New Documentary Highlights Lab-Grown “Clean” Meat

Memphis Meats—a Silicon Valley-based meat alternative startup with the mission to end the slaughter of animals for food through technology—is the subject of the new documentary Meat the Future. The film follows the company—which uses a small amount of animal cells to “grow” meat—as it tests, researches, fundraises for, and finally, cooks and launches its first product, a meatless meatball. Featuring the Good Food Institute (GFI) and directed by Liz Marshall of Ghosts in Our Machine, the film poses questions such as “Is [engineered meat] a solution to climate change, world hunger, and the abysmal treatment of factory farmed animals?” and,  “Will consumers want it, or is it Frankenfood?” GFI Executive Director Bruce Friedrich believes Memphis Meats’ efforts will solve the global dilemma of feeding the rising population by 2050, replacing what he says is “the climate nightmare that is animal agriculture.” Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that he believes his product to be the meat of the future. “We plan to do to the meat industry what the car did to the horse and buggy,” Valeti said. “Cultured meat will completely replace the status quo and make raising animals to eat them simply unthinkable.” The trailer for Meat the Future is currently available for viewing online while the film wraps up production and prepares for a theatrical release.