Future of Protein Production
While some point to lab-grown and plant-based meat and poultry products as the future of protein consumption, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says that while the markets for plant and cell-based proteins may grow, traditional livestock producers will continue to feed the US and the world. He says it’s essential for his agency to help the livestock industry tell its environmental story.
Vilsack: “To the extent that we can help the livestock animal industry get to a net-zero emission world where we essentially reduce methane through appropriate feed additives, we capture methane and convert it into energy and fuel, when we take manure and convert it into a multitude of other products that prevent it from being stored or going into a landfill or being over-applied, we essentially create a much better story for the animal protein industry to be able to tell here in the US and globally.”
Vilsack speaking during an online event hosted by the Farm Journal.
The USDA has opened a 60-day comment period regarding the labeling of meat and poultry products made with cultured cells.
The USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Services says it needs specific types of comments and information from stakeholders that will inform the process of creating labeling regulations for lab-grown meat and poultry products.
More information on that at USDA.gov.
