Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, learn bog obamb Here in a new
Speaker 1: world of impossible burghers and beyond meat, where eating cicada's
Speaker 1: is considered an actual protein rich option and adopting a
Speaker 1: plant based diet can be a legitimate choice. What do
Speaker 1: we do with all those carnivores and omnivores sleeping on
Speaker 1: the backs of our sofas and chasing squirrels around our backyards?
Speaker 1: How do we ensure that what we feed our pets
Speaker 1: is not only good for them a rich in protein
Speaker 1: and all the nutrients needed to keep them healthy, but
Speaker 1: good for our planet. To as many of us reduce
Speaker 1: our meat intake or opt for more sustainable animal proteins,
Speaker 1: could we do the same for our pets. For the
Speaker 1: article this episode is based on how Stuff Works, spoke
Speaker 1: with Greg Aldrich, a research associate professor and the coordinator
Speaker 1: of the Pet Food Program in the Department of Grain
Speaker 1: Science and Industry at Kansas State University. He said, it's
Speaker 1: all doable. I can formulate a vegetarian diet for a dog.
Speaker 1: I can make a vegan diet for a dog. It's
Speaker 1: just a lot harder to get it all balanced and
Speaker 1: then to get them to like it. The Pet Food
Speaker 1: Institute estimates that more than a hundred and eighty million
Speaker 1: dogs and cats are living in US households, and the
Speaker 1: American Pet Products Association reports that Americans spent more than
Speaker 1: forty two billion dollars on pet foods and treats in alone,
Speaker 1: and all of that is rough on the planet. Paper
Speaker 1: written by u c l A researcher Gregory Oakin found
Speaker 1: that American dogs and cats are responsible, through the food
Speaker 1: they eat, for the release of up to sixty four
Speaker 1: million tons of harmful greenhouse gases each year. But it's
Speaker 1: not as if we're feeding our pets big slabs of
Speaker 1: Brontosaurus ribs and live chickens. Pet foods in the US
Speaker 1: generally have plenty of grains included. Corn is in fact
Speaker 1: the number one ingredient used overall in cat and dog foods,
Speaker 1: according to the North American Renderers Association, but most pet
Speaker 1: foods do have a huge animal component. The reason for
Speaker 1: that is simple. Dogs and cats and you and I
Speaker 1: need protein, and eating meat or meat by products is
Speaker 1: often the best, easiest and cheapest source of protein. Aldrich
Speaker 1: said the dog is an omnivore like humans, eating both
Speaker 1: plants and animals, but their nutritional requirements are such that
Speaker 1: they're easier or better supported nutritionally if they consume animal
Speaker 1: proteins and fats at least part of their diet. And
Speaker 1: the cat we consider to be an obligate, meaning biological carnivore.
Speaker 1: So what am I talking about there? Is it just
Speaker 1: because we label them as carnivores, so thereby we have
Speaker 1: to feed the meat. No, it really comes down to
Speaker 1: some of their nutritional requirements, the metabolic utilization of things
Speaker 1: like amino acids and fatty acids. The dogs and cats
Speaker 1: all riches, saying don't necessarily need meat itself, but they
Speaker 1: do need what's in it, and meat is easier for
Speaker 1: them to digest. So how can we feed so many
Speaker 1: animals who biologically need meat or at least are more
Speaker 1: easily or better fed with meat when the production of
Speaker 1: that meat can be both harmful to the planet and
Speaker 1: to some, especially in the case of industrial farming, morally objectionable.
Speaker 1: It's science to the rescue. Let's talk about cell cultured meat.
Speaker 1: Take for example, Bond Pet Foods, a pet food company
Speaker 1: in Boulder, Colorado that late announced that had produced the
Speaker 1: world's first quote animal free chicken protein to using pet foods.
Speaker 1: Bond took a blood sample from a live chicken, extracted
Speaker 1: the genetic code, then inserted it into the genetic code
Speaker 1: of some food grain yeats. These modified yeast, grown in
Speaker 1: a fermentation tank, according to Bond, Quote, churns out meat
Speaker 1: proteins that are identical to those typically produced on farm
Speaker 1: and field. It's a similar fermentation process that's been used
Speaker 1: for half a century to make enzymes for cheese, but
Speaker 1: Bond is reassembling the process to harvest high quality animal proteins.
Speaker 1: The process produces cell cultured meat, which is basically lab
Speaker 1: manufactured meat without the need or mess of raising and
Speaker 1: killing animals on farms, and Bond is not the only
Speaker 1: company experimenting with it. Another called Because Animals, is using
Speaker 1: a relatively similar process which harvests cells it grows them
Speaker 1: into tissue that can then be used in treats and
Speaker 1: foods for pets. A new era of pet foods made
Speaker 1: with reduced environmental impact, more sustainability, and more responsibility is
Speaker 1: hardly just around the corner, though this new way of
Speaker 1: feeding the household pet is going to take some time.
Speaker 1: The science, for as far as it's advanced, is not
Speaker 1: quite big time yet. For one, manufacturers will have to
Speaker 1: work out the best ways to ramp up the process.
Speaker 1: Large amounts of animal based material, blood or tissue or
Speaker 1: whatever might still be needed, at least initially. Aldridge said,
Speaker 1: whether or not they have got to where they can
Speaker 1: take it to scale, so instead of making a couple
Speaker 1: of grahams making a million pounds, I don't know if
Speaker 1: they've got that all worked out. Yet another question to
Speaker 1: be answered, and not an insignificant one. Once this cultured
Speaker 1: meat is produced, will your pets eat it? Will they
Speaker 1: like it? And furthermore, companies will have to educate the public,
Speaker 1: which may be picky about what goes into Fido's dish.
Speaker 1: They may have to overcome environmentalists and animal rights backers
Speaker 1: who may object still to the use of blood or
Speaker 1: other animal material that makes the base of the new food.
Speaker 1: They'll undoubtedly face stiff competition, as even the big pet
Speaker 1: food makers jockey for position in a market in which good,
Speaker 1: affordable protein is increasingly difficult to come by. The new
Speaker 1: guys will have to make their product affordable. But even
Speaker 1: though this new cell cultured product might not be taking
Speaker 1: over the pet food aisle at your local big box
Speaker 1: store anytime soon. The desire for options in meat, more humane,
Speaker 1: sustainable options is clearly there. Aldrich said it could be
Speaker 1: a viable niche in the marketplace in the next five
Speaker 1: to ten years. As long as we have what is it,
Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty million dogs and cats in the US,
Speaker 1: there's going to be demand for proteins, So any additional
Speaker 1: supply of protein is going to help. Whether or not
Speaker 1: that cell cultured meat becomes mainstream is probably going to
Speaker 1: be a ways away. Today's episode is based on the
Speaker 1: article how lab grown meat could change the pet food
Speaker 1: world on how stuff works dot com, written by John Donovan.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is product of iHeart Radio in partnership with
Speaker 1: hous neffworks dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clay.
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