At the annual Food Tech Israel convention held in Tel Aviv on November 7, exhibitors presented samples of hydroponically grown vanilla, reduced sugar, protein bars with all the benefits of breast milk, and a type of pond slag changed with the texture of caviar. and a puff of wheatgrass: the taste of a futuristic gastronomic landscape. But until now, the largest queues were in front of stalls offering more classic display dishes: lamb skewers, shredded beef pitas and miniburgers. Guests at personal tastings ate steaks, roast beef with potatoes, poultry sausages and triangles of sticky grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s enough to make even the most committed carnivore crave a salad.
But it was a scene that even a vegan would enjoy. The cheese was made from microalgae and the roast beef, as succulent and tasty as the genuine one, was made from fermented vegetable proteins. The kebabs, burgers and pull beef were plant-based. From Redefine Meat, the bird and steak, served off-site through SuperMeat and Aleph Farms, respectively, were grown from biopsy stem cells in bioreactors. plant-based opportunities at the coffee stand.
The long-term Israeli food technology, it seems, does not come with animals. Israel is a unique time for the United States in terms of startups and investments when it comes to select protein corporations, which receive nearly a billion dollars from investors since then. A country with the highest poultry consumption consistent with capita, the fourth highest consumption of red meat, and yet home to the highest percentage of vegans in the world, Israel is well placed to incubate a new meat revolution with global ambitions. Three of the world’s 8 most sensible cultured meat corporations have started in Israel, and all 3 (Aleph Farms, Suconsistent with Meat and Believer Meats, as well as newcomer Steakholder Foods, newcomer to the Nasdaq) are in a position to be distributed abroad once local food regulators are consistent. They do not allow sales of lab-grown meat.
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Given its history as a politically isolated state in a water-scarce region, Israel has long been forced to innovate when it comes to its food sector. Between advances in water desalination, greenhouse construction, precision irrigation and hydroponics, the country has become an agro. -Technological power. But it is still not self-sufficient in food. Israel’s poultry and dairy industries meet more than 90% of domestic demand, but they have imported grain that will have to come from: the borders with Lebanon and Syria are closed due to the ongoing conflict, and industry with neighboring Jordan and Egypt is almost non-existent. -existing. due to political tensions similar to its illegal annexation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, a developing population, both in Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, is raising real estate costs and cutting back on arable land. Water scarcity caused by climate change is making irrigating new crops less predictable and more expensive. Here, land is scarce and water is expensive. That’s why we want to innovate,” says Didier Toubia, CEO and co-founder of Aleph Farms. The meat, grown from stem cells in a bioreactor, reduces water intake by up to 78% and land needs by up to 95%, compared to traditional farm animal husbandry.
Aware of the limitations of traditional animal agriculture, the Israeli government promotes select proteins as an engine of economic growth, a generation to mitigate the climate crisis, and an asset to food security. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first head of government in the world to publicly flavor cultured meat, tasting steak from Aleph Farms on December 7, 2020. “It’s delicious and guilt-free, I can’t feel the difference,” he said, vowing that “Israel will be a powerhouse for select meat and protein. “President Isaac Herzog tried the cultivated bird nearly a year later, becoming the first and so far the only president to do so. In April of this year, the Israel Innovation Authority invested $18 million in a newly-grown meat consortium comprised of 14 Israeli corporations and 10 educational labs running in combination to reduce prices and increase production. And in September, the government declared that “food generation, with a concentrate on select proteins” was one of R’s five national priorities.
In terms of government aid for the fledgling industry, Israel is only compared to Singapore, which was the first country to allow the sale of farmed poultry produced through the American start-up GOOD Meat (then known as Eat Just) in December 2020. But Singapore lags behind Israel in clinical studies and development, says Nir Goldstein, managing director of GFI Israel. Part of Israel’s progress is due to the looming sense of urgency: “We perceive that Israel’s contribution to the war on climate substitution is possibly due to protein innovation. “He says, however, much of the industry’s good fortune is due to natural chutzpah, according to the founders of several select protein companies. “We grow up in demanding situations and conflicts, so the Israeli mentality is about solving problems. This leads to innovation,” says Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods. It only needs Israel to follow Singapore’s example and push for regulatory approval of advertising sales. He has no doubt that cultured meat does well in Israel.
According to a 2017 survey, the highest recent available, 5% of Israelis are vegan, 8% are vegetarian, and an additional 23% said they were looking to reduce their meat consumption. Even the Israeli army provides vegan meals, leather-free boots, and wool-free berets to its recruits. And while cultured meat, which is genuine meat minus the slaughter, may not appeal to those who have given up animal products entirely, it is more likely to appeal to a population that is already conscious of waste, the effects of weather and inhumane treatment. of industrial farming. Jewish legislation related to the slaughter of kosher meat, as well as prohibitions on mixing meat and milk, keep consumers aware of where their food comes from, even if they are not specifically religious, says Yonatan Golan, chief executive of Brevel, which makes a cheese factory based on microalgae. “In Judaism, you have to wait several hours between eating milk and meat, so you have to be ahead with your dessert. Or maybe you need to innovate with your dinner because you need to eat that creamy dessert. This creates a total innovation ecosystem and an opening to see new things.
It remains to be seen whether or not a cultured beef burger served with plant-based cheese would pass Judaism’s strictest nutritional laws. But focusing on climate-friendly foods that prevent animal suffering follows another guiding principle of Judaism, says Yoav Reisler, senior director. Use the word Tikkun Olam, in Hebrew for “repair the global,” which is used in reference to social actions. “Cultured meat is one of the answers to correcting the global for a greater purpose. “