Food Waste Problem: How Lab Meat Offers Solutions

David Bell
Jun 18
13 min read

Updated: Jun 28

Did you know one-third of all food produced globally is wasted, contributing to 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions? This problem is even worse with meat production, where inefficient processes waste resources like crops, water, and energy. Cultivated meat offers a solution by eliminating wasteful practices in traditional farming and creating meat directly from animal cells.

Key Points:

Meat production inefficiencies: 12% of meat is wasted annually, with livestock consuming 40% of global crops for feed but retaining as little as 3% of caloric value.
Cultivated meat efficiency: Produces only edible parts, uses 99% less land, and can cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 92%.
Economic and ethical benefits: A single cow’s cells can create 175 million burgers, reducing animal deaths and resource waste.

Cultivated meat is transforming the food system by reducing waste, improving sustainability, and offering a scalable alternative to conventional farming. Read on to learn how this technology could reshape the future of food.

Food Waste in Conventional Meat Production

The traditional meat production system is riddled with inefficiencies that lead to significant resource waste at nearly every stage. Livestock farming is responsible for some of the highest losses in the global food supply chain, with estimates suggesting waste levels between 81% and 94% throughout the production process [2]. A major contributor to this waste is the inefficiency of feed-to-meat conversion.

Feed-to-Meat Conversion Inefficiencies

Globally, only about 6% of agricultural dry biomass ends up as food [2], with the rest being lost due to the poor efficiency of converting animal feed into meat. Most of the calories consumed by livestock are used for metabolism or go toward non-edible parts of the animal [3].

Feed Conversion Ratios (FCRs) highlight this inefficiency. For instance, cows require anywhere from 6 to 25 times more feed than the meat they produce. Pigs need between 4 and 9 times more feed, while chickens consume 2 to 5 times the feed required to produce their meat [3]. These figures underscore the pressing need for alternatives, such as cultivated meat, which could bypass such inefficiencies.

Waste from Animal Byproducts

The problem doesn’t end with feed conversion. When animals are slaughtered, a significant portion of their bodies - bones, tendons, skin, blood, internal organs, and gastro-intestinal contents - is often classified as waste [5]. While some of these byproducts could be repurposed, much of it is discarded, leading to lost revenue and increased disposal costs [5].

The composition of meat waste exacerbates the issue. Its high water content (70–95%) makes transportation more expensive, while the fat content is prone to oxidation, causing unpleasant odours [5]. Poor disposal practices for these byproducts can result in environmental and public health challenges, including contamination of air and water near landfill sites [4]. These concerns add to the waste already present in earlier stages of production.

Overproduction and Supply Chain Surplus

The meat industry’s supply chain practices often lead to systematic overproduction, creating additional waste. Retailers and restaurants frequently overstock to prepare for potential demand spikes, which results in surplus meat that often spoils before it can be sold [6]. Factors like inaccurate demand forecasting, improper storage, and temperature fluctuations further contribute to the spoilage of this highly perishable product [6].

In the United States alone, approximately 26% of meat, poultry, and fish is wasted at the retail and consumer levels [6]. This equates to billions of pounds of protein that never reach the dinner table. As Zach Conrad, a postdoctoral nutritionist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, observes:

"Food waste is an issue that plays out at many different levels. Looking at them holistically will become increasingly important to finding sustainable ways of meeting the needs of a growing world population." [7]

From inefficient feed conversion to wasteful processing and flawed supply chain management, the conventional meat industry faces systemic challenges that result in massive resource loss. These inefficiencies highlight the potential of cultivated meat to address these problems and create a more sustainable food system.

How Cultivated Meat Reduces Food Waste

Cultivated meat offers a practical way to tackle inefficiencies in traditional meat production. By cutting down on byproduct waste, tailoring production to demand, and improving resource use, it presents a clear opportunity to minimise food waste.

Reducing Byproduct Waste

Traditional meat production generates a significant amount of non-edible waste. Cultivated meat, on the other hand, focuses solely on producing the desired tissue types, ensuring that nearly every part of the final product is edible [1].

For example, a single bovine tissue sample can generate up to 80,000 quarter-pound burgers, compared to roughly 1,000 burgers from a conventionally raised cow [9]. This represents an 80-fold increase in yield from the same biological starting point.

As researcher Pavan Kumar explains:

"The meat is a novel concept in food biotechnology comprising field of tissue engineering and cellular agriculture. It involves production of edible biomass by culture of stem cells harvested from the muscle of live animals." [8]

Another crucial aspect of cultivated meat is its ability to match production with actual demand, which we’ll delve into next.

