XPrize Announces Competition to Create Alternative Lab-Grown Chicken and Fish

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 08 December 2020, 09:12 am

Non-profit organization XPrize is now aiming to help the future of food security, environment and create a sustainable agriculture by investing on alternative meats instead of the traditional ones.

The newly announced contest, "Feed the Next Billion", carries the ambition of reshaping the global meat industry by encouraging the development of fish and chicken alternatives.

XPrize to reshape the meat industry

By 2050, the global population is predicted to increase to 10 billion, which is almost double than today's population of 7.7 billion. Experts are now questioning about its impact on the current agricultural practices and they are now worried that it may cause food shortage.

Producing enough food for the population will result in serious consequences to the world's natural ecosystems and wildlife if the traditional way is continued, which is why experts are now looking at ways to get protein from alternative sources.

Also Read: Lab-Grown Meat Gets Regulatory Oversight As FDA, USDA Team Up To Oversee Cell-Cultured Food Products

Lab-grown meats such as those from Eat Just and Impossible Foods, whose cultured chicken was recently approved for sale in Singapore, are just some of the examples of how technology can replicate the taste, look and texture of real meat. The "Feed the Next Billion" competition by XPrize includes doing the exact same thing, by creating lab-grown chicken and fish.

The winning teams will have to produce consistent cuts of meat that cook and taste like real chicken and fish and has the same nutritional amount.

The alternative meats must have a lower environmental footprint than traditional meats and the winning teams must be able to demonstrate how the production can be scaled up for distribution around the world.

Peter H. Diamandis, the founder of XPrize, said that billions of people will desire high quality protein as a food source, but Earth is incapable is providing this with traditional livestock. A sustainable and scalable methodology is required.

Diamandis added that XPrize "Feed the Next Billion" wants to create poultry and fish that is sustainable, affordable and more nutritious, and a lower cost than mechanisms now in place. Numerous companies will now focus on driving breakthroughs in this vital and important area to help feed the people.

The registration for "Feed the Next Billion" is open from December 8, 2020 until April 28, 2021, with the winners of the competition to be announced in 2024.

Benefits of alternative meat

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, meat demand is growing fast and it is expected to be 70% higher in 2050.

People have already used the majority of farmland for livestock rearing and water scarcity is also a growing issue to which livestock contributes a lot. There won't be enough land and water to increase meat production by 70% and keep everyone in the world fed.

This means that people have to reduce the consumption of meat, or to find a more efficient way to produce it. Cultured meat, or lab-grown meat, will use up to 99% less land and 96% less water. This will make it possible to give the growing population real meat in a sustainable way.