Leading the whey: the synthetic milk startups shaking up the dairy industry

[sl8]

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/sep/18/leading-the-whey-the-synthetic-milk-startups-shaking-up-the-dairy-industry

Leading the whey: the synthetic milk startups shaking up the dairy industry

Lab-grown dairy products, touted as the environmentally friendly option, have the potential to become major disruptors

Donna Lu
Sat 17 Sep 2022 16.00 EDT

In 1931, Winston Churchill predicted the rise of animal-free food. Then an opposition MP in his wilderness years, Churchill wrote an essay that imagined life in 50 years’ time. “Synthetic food will, of course, be used in the future,” he wrote.

The artificial stuff would “be practically indistinguishable from the natural products, and any changes will be so gradual as to escape observation,” Churchill wrote. “Microbes, which at present convert the nitrogen of the air into proteins by which animals live, will be fostered and made to work under controlled conditions just as yeast is now.”

Though several decades later than envisaged, Churchill’s prediction has been borne out by the development of lab-grown meat and, more recently, animal-free dairy products.

Synthetic milk has emerged as a new potential alternative to cow’s milk, one that – unlike plant-based oat, nut and soy milks – purports to replicate its taste, appearance and mouthfeel. Described by experts as the future of milk, it has been touted as an environmentally friendly option that may shake up the dairy industry – and leave small-scale farmers in the lurch.

[...]

[Ray Bruns]

1. "Soylent green is people!"

[3Hotdogs]

2. Soylent Green is great.

Walmart had a sale last week. I bought a can of it.

I’m going back tomorrow for more. Kinda tastes like chicken.

[Ray Bruns]

8. LOL

[3Hotdogs]

3. Raising dairy cattle is fucked. NJ, in 1990,

There were 5 farms with more than 500 head. There were two processing plants, Johanna in Flemington and Clinton in Newark.

All are gone.

People are drinking less milk.

[GregariousGroundhog]

4. People are indeed drinking less milk, but they are also eating more dairy

Per Capita Milk consumption fell from 197 pounds per person in 2000 to 141 pounds per person in 2020. During that same time, dairy product consumption increased from 591 pounds per person to 655 pounds per person.

People are drinking less milk, but eating more yogurt, cheese, and ice cream.

Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/184240/us-per-capita-consumption-of-fluid-milk-products/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183717/per-capita-consumption-of-dairy-products-in-the-us-since-2000/

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Trans fats were the solution too

Fad diets that stress the kidneys. Fake meat. GMO's. Autoimmune disease. Celiac. IBS. Leaky gut.

Ancestral diets were local, organic. The cows ate grass. The goats and chickens roamed. Test tube food does not roam.

Don't talk to me about synthetic food. If it were good a diet of vitamin pills and hot dogs would work fine. It doesn't.

[Takket]

6. We made the switch to almond milk several years ago

My wife is REALLY allergic to dairy. I never drank milk. Thought it tasted gross. But I like the almond milk and there are more and more dairy free products every day.

I hope these synthetic products work out as well. It would be nice to live in a world one day where we can shutter the doors on the slaughterhouses for good.

I doubt it will happen in my lifetime but in 50 years or so maybe it will be market viable.

[GuppyGal]

7. Awesome !!!!