Matching Production to Demand

One of the standout benefits of cultivated meat is its precision. Manufacturers can produce exactly what’s needed, reducing the overproduction and spoilage that often occur in traditional meat supply chains [1].

Recent advancements in continuous manufacturing have made this even more achievable. Researchers at Hebrew University developed a bioreactor capable of sustaining 130 billion cells per litre, with daily harvests over a 20-day continuous cycle, achieving a yield of 43% weight per volume [11]. This approach allows manufacturers to adjust production in real time based on market needs.

A study on a hypothetical 50,000-litre facility estimated that cultivated chicken could be produced for £4.70 per pound (about $6.20), aligning with the price of organic chicken [11]. Professor Yaakov Nahmias, who led the research, highlighted:

"Our findings show that continuous manufacturing enables cultivated meat production at a fraction of current costs, without resorting to genetic modification or mega-factories. This technology brings us closer to making cultivated meat a viable and sustainable alternative to traditional animal farming." [11]

Additionally, the research introduced a new animal-free culture medium costing just £0.48 per litre ($0.63), supporting high-density cell cultures over the long term [11].

Better Resource Conversion

Cultivated meat shines when it comes to resource efficiency. While conventional beef requires 5.7–12.7kg of feed for every kilogram of meat produced, cultivated meat could theoretically achieve a feed-conversion ratio of just 0.8kg of input per kilogram of output [12]. This marks a seven to sixteen-fold improvement in efficiency.

This leap is possible because cellular agriculture bypasses the energy-intensive processes of raising animals. In traditional farming, much of the feed consumed by animals is used for basic functions like breathing, movement, and growing non-edible tissues. In contrast, cultivated meat focuses nutrients entirely on producing muscle tissue in bioreactors.

Production Method	Feed Conversion Ratio (kg input/kg output)	Protein Conversion Efficiency
Conventional Beef	5.7–12.7	5.0%
Conventional Swine	3.1	17%
Conventional Broiler	1.9	25%
Cultivated Meat	0.8 (target)	24%

Life cycle assessments show that cultivated meat could lead to 78–96% lower greenhouse gas emissions, 99% less land use, and 82–96% less water consumption compared to traditional meat production [12]. When powered by renewable energy, these reductions become even more dramatic, with greenhouse gas emissions dropping by up to 92% and land use by up to 90%, compared to conventional beef [1].

Ingrid Odegard, Senior Researcher at CE Delft, highlights its potential:

"With this analysis, we show that cultivated meat presents as an achievable low-carbon, cost-competitive agricultural technology that can play a major role in achieving a carbon-neutral food system." [13]

To maximise resource efficiency, companies are exploring hybrid products that combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, employing continuous culture systems to boost cell yields by up to fourfold per reactor volume, and using advanced sensors for real-time optimisation of bioreactor processes [1] [10].

Climate Benefits of Cultivated Meat

Cultivated meat offers a promising way to reduce waste and lessen its footprint on the planet, paving the way for a more sustainable food system.

Reducing Land and Water Use

Traditional livestock farming demands vast amounts of land and water. Cultivated meat, however, uses significantly fewer resources - requiring up to 99% less land and cutting water use by 78–96% [14][13][15]. To put it into perspective, conventional beef production can use up to 19 times more land than cultivated beef [13].

Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Beyond conserving resources, cultivated meat also slashes greenhouse gas emissions. The meat industry currently contributes about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with cattle farming producing more emissions than the entire global transport sector [17][14]. For instance, producing just one kilogram of beef can generate emissions equivalent to 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide [18].

When renewable energy powers the process, the environmental benefits become even more striking. Cultivated meat can reduce global warming impacts by 17% for chicken, 52% for pork, and as much as 85–92% for beef [20]. Research from CE Delft suggests that using renewables throughout the supply chain could lower cultivated meat’s carbon footprint to approximately 2.8 kg CO₂eq/kg. This represents a reduction of up to 92% compared to beef, 44% compared to pork, and makes it comparable to chicken [19].

Elliot Swartz, Senior Scientist at the Good Food Institute, offers an optimistic outlook:

"As soon as 2030, we expect to see real progress on costs for cultivated meat and massive reductions in emissions and land use brought about by the transition to this method of meat production." [13]

While these reductions are impressive, tackling the energy demands of production remains a key challenge.

