42For 50 years, environmentalists,
global health experts and animal activists -
1:42 - 1:45have been begging the public
to eat less meat. -
1:45 - 1:47And yet, per capita meat consumption
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1:47 - 1:51is as high as it's been
in recorded history. -
1:51 - 1:55The average North American last year
ate more than 200 pounds of meat. -
1:56 - 1:57And I didn't eat any.
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1:57 - 1:58(Laughter)
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1:59 - 2:02Which means somebody out there
ate 400 pounds of meat. -
2:02 - 2:04(Laughter)
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2:04 - 2:05On our current trajectory,
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2:05 - 2:10we're going to need to be producing
70 to 100 percent more meat by 2050. -
2:10 - 2:13This requires a global solution.
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2:13 - 2:17What we need to do is we need to produce
the meat that people love, -
2:17 - 2:20but we need to produce it
in a whole new way. -
2:20 - 2:22I've got a couple of ideas.
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2:22 - 2:26Idea number one:
let's grow meat from plants. -
2:26 - 2:28Instead of growing plants,
feeding them to animals, -
2:28 - 2:30and all of that inefficiency,
-
2:30 - 2:33let's grow those plants,
let's biomimic meat with them, -
2:33 - 2:34let's make plant-based meat.
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2:35 - 2:38Idea number two: for actual animal meat,
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2:38 - 2:40let's grow it directly from cells.
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2:40 - 2:43Instead of growing live animals,
let's grow the cells directly. -
2:44 - 2:47It takes six weeks to grow
a chicken to slaughter weight. -
2:47 - 2:49Grow the cells directly,
you can get that same growth -
2:49 - 2:51in six days.
-
2:52 - 2:54This is what that looks like at scale.
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2:55 - 2:58It's your friendly
neighborhood meat brewery. -
2:58 - 3:01(Laughter)
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3:01 - 3:03I want to make two points about this.
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3:03 - 3:05The first one is, we believe we can do it.
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3:05 - 3:09In recent years, some companies
have been producing meat from plants -
3:09 - 3:13that consumers cannot distinguish
from actual animal meat, -
3:13 - 3:17and there are now dozens of companies
growing actual animal meat -
3:17 - 3:19directly from cells.
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3:19 - 3:21This plant-based and cell-based meat
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3:21 - 3:23gives consumers everything
that they love about meat -- -
3:23 - 3:25the taste, the texture and so on --
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3:25 - 3:28but with no need for antibiotics
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3:28 - 3:31and with a fraction of the adverse
impact on the climate. -
3:31 - 3:35And because these two technologies
are so much more efficient, -
3:35 - 3:36at production scale
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3:36 - 3:38these products will be cheaper.
-
3:39 - 3:41But one quick point about that --
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3:41 - 3:43it's not going to be easy.
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3:43 - 3:47These plant-based companies have spent
small fortunes on their burgers, -
3:47 - 3:50and cell-based meat has not yet
been commercialized at all. -
3:51 - 3:53So we're going to need all hands on deck
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3:53 - 3:55to make these the global meat industry.
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3:56 - 3:59For starters, we need
the present meat industry. -
3:59 - 4:01We don't want to disrupt
the meat industry, -
4:01 - 4:03we want to transform it.
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4:03 - 4:05We need their economies of scale,
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4:05 - 4:08their global supply chain,
their marketing expertise -
4:08 - 4:10and their massive consumer base.
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4:11 - 4:13We also need governments.
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4:13 - 4:16Governments spend tens of billions
of dollars every single year -
4:16 - 4:18on research and development
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4:18 - 4:21focused on global health
and the environment. -
4:21 - 4:25They should be putting some of that money
into optimizing and perfecting -
4:25 - 4:29the production of plant-based
and cell-based meat. -
4:30 - 4:35Look, tens of thousands of people
died from antibiotic-resistant superbugs -
4:35 - 4:37in North America just last year.
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4:38 - 4:43By 2050, that number is going to be
10 million per year globally. -
4:44 - 4:48And climate change represents
an existential threat -
4:48 - 4:51to huge portions of our global family,
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4:51 - 4:55including some of the poorest people
on the face of the planet. -
4:55 - 5:00Climate change, antibiotic resistance --
these are global emergencies. -
5:00 - 5:05Meat production is exacerbating
these emergencies on a global scale. -
5:05 - 5:08But we are not going
to decrease meat consumption -
5:08 - 5:11unless we give consumers alternatives
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5:11 - 5:15that cost the same or less
and that taste the same or better. -
5:16 - 5:17We have the solution.
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5:17 - 5:21Let's make meat from plants.
Let's grow it directly from cells. -
5:21 - 5:25It's past time that we mobilize
the resources that are necessary -
5:25 - 5:30to create the next global
agricultural revolution. -
5:30 - 5:31Thank you.
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5:31 - 5:35(Applause)
- Title:
- The next global agricultural revolution
- Speaker:
- Bruce Friedrich
- Description:
-
Meat production is destroying the planet and jeopardizing our health -- but people aren't going to eat less meat unless we give them alternatives that cost the same (or less) and that taste the same (or better). In an eye-opening talk, food innovator and TED Fellow Bruce Friedrich shows the plant- and cell-based products that could soon transform the global meat industry -- and your dinner plate.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 05:48
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for The next global agricultural revolution |