The Future of Food

Cultivated meat, precision fermentation, and vertical farming are no longer science fiction. Here's what the next 20 years of food technology look like — and what it means for animals, the planet, and veganism.

Cultivated meat

Cultivated meat (also called lab-grown, cell-cultured, or clean meat) is real animal muscle tissue grown from cells — without slaughtering the animal. Here's how it works:

1. A small biopsy of cells is taken from a living animal (painlessly)
2. Cells are placed in a bioreactor with nutrients and growth factors
3. Cells multiply and differentiate into muscle, fat, and connective tissue
4. The result is real meat — biologically identical to conventional meat

Singapore approved cultivated chicken for sale in 2020 (the first country in the world). The United States approved cultivated chicken in 2023, with Upside Foods and GOOD Meat receiving USDA approval. The EU is progressing through its novel foods approval process.

Precision fermentation

Precision fermentation uses microorganisms (yeast, bacteria, fungi) that have been programmed with specific DNA to produce exact proteins, fats, and other compounds. This allows the production of:

• Dairy proteins without cows — companies like Perfect Day and Remilk produce casein and whey proteins identical to those in cow's milk, using yeast fermentation. These are used in cheese, ice cream, and other dairy products that are otherwise vegan.
• Egg proteins without hens — Clara Foods produces egg white proteins via fermentation.
• Animal fats without animals — Yali Bio and others produce animal-identical fats from fermentation.
• Specific nutrients — Vitamin B12, heme protein (used in the Impossible Burger), and various flavour compounds.

We're going to make the use of animals in food production obsolete. It's just a technology problem, and technology problems get solved.

Vertical farming

Vertical farms grow crops in stacked, climate-controlled indoor environments using LED lighting and hydroponic systems. They can produce:

• Year-round produce independent of climate
• Up to 10× the yield per square metre of conventional farming
• Crops with no pesticides, no soil degradation, and minimal water use
• Facilities located near urban centres, reducing transport emissions

Companies like Plenty, AppHarvest, and Bowery Farming are scaling rapidly. Costs are falling as LED efficiency improves and automation advances. By 2030, vertical farming is expected to be cost-competitive with conventional farming for leafy greens and herbs.

Algae: the overlooked superfood

Algae is one of the most promising but least glamorous food technologies. It:

• Grows rapidly in water without agricultural land
• Produces complete protein (spirulina is 60–70% protein by dry weight)
• Produces EPA and DHA omega-3 (the source for all commercial algae omega-3 supplements)
• Requires 20× less land than soy to produce equivalent protein
• Can be grown in saltwater or wastewater

Fermented algae protein is currently used in animal feed; human food applications are scaling. Companies like Sophie's BioNutrients are developing algae protein products for human consumption.

The 2030–2040 roadmap

• 2025: Cultivated meat available in select restaurants in US and Singapore. Precision fermentation dairy in mainstream products.
• 2028: Plant-based meat at price parity with conventional meat in most markets (cost reduction through scale).
• 2030: EU approval for cultivated meat. Fermentation-derived proteins in 15–20% of dairy products in developed markets.
• 2035: Alternative proteins capture 11% of global meat market (McKinsey estimate). First countries with mandatory environmental labelling on food.
• 2040: Alternative proteins at price parity with conventional in most categories. Animal agriculture begins significant decline in developed markets.