The second domestication of dairy and beef: Food 2.0 proteins without the animals

Lesley Hughes*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

What is the future of food production as we enter the era that is being called Food 2.0? The development of animal-free milk is likely to decimate the traditional dairy industry within a decade, and plant-based meat is set to up-end the beef market. On one set of projections, this new biotechnology puts us on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals 10,000 years ago. This biotech revolution or the ‘second domestication’ refers to microorganisms and technologies of ‘precision fermentation’ which seem to presage the 2020s as the decade of the ‘peak cow’.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInnovation pathways to sustainability
Subtitle of host publicationconversations towards complex systems of governance
EditorsMichael Lester, Marie dela Rama
Place of PublicationAbingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor and Francis Group
Pages185-194
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781003280316
ISBN (Print)9781032248295, 9781032248318
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025

Publication series

NameRoutledge Frontiers of Business Management

Bibliographical note

Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • agriculture
  • animal protection
  • animal welfare
  • beef
  • bioengineers
  • biotechnology
  • cellular agriculture
  • cheese
  • designer food
  • dairy
  • (UN) Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
  • Food 2.0
  • food revolution
  • genetically modified yeast
  • lactose intolerance
  • livestock-based agriculture
  • meat substitute
  • milk
  • peak cow
  • plant-based food
  • precision fermentation
  • protein
  • second domestication
  • synthetic food products

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