Energy Use Considerations

Despite its environmental advantages, cultivated meat production is energy-intensive, particularly due to the use of bioreactors. The climate impact varies depending on the production approach. For example, lab-grown meat using purified media can have a global warming potential 4–25 times higher than retail beef [16]. However, switching to food-grade ingredients instead of pharmaceutical-grade processes significantly improves the outlook, potentially reducing global warming potential to 80% lower - or at worst, 26% higher - than conventional beef production [16].

Cell culture media remains a major factor, accounting for 50–80% of production costs and environmental impacts [20]. To address this, companies are working on more efficient, food-grade alternatives and situating facilities near renewable energy sources to cut emissions further.

Derrick Risner from the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology explains:

"If companies are having to purify growth media to pharmaceutical levels, it uses more resources, which then increases global warming potential." [16]

Edward Spang, an associate professor in the same department, offers a nuanced view:

"Our findings suggest that cultured meat is not inherently better for the environment than conventional beef. It's not a panacea." [16]

To fully tap into the climate benefits of cultivated meat, ongoing innovation in production methods will be crucial, particularly in addressing its energy demands.

Building a Better Food Future with Cultivated Meat

Making cultivated meat a mainstream option to tackle food waste requires a collective effort from government, industry, and society. The UK is already stepping up as a frontrunner in this area, but achieving its full potential calls for targeted investments and clear, decisive actions.

Using Cultivated Meat in Public Procurement

Public institutions like schools, hospitals, and government canteens serve millions of meals every day, making them an ideal starting point for integrating cultivated meat into the food system. These large-scale operations can benefit from the precision of cultivated meat production, which ensures supply better matches actual consumption, helping to cut down on waste.

The UK government is already laying the foundation for this shift. In October 2024, it allocated £1.6 million to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) through the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund to strengthen safety and standards for cell-cultivated products in the UK market [23]. Professor Robin May, the FSA’s chief scientific advisor, highlights the importance of this initiative:

"Ensuring consumers can trust the safety of new foods is one of our most crucial responsibilities. The cell cultivated products sandbox programme will enable safe innovation and allow us to keep pace with new technologies being used by the food industry to ultimately provide consumers with a wider choice of safe foods." [22]

The FSA is currently reviewing at least four applications for novel cultivated meat products [22]. Early adoption in public settings could normalise these products, showcasing their advantages in reducing food waste. This momentum from the public sector also sets the stage for further investments in research and consumer education.

Supporting Research and Infrastructure

Scaling up cultivated meat production to address food waste effectively hinges on investment in research and infrastructure. According to an Oxford Economics report, building a cultivated meat industry in the UK could add £2.1 billion to the economy and create over 16,500 jobs by 2030 [25]. To support this, the UK government has pledged £2 billion towards research, development, and infrastructure over the next decade [26].

One standout project is the £12 million research hub led by the University of Bath, which focuses on bringing cultivated meat technology closer to commercialisation. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has also significantly increased its funding for alternative proteins, investing more last year than in the entire previous decade [27]. However, the lack of facilities remains a bottleneck for scaling up production [26]. Additional funding for biotechnology and the development of bio-manufacturing facilities could address this gap, creating a more efficient and waste-conscious food system. Research suggests that for every £1 spent on cultivated meat, £2.70 of additional value is generated through related industries [21], highlighting the economic case for government support.

Linus Pardoe, UK Policy Manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, emphasises the opportunity at hand:

"Through smart regulatory reforms and ambitious public investments in research, development and infrastructure, the UK has a golden opportunity to cement its position among the world's most forward-thinking countries in this sector." [26]

Building Consumer Awareness and Education

With progress in public procurement and research, the next hurdle is consumer acceptance. While 60% of consumers may initially hesitate to try cultivated meat, surveys show that providing clear, transparent information can significantly boost support. After learning about its features and potential benefits, nearly two-thirds of consumers express support for the technology [29][30].

To build trust, it’s crucial to highlight personal advantages like improved food safety and public health [28]. Transparency about the production process further reassures sceptical consumers.

Groups like The Cultivarian Society play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between scientific innovation and public understanding. They advocate for cultivated meat as "real meat without slaughter", appealing to those who want to reduce their environmental footprint without giving up familiar foods.

