• The economic value of alternative proteins
• The public trusts farmers

Case studies

• Lots of US case studies
  • this Vox article
  • Transfarmation project
  • A nice US case study of switching from hogs to mushrooms
• This farm in Norfolk is the first to change from Chickens to mushrooms.
• These american orgs are involved in the transition
• This paper qual analyses 27 cases studies from US and Switzerland mostly

Who are at risk?

• This paper argues 3 types are affected by a switch the cultivated: farmers who grow soy and corn for animal feed, contract farmers who grow pork or poultry for Big Meat, and meatpacking plant workers.
  • Meat packers can pack alt protein foods but will probably require less.

Challenges

• In Scotland, at least 86% of farmland is classified as challenging to grow crops for human consumption.
• A totally PB farming system is more vulnerable to crop disease and wet weather
  • That said, wet weather affects animal feed too.
• Cultivated meat is seen as a big threat the to the identity of farmers^[1]
• European and US farmers may not switch because the crops and livestock are part of their identity, but if the financial incentives were right they probably would^[1:1]
• Soy and corn growers have an economic infrastructure in place that includes relationships with seed and pesticide sellers, and investments in expensive specialized harvest and planting equipment.
• Farmers are aging so don't want to uproot their whole business model.

Positives

• A survey of 51 scottish farmers found that 86% of farmers were willing to change their practices to reduce climate change. Around 70% of farmers also said they would be at least somewhat willing to grow crops for human consumption, rewild “unfavorable” farming land, or try non-traditional agriculture practices with a financial incentive.

Alternatives for farmers

• peas, oats, mung beans, and other legumes, which they could grow, but also #alternative_proteins/Cultivated_Meat and #alternative_proteins often need algae, seaweed fungi and yeast which makes the transition difficult[^1]
  • algae farming for alt proteins
• Land that’s unsuitable for growing any plants can be repurposed to agroforestry or possibly ecotourism.
  • Farmers on large grazing land being paid to plant lots of trees
• fermentation can be cost-effective as fermented materials can often grow on waste products like potato peels.
• Often it's about repurposing machines, buildings and infra that they have already bought because they're often in debt around that
• Vertical farming does not require fertile flat arable land but is capital intensive, and requires lots of energy.
• Farmers could capture more revenue by processing their crops for plant mylk on-site rather than allowing large manufacturers to reap these rewards.
• Refarm'd works with UK dairy farmers to produce non dairy milk on their farms and sell it locally, converting their farm into a sanctuary instead.
• RespectFarmsinterviewed 57 Dutch farmers and found that 10.5% were open to transitioning to on-farm cultivated meat.

Policy levers

• Debt forgiveness for Contract farmers
• Transition funding

"Ireland’s €3 million Protein Aid Scheme introduced in 2015 is a good example of how such a programme could work in the UK. In Ireland, with this scheme protein crops are eