Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World Paperback – April 9, 2024

A little relevant background information on me so you know where I'm approaching this book from. I've been a vegetarian for about 5 years, first started because of health related reasons (with disgusting conditions of meat) after seeing a documentary called "What The Health". Then I became more emboldened with my passion towards sustainability with my initial interest in Tesla and my learning of the inefficiencies of animal agriculture. Finally, with having some new pets in the home I've grown quite close to, I have grown to care deeply about the treatment of the animals as well. I have spent the past 8 months or so reading everything I can related to alternative proteins, almost everything published from the Good Food Institute and some other resources, so cultivated meat was not an entirely new concept for me.My favorite parts of the book were the historical dives on the different industries and processes. I thought this was really eye opening and put everything in context. For instance, the explanation of the whale oil industry, and how quickly kerosene came to replace it really can motivate one to the potential of how quickly an industry can change if the right product is introduced. I found this incredibly inspiring.I always have hesitance when I read about some of the animal agriculture conditions in these factories. On the one hand, I know some people cannot handle the information, and will turn their brains off and they won't hear anything after that, but these may not be the audience reading Paul Shapiro’s book. I know personally for many years when I heard about these conditions I would immediately turn my brain off because I wasn't prepared to hear about it and I wasn't really interested in taking the effort to change my diet. I'd imagine if someone is picking up this book they are more open to changing their diet and are seeking out the information, so it may be appropriate to give them the good, bad, and the ugly. With that said, the descriptions of the animal agriculture conditions, such as chickens in places so tight they can't open their wings, covered in fecal material, so heavy they can barely walk without falling over, and constantly pushed against other chickens, was absolutely gut-wrenching. I had a strong reaction and it literally brings tears to my eyes. I will never forget it. So I think it was a hard, but good decision to keep some descriptions of these factories in this book, even with as hard as it may be to read it.I loved the section talking about GMOs and how like most technology it can be used for good or bad. Golden rice and insulin being absolutely essential examples of it being used for good. Also, I don't remember if this was included in the book, but I believe that I read somewhere that 10,000 pigs used to be slaughtered for 1 kg of insulin (22,000 pigs per lb). In addition to reducing the massive slaughter, we also got incredible human benefits from being able to produce it through fermentation (such as having the actual human insulin instead of pig based insulin), so that was a great example of using GMOs for good. I'm also incredibly happy for the success of Impossible Foods so we have a large champion for GMOs that people may be more willing to trust than the traditional agriculture companies.I understand the focus of this book may have been around cultivated meat, and I remember towards the middle and end it opened up a discussion towards some fermentation (such as GMO processes mentioned previously), but I hope if there is ever a future edition, the author can really get into the weeds of the different fermentation processes to make alternative proteins and also some of the new plant-based methods people are using to make meat like textures and tastes. I think there are a lot of exciting processes out there that a reader of this book would also likely be interested in. From biomass fermentation of these different fungi, to the potential to make fats and proteins through precision fermentation, to anything in between.All-in-all, I think it was a great introduction to clean meat and hope to see future editions expanded to encompass the entire alternative protein industry. Either way, it's a great first read for someone trying to learn more about this industry. Thanks to Paul for writing the book and all the other work you've done in the industry. You've really helped significantly accelerate the industry, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Paul Shapiro's "Clean Meat" is a groundbreaking work that showcases the author's insightful and thought-provoking exploration of cellular agriculture's potential to transform the food system.

Help to save animals from needless slaughter and suffering.

Shapiro cleanly summarizes the industry and organizations that are working in the clean meat space. The book does not dive deep into the science, though some of it is there, but does look at the major investors that have helped to develop clean meat and the cellular agriculture over the past decade. For such a potentially breakthrough technology there is a surprisingly small group of companies and individuals working on commercializing the technology though that is changing rapidly.Hopefully the book stands to be a strong historical narrative of how the early days of the industry formed, though there is no doubt that the events chronicled in it will quickly be outdated. Even since the printing of the book at least two of the major players highlighted in it (Tyson Foods and Memphis meets) have announced collaborations, via Tyson funding Memphis, that would have been worth noting had it happened only a few months prior.Overall Shapiro also does a good job of avoiding a "preachy tone", and does not appear to demonize or crimalize everyone involved in the existing industry or meat eaters as a whole. Instead the book highlights countless observations where progress and the status quo have lead to questionable and unsustainable practices and lets the author draw their own conclusions. If you were someone driven to pick it up it is unlikely you will come away enthusiastic about your next meat eating experience, unless of course you are one of the lucky ones who will be dining on cultured meat.