Messaging also matters. Framing cultivated meat as overly processed or artificial can alienate consumers, so it’s better to focus on its practical benefits and contributions to a safer, more sustainable food system. Building acceptance also means engaging with farming communities. Tom MacMillan, Elizabeth Creak Chair in rural policy and strategy at the Royal Agricultural University, explains:

"The message from our research is not [that] farmers are unconcerned, but that this doesn't have to be a polarised debate, and there is potential for cultured meat businesses, farmers and other stakeholders to find synergies and shape the direction of this technology together." [24]

This collaborative approach ensures that cultivated meat can reduce food waste while fostering a more inclusive and sustainable food system. By working together, stakeholders can support informed consumer choices that help minimise waste as this technology continues to evolve.

Conclusion: Cultivated Meat's Role in Tackling Food Waste

The challenge of global food waste calls for bold and effective solutions, and cultivated meat stands out as a key contender. By addressing the inefficiencies of conventional animal farming, this technology offers a more precise and efficient way to produce food[1], potentially reshaping the way we approach our food systems.

Traditional livestock farming is responsible for nearly 20% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions[31]. Cultivated meat, on the other hand, focuses solely on growing edible tissue, cutting out waste from unnecessary animal parts. When powered by renewable energy, it could slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 92% and reduce land use by up to 90% compared to conventional beef[1]. These changes mean less waste at every stage of the food system - whether it’s the resources used in production or the surplus that ends up discarded.

"Cultivated meat is expected to have numerous benefits over conventional animal agriculture by nature of its controlled and more efficient production process." - GFI [1]

The benefits don’t stop at resource efficiency. Cultivated meat also boosts food safety through its tightly controlled production environment, which significantly reduces exposure to pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses. This not only prevents contaminated products from being wasted but also cuts down on the use of antibiotics, lowering the risk of antibiotic resistance and the waste linked to product recalls.

With over 175 companies across six continents now supported by more than £2.4 billion in investments[1], the cultivated meat sector is advancing rapidly. Regulatory approvals in places like Singapore, the United States, Israel, and the UK show that the pathway for this technology is widening. The UK, in particular, is taking a leading role with targeted investments and supportive policies, pushing the food system closer to producing exactly what is needed, precisely when it’s needed.

From government-backed procurement programmes that demonstrate real-world applications to research initiatives aimed at reducing costs, cultivated meat is proving itself as a practical and ethical solution to food waste. For those ready to embrace this change, it offers the chance to support a technology that delivers genuine meat with minimal waste - paving the way for a food system that prioritises efficiency and sustainability.

FAQs

How is cultivated meat more sustainable and efficient than traditional farming?

Cultivated meat presents a resource-conscious and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional farming methods. When powered by renewable energy, it has the potential to slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 92%, shrink land usage by up to 90%, and significantly lower water consumption by 78–96%.

In contrast to conventional farming, which demands extensive amounts of feed, water, and land, cultivated meat operates with far fewer resources and produces less pollution. This forward-thinking approach tackles pressing environmental issues while promoting a more ethical and efficient food production system. By making better use of resources, it supports the UK's efforts to create a greener and more sustainable future.

How could large-scale adoption of cultivated meat impact the UK economy, particularly in terms of jobs and industry growth?

Economic Potential of Cultivated Meat in the UK

The widespread adoption of cultivated meat could provide a substantial boost to the UK economy. Estimates suggest that producing 500,000 tonnes of cultivated meat could generate between 5,000 and 5,500 jobs in production facilities alone. These opportunities would span a variety of roles, ranging from manufacturing positions to specialised roles in advanced biotechnology, helping to build a highly skilled workforce.

Beyond job creation, this sector could become a catalyst for industry growth. Advances in technology and gradual reductions in production costs are expected to follow, making cultivated meat more accessible. By investing in this sector, the UK has a chance to establish itself as a global leader in sustainable food systems. This would not only support economic growth but also promote a more ethical and efficient approach to food production.

How can we encourage people in the UK to try cultivated meat, and why is public awareness important for its acceptance?

Public awareness is crucial in helping people across the UK understand and feel comfortable with cultivated meat. Educating consumers about its safety, role in reducing food waste, and impact on the environment can ease concerns and build trust. It’s all about showing how cultivated meat fits into a more sustainable food system, which can help reduce scepticism and spark genuine curiosity.

When people learn about the ethical benefits and how this innovation supports a greener future, they’re more likely to consider giving it a go. By being transparent and sharing real-world examples of its advantages, we can boost confidence and encourage a shift towards this modern approach to food.