How will this work itself out? A few large companies owning the supply-side of lab meat? Government legislation to prevent people from raising animals for food? Lab-meat for city folk, and regular meat for rural folk?
It's an interesting question. At Infinite Food[0] we believe the key thing we can certainly bet on is change, so we're building supply chains that support both conventional and emerging proteins, and total end customer transparency. We then expect to develop a sideline in assisting emerging protein providers analyzing the market response to new products as they emerge, in different sub-market demographics.
Wild, conventionally farmed, locally raised, imported, free range, organic, insect, lab-grown, algae or plant-based proteins all have strong economic, ethical, environmental, technical or health arguments... and limitations!
Agreed. If you come up with any ideas let me know :) Seriously though, in a 'software person does hardware' scenario, is aiming for a generic and modular solution not the de-facto approach?
Or how will it work for our pets and the pet food industry?
Cats are obligate carnivores and dogs are scavenging carnivores. They need real meat to survive and thrive. People with pet snakes also need to feed their snakes meat.
When it comes to designer meats I think there will always be a really _high end_ market for exotic meats, 'dangerous' meats, or chef-designed custom recipes for making meat that isn't like anything tasted before.
Wild, conventionally farmed, locally raised, imported, free range, organic, insect, lab-grown, algae or plant-based proteins all have strong economic, ethical, environmental, technical or health arguments... and limitations!
[0] http://infinite-food.com/