Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Cellular agriculture will reinforce power asymmetries in food systems

Nature Food volume 3, pages 798–800 (2022) Cite this article

Subjects

Industry and governments are increasingly investing in cellular agriculture. However, the trajectory of these technologies is likely to reinforce many current food system problems, particularly power asymmetries.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Firm relationships in the cellular meat and fish industry.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

References

  1. Howard, P. H., Ajena, F., Yamaoka, M. & Clarke, A. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 5, 684181 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chiles, R. M. et al. Agric. Hum. Values 38, 943–961 (2021).

  3. Guthman, J., Butler, M., Martin, S. J., Mather, C. & Biltekoff, C. Nat Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00532-9 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hendrickson, M. K. Agric. Hum. Values 37, 579–580 (2020).

  5. Clark, J. K., Conley, B. & Raja, S. Food Policy 103, 102014 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Poinski, M. Eat Just announces plans for commercial-scale cell-based meat facility. Food Dive https://go.nature.com/3etr76y (2022).

  7. Helliwell, R. & Burton, R. J. F. Rural Stud. 84, 180–191 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Palmer, E., Burton, R. & Gottschamer, L. Cleaner Prod. 358, 131709 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chriki, S. & Hocquette, J. F. Front. Nutrition 7, 7 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Poirier, N. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 6, 907621 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lonkila, A. & Kaljonen, M. Agric. Hum. Values 38, 625–639 (2021).

  12. Ransom, E. Rural Stud. 86, 694–701 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Erkkola, M. et al. PLoS Sustain. Transform. 1, e0000015 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. York, R. Nat. Sustain. 4, 766–768 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 (FAO, 2021); https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4474en

  16. Cloke, J. Geogr. Compass. 7, 622–636 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Sexton, A. E., Garnett, T. & Lorimer, J. Environ. Plan. E 2, 47–72 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  18. From Uniformity to Diversity: A Paradigm Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Diversified Agroecological Systems (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, 2016).

  19. Levidow, L. & Paul, H. Capital. Nat. Soc. 22, 27–51 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bezner Kerr, R. et al. Glob. Food Sec. 29, 100540 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Money Flows: What is Holding Back Investment in Agroecological Research for Africa? (Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development & International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, 2020).

  22. Bennett, A. et al. Ambio 50, 981–989 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Petersen-Rockney, M. et al. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 5, 564900 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fakhri, M. Vision for the Right to Food Mandate (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, 2020).

  25. Howard, P. H. Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat? (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Philip H. Howard

Authors
  1. Philip H. Howard
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip H. Howard.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Food thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Howard, P.H. Cellular agriculture will reinforce power asymmetries in food systems. Nat Food 3, 798–800 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00609-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00609-5

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing