{"id":28686,"date":"2020-03-03T11:58:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T17:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?p=28686"},"modified":"2020-03-05T07:32:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T13:32:29","slug":"a-new-meat-economy-to-be-discussed-at-the-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/a-new-meat-economy-to-be-discussed-at-the-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo\/","title":{"rendered":"A new meat economy to be discussed at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo"},"content":{"rendered":"
Traditional agriculture, celebrated annually by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo<\/a>, could be altered by a new meat economy.<\/p>\n While carnival goers, fried-food aficionados and concert attendees flock to the rodeo, which runs March 3 through March 22, scholars and industry leaders will meet to discuss the science, policy, business and future of meat.<\/p>\n The International Livestock Congress (ILC)<\/a> convenes at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo every year. This year\u2019s meeting, \u201c2020 Meat: A Health Food that is Good for Mankind and the Environment\u2014A Global Perspective<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0will include sessions on nutrition, international trade, the carbon footprint of cattle and a five-year action plan for beef.<\/p>\n Why does beef need an agenda? Because the meat industry faces increasing competition from plant-produced foods and, now, cell-based products. While it\u2019s playing offense on some fronts, the industry needs to play defense for its brand and business, said ILC board member H. Russell Cross, Ph.D.<\/a>, an animal science professor at Texas A&M University<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t lose that word \u2018meat.\u2019 These\u00a0fake products\u2014plant products\u2014shouldn\u2019t be able to use the word,\u201d said Cross, referring to veggie-based \u201cmeat\u201d products from brands including Impossible Foods<\/a> and Beyond Meat<\/a>, makers of the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger, respectively.<\/p>\n Cross uses the term \u201cgenuine beef\u201d when discussing meat from cows.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some key essential amino acids that you don\u2019t find in plants,\u201d said the professor, who worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a> in Washington, D.C., as the administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service<\/a> and also served as president of the American Meat Science Association<\/a>. \u201cEven the cell-based meats can\u2019t produce those essential amino acids.\u201d<\/p>\n Nutrition scientist Teresa Davis, Ph.D.<\/a>, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine<\/a>\u2019s Children\u2019s Nutrition Research Center<\/a> and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Nutrition<\/em>, is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at\u00a0the meeting about the role of meat in the diet. Davis serves on the 2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee<\/a>, which is currently reviewing scientific evidence for the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Economic and technological transitions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The transition to plant-based and cell-produced \u201cmeat\u201d options translates to business opportunities won and lost, said Jan Dutkiewicz, Ph.D.<\/a>, a postdoctoral fellow in political science at Johns Hopkins University<\/a>.<\/p>\n A veggie burger is a meat facsimile that serves consumers\u2019 purposes for taste, texture and culture, but the question of nutrition \u201cis not entirely settled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition, health concerns about plant products with soy-based ingredients abound, said the political economist, who published\u00a0a November 2019 essay called \u201cThe Modern Meaning of Meat\u201d<\/a> in The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n \u201cThe meat folks are saying that a product that does not come from the carcass of an animal should not be called meat,\u201d Dutkiewicz said. \u201cHistorically, we\u2019ve called all kinds of things meat. We called coconut meat \u2018meat\u2019 and nobody has a problem with that.\u201d<\/p>\n The plant-based industry often touts their smaller environmental footprint. Their products require far less water, less arable land and have a lower inherent greenhouse gas emissions profile.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have cows emitting methane,\u201d Dutkiewicz said. \u201cPeople who make their living producing beef from cows\u00a0would be concerned about a competitor who is competing for the same market share with a product that they are claiming is the same, calling it the same and claiming it is nutritionally equivalent. I understand the concern from a business perspective for ranchers and cattle people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cell-based meat?<\/strong><\/p>\n While plant-based producers have no need for the cattle industry, cellular agriculture<\/a> creates analogs for animal-sourced foods.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s real meat by any biological definition\u2014it\u2019s just produced differently,\u201d Dutkiewicz said.<\/p>\n