The World Farmers’ Organisation has released a formal position paper taking a firm stand against lab-grown food and raising concerns about the potential impact of this new food technology on global food security, food safety and human health, cultural heritage, and the livelihoods of farming communities.
The coalition stated that lab-grown food, substances produced in laboratories for human consumption, are created using tissues or cells and are not naturally occurring on a large scale. They are supported by marketing campaigns that enhance the myth of greater sustainability compared to agriculture.
The WFO said it firmly rejects this narrative as it is lacking in scientific evidence. The organization also said that with the massive steps the global livestock industry has made in terms of sustainability, animal agriculture plays a key role in the future of farming.
“Recent research has demonstrated the fundamental contribution of terrestrial animal-source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes, showing that products of animal origin contain micronutrients, vitamins, and other nutrients difficult to obtain from plant-based foods in the necessary quantity and quality,” the WFO said in its paper. “WFO strongly believes that livestock is part of ‘the solution’, contributing to land protection and soil fertility, reducing wildfire risk and preserving entire regions from imminent desertification, as well as preventing the abandonment of rural areas and hydrogeological instability. Not to mention the vital role against poverty, malnutrition and inequality, including its inextricable link to female emancipation in the Global South.”
The World Farmers’ Organisation represents over 1.2 billion farmers worldwide and advocates for the global farming community in international processes impacting the present and the future of the agricultural sector.
The group noted that the recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, titled, Food Safety Aspects of Cell-Based Food, makes it clear that there is no reliable evidence to compare cell-based food to farmer-produced one. There is still much to consider about its nutritional value and how it could affect human health in the long term. In addition, any claims regarding less land and water use, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, animal welfare and reduced risk of zoonotic diseases have yet to be proved.
The WFO said it values innovation and embraces an approach that is bottom-up, science-based, and result-oriented. It calls for collaboration among farmers, researchers, and stakeholders in the value chain “to address the challenges ahead, develop innovative practices, and deliver sustainable solutions to produce, process, distribute and consume food in a sustainable manner.”
The group also said that lab-made food dismisses the work and contributions of farmers to sustainability and pushes consumers toward a homogenous dietary model that undermines the tradition, diversity, richness, quality, and uniqueness of regional food systems across the planet.