Growing food to feed animals destined for the slaughterhouse is a grossly inefficient process, using seventy percent of all agricultural land and thirty percent of all land on Earth. Peoples of the Third World are experiencing rapid improvement in their living standard, leading to increased demand for meat. Earth’s ecology cannot support the further confiscation of land to accommodate this demand. Clean meat, produced by the direct growth of animal tissue (started with biopsies that do not harm the few animals involved) will be far more efficient and will occupy far less land to grow the foods to support the tissue growth. Meat in this context includes the flesh of sea creatures which have been over-harvested to the point that many species are threatened with extinction. That too can be reversed. Reversion of farmland to wilderness (with compensation for farmers) will play a major role in solving our world ecological crisis.Slaughterhouse meats are inherently filthy. Animals brought to the slaughterhouse typically defecate in their terror of what they are experiencing. Food regulations call for some minimal level of fecal contamination (and the associated e.coli, salmonella, etc.)—zero is impossible. But there is no fecal matter in clean meats. In crowded factory farms antibiotics are administered to prevent infections that may kill the entire herd. This leads to a residue of antibiotics in the dirty meats. Agricultural misuse is the primary cause of the rise of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and the creation of lethal strains. Universal adoption of clean meats could greatly ameliorate the problem of bacterial resistance and save many lives. The annual flu epidemic is an artifact of animal agriculture and may cease with its termination.Animals raised for the slaughterhouse live in unremitting misery, in filth, overcrowded together to the point that they cannot move. Their miserable existence ends in the terror of slaughter. These are conscious creatures. Worldwide clean meat production from tissue growth can end this moral abomination. We cannot fully empathize with creatures we consume as food. The freedom to fully experience that empathy will support the ongoing civilization of the human species.Market forces will drive this project forward at an accelerating rate. The inherent efficiencies of tissue growth compared to animal agriculture will lead to the production of clean meats substantially less expensive than chicken. But the choice of the seed tissues will not affect the price, so we may expect an initial concentration on products equivalent to currently expensive luxuries—from lobster tail to fois gras to Kobe beef filet mignon. The developers assert their intention not to bring their products to market until they can match or exceed comparative taste tests with the products of animal agriculture. They will have great flexibility in the production process. Conventional meats are not known as “health foods” because of their fat profiles. But there are healthy fats in nature, and these will be employed by the clean meat producers. Shoppers around the world will become fully knowledgeable of the comparative qualities of clean meats versus slaughterhouse meats, as well as the moral costs of the slaughterhouse. With this knowledge together with the great price advantage of clean meats, we may expect and hope that clean meat production will supplant the slaughterhouse globally as quickly as the scaling up of clean meat production may be technically accomplished.I hope you will be as inspired by Paul Shapiro’s Clean Meat as I have been.

Soooo not going to lie, I was a wee bit sceptical when I read this just with regard to the "jetsons/tech saviour complex" that so many companies and people are following and promoting/attune to these days. But Paul lays it out for you in basic layman terms regarding the potential future of food and what can be accomplished, as well as what is at stake. No BS, just straight to it. If he doesnt know, he says so. For a person who has been involved in the meat and seafood industry for 16 years, it's a very shocking yet refreshing view on what the future could be as long as your conscience allows you to be a part of it.

I have been reading and listening to podcasts about the plantbased food industry for a while. I came across Shapiro in some random interviews and videos, and you could see he had a long-standing experience in the area. I bought this book and I have enjoyed it all along, did not bore me one second. Easy to read with good examples, very objective providing different points of view and explaining in detail the current situation of the sector. An encouraging and at the same time realistic book for entrepreneurs. I found it very useful for those who are in the food industry and mandatory for those who are in the alternative protein market. For sure I will read it again!

Questo è un libro che chiunque dovrebbe leggere per ragionare sul futuro dell'umanità. Indipendentemente dalle proprie abitudini alimentari. Speriamo lo traducano presto in Italiano.

The depth of knowledge is immense . Paul knows in detail about whats happening in the lab meat scenario . The book also tells us about how animal rearing is conttibuting for global warming and humans need to change in order to sustain . Great job paul . Eagerly awaiting to meet you somewhere someday .

The development of lab/cultured/clean (take your pick) meat is fascinating and important - up there in importance with weening ourselves off fossil fuels (not to mention the ethics of industrial meat farming). Not too many are aware of what's going on behind the scenes (largely in Silicon Valley) or of the revolution that could be coming, but this book gives a perfect introduction, looking at the work of the key early innovators and companies in the field.