Could China lead the world into a different food future?

Over the last forty years, China’s meat consumption rocketed as the economy developed, but the country could be looking at very different consumption habits in future – ones that have the potential to reshape the world beyond its borders.

Why it matters 

• Worldwide interest in alternative protein sources, whether plant-based or cell-based, is growing as the environmental costs of meat production become evident. 
• The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the health risks from the spread of zoonotic diseases that industrial farming makes more likely.
• Trade disputes can raise issues around food security for individual countries which are becoming disposed to investment in this area. 

Why China

• The government is aiming to halve meat consumption by 2030 in order to tackle both pollution and obesity.
• Domestic makers of plant-based proteins are ramping up their efforts in expectation of some form of state support, whether that’s in the form of tax breaks and free production space or contracts to supply state schools (some private schools already serve only meat alternatives).
• There is scope for the sort of protein-synthesis techniques used in other industries to be repurposed for food.

Key quote

“We’re starting from scratch here. So why can’t China create brands and have a seat on the table for what the future of food is going to be?” – Frank Yao, founder of meat substitute Z-Rou.

Sourced from Time, WARC