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Chapter 141: Cultured Meat (7)

The second was undoubtedly Mckinney. He proved that it was possible to change the traditional livestock system into a cultured meat system by being the first in the world to show a successful transition to cultured meat. This outstanding real-world example was much more powerful than a lot of rambling debates and lectures.

The third was Tanya Manker, who had a recent surge in popularity. She had already given a lecture predicting a food crisis at a TED conference in the past. However, there was no one to take her seriously in North America, where half the population was obese. It was nothing more than an interesting theory to average citizens, and they just talked about it as gossip for a few days, then forgot about it. At the time, Tanya was advocating for agrarian reform in India and Africa for the relief of the food crisis. However, it was different this time. It was because there was an entirely new way to solve it.

Every market has its tipping point.

Tanya, who was giving three lectures a day, was repeating something she had said countless times before at New York University.

A tipping point is when something starts to change drastically. From that point on, the whole world is affected and a lot of things change irreversibly. Its like the subprime mortgage crisis; it passed its tipping point in September of 2007 when the interest reduction policy came out. The Lehman Brothers went bankrupt as the real estate bubble burst, and the whole world went into a huge, uncontrollable mess, Tanya said. There is a tipping point to the food crisis. If we do not take action now, I believe that point will be ten years from now.

Tanya presented a world map on the screen. Many regions were colored either red or blue.

This map is the worlds calorie data: the calories of food produced in each region minus the calories consumed. Countries colored blue are those that have a surplus of calories and are stockpiling or exporting food, Tanya said. Brazil, India, Europe, and many other places have emerged as a calorie powerhouse over the last forty years; they became countries that are self-sufficient and can stockpile and export food. But China has gone from being an exporter to the worlds top food importer.

She pointed to China. It was so fiercely red that there was an obvious difference compared to the other red countries.

What about the future? Tanya asked. Ten years from now, the combined population from Africa, China, and India will be more than half the worlds population. Will Africa and India, which are still blue, follow China in the future? Or will they maintain the status quo?

There was a dead silence among the audience.

Getting the students attention, Tanya said, There are people who are optimistic about the situation. They believe that India, which has succeeded in the Green Revolution, will continue to be a calorie exporter. But that wont happen.

Tanya slowly walked to the front of the stage.

India and Africa are regions with growing economies and populations. What happens in these countries is that existing people in agriculture will start a new business and the rural areas will become developed and urbanized. The land that can produce food decreases while the population rapidly increases, which makes us race towards the tipping point, Tanya said. Forty years ago, China was also a calorie exporter, just like India and Africa. It is likely that India and Africa will follow in Chinas footsteps.

...

We have developed an artificial intelligence forecasting program, Tanya said. This program analyzes things like world food production and consumption and climate change patterns to predict the future. In 2027, there will be a two hundred fourteen trillion kilocalorie deficit. That means we will need three hundred seventy-nine billion more Big Macs to feed the worlds population. Thats more Big Macs than McDonalds has ever produced, Tanya said. Whats worse is that this isnt even including things like nutrient balance; this is just a calculation of the energy. Not only do we need carbohydrate foods, which can produce a lot of energy from fewer resources, we need high-quality sources of protein as well.

Tanyas lecture was shifting to cultured meat.

When we get close to the tipping point, governments around the world will start destroying traditional livestock industries at a great cost, just like how the U.S. government spent hundreds of billions of tax dollars to keep AIG and the banks afloat during the financial crisis since you cant starve your citizens. They will end up using desperate measures before starving citizens turn to riots and things spiral out of control, Tanya said. Meat production is a huge waste of resources. It takes thirty kilocalories of feed to make one kilocalorie of beef. If we consider the opportunity cost of the land resources that produce that feed, weve lost even more energy. The calories of feed used to raise livestock are enough to feed four billion people across the world.

Tanya went on.

There are other problems as well. The traditional livestock industry is a major contributor to deforestation and methane gas production, which accelerates climate change tremendously. Because crop yields plummet exponentially with a one-degree rise in temperature, the traditional livestock industry is having a huge negative impact on food production in the long run. However, its a completely different story if we set up a complete cultured meat facility. There is no environmental degradation or waste of resources. We can use all that land used to produce livestock feed to produce food crops. Cultured meat is the technology we need right now.

* * *

That is ridiculous. Theres a woman who is talking about something like that, right?

Steve from Red Meat, the godfather of the traditional livestock industry, was directly arguing Tanyas point at the University of Pennsylvania.

The traditional livestock industry does not destroy the environment that much. It takes thirty calories of feed to produce one calorie of beef? It takes eight calories to produce one calorie of pork and chicken, Steven said. And the food crisis. Logically, will there ever be a food crisis? I believe that argument comes from a lack of understanding of market economics. If there is going to be a food crisis, the price of food in the world is going to go up. Then, do you think India and Africa will stop producing food and develop their rural areas? India will still be a food exporter.

Steven lectured aggressively.

I dont even know what the AI program that predicted the food crisis is. If they had that kind of technology, they should start something like Google; its baffling that they are looking at food production with that amazing artificial intelligence, Steven said. And isnt it funny that the solution she suggests is cultured meat? Cultured meat? Is she telling us to eat that unknown, grotesque clump of meat that was made in a lab with a bunch of chemicals? It would be more realistic for us to eat cockroaches like in the Snowpiercer. Several protein substitutes like insects or marine resources have been discussed, but cultured meat is a stupid idea.

Steven was shouting to the conservative organizations and students at the University of Pennsylvania. A little ways from there, at Columbia University, Mckinney was giving a lecture.

I have studied market economics for forty years, and I agree with Tanya Mankers argument. The reason is that you cannot revert a land that has already been developed. For example, everyone, lets tear down the Columbia University campus and grow cows here since we dont have enough food, Mckinney said with his arms wide open.

There was laughter among the audience.

We cannot stop the development in India or Africa. The problem is not about market economics; the problem is about the model of development of countries. How do rural areas in America, the best in the world for agriculture and livestock, look like right now? There are less young people, agriculture is losing power, and land is continuing to be developed. India and Africa will inevitably follow that route, Mckinney said. Once land development occurs, it is difficult to go back. How can you grow crops and livestock on land that has been urbanized? Land is bound to keep reducing. And like all of you know, the world population is increasing. Isnt the food crisis inevitable?

With the three people leading the discussion, experts on food and agricultural and livestock industries went all over the United States and gave their lectures. Diego, the CEO of Eat the Green, often moved to support Mckinney while he was busy with commercialization. A significant amount of their lectures were uploaded on YouTube and had a lot of views. Everyone was curious about how this battle would be concluded.

Everything ends on the day that the hearing starts.

At the same time, there was one more thing that people were wondering.

What is Ryu Young-Joon doing?

There was no way he could be this quiet. While rambling debates and spontaneous lectures were happening from all over, Young-Joon hadnt appeared publicly, not even once.

Its because Doctor Ryu is not confident in his cultured meat technology! It is because he does not believe in the food crisis either! Taking the opportunity, Steven shouted whatever he wanted. He just quietly made cultured meat as a meat substitute, but he got scared because the impact was bigger than he thought. And he has a guilty conscience as a scientist because there is no such thing as a food crisis! Doctor Ryu knows that as a scientist; he knows that that third-grade artificial intelligence is useless!

Steven, who finished his lecture, received a round of applause, then started receiving questions. One student raised their hand.

Mr. CEO.

Yes, the female student over there.

Doctor Ryu Young-Joon just published a press release from A-Bio thirty minutes ago.

A press release?

Steven flinched.

* * *

Who could have imagined? When everyone was fighting over cultured meat, Young-Joon was studying something completely different.

Cultured meat? I already created and supplied the technology, and I also suggested a solution to change industries, which can protect workers. I did my job as a scientist. The things happening right now seem to be a political fight rather than a debate about the truth of cultured meat. I am not interested in things like that, Young-Joon said. I will explain the dangers of cultured meat during the legislative hearing. But right now, I dont want to get into this fight. I would like to study something that will be more helpful to farmers with that time.

Young-Joon went on.

I have been using Ms. Tanya Mankers artificial intelligence program. There is a high chance that red mold will spread in the Central United States within ten days. Last year, the corn fields in the eastern and central parts of the United States were hit hard by red mold and had significant crop failures, but they did not use resistant seeds this year and used the same seeds. It was because they believed that red mold was completely eliminated. However, A-Bio confirmed that red mold is still present and in its incubation period in the wheat field a little west from the corn field.

The data that was included in the artificial intelligence as variables were shown.

These are values from entering in information about the type of crop, surface area of harvestation, space in between organisms, and climate. The temperature will fall this Sunday and drastically increase the number of spores. The resulting spores will be carried eastward with the Foehn winds from the Rocky Mountains in the western United States. They end up taking over the central United States, and most of the corn crops will be affected as the organisms are close together and there is no windbreak to block the wind. If Ms. Tanya Mankers program is correct, it is predicted that most of the corn will be infected in ten days, Young-Joon said. Please remove red mold-infected ears immediately and dry them to prevent an outbreak, and please buy and use A-Gens fungicide that was developed last year during the red mold outbreak.