Barnstaple, UK, residents invited to discuss cultivated meat

Cultured meat has made headlines in recent years as people look for more ethical and less environmentally harmful ways to produce and consume meat.

More countries have made it legal to sell this meat for human consumption, with approval for some companies in the EU, Israel, Singapore and the USA. Earlier this year cultured pet food became legal in the UK and there are currently servals applications under review to sell cultured meat for human consumption.

As cultured meat comes closer to being on the shelves of our supermarkets, a scientist, a social researcher, and an artist are giving the people of Barnstable, Devon (UK), the chance to tell them what they think of cultured meat. The free drop-in session will be hosted at Barnstaple Guildhall, located on 'Butchers Row', a road which for a century had only butchers trading on it.

Dr Neil Stephens is a  and has been studying the politics and ethics of cultured meat since 2008. “Cultured meat is an early-stage technology that seeks to reconfigure our food system by producing meat in a radically new way - without slaughtering animals - that targets producing meat with lower environmental impact, potentially better health outcomes, and less animal slaughter. However, there are many uncertainties about its technical feasibility, and significant controversies about its impact on society, both globally and in the UK.

“We want to talk about this with the people of Devon, in an area with a long tradition of livestock farming, to hear what people think about cultured meat, whether they would buy it, and what impact they feel it might have.”

Dr Stephens will be joined by Dr Petra Hanga, a chemical engineer from University College London who is researching the vats that cultured meat would be grown in, and Naomi Hart, a Devon-based artist who will be facilitating the discussions with the people of Barnstaple and responding to them through arts and collage-based practice.

The free drop-in session is running at Barnstaple Guildhall on Saturday 21 September (11am-3pm).

Petra Hanga added, “This is a great opportunity to contribute directly to research being done in the area of cultured meat. We are really looking forward to talking to the people of Barnstaple and hearing the wide range of opinions that people will have about this topic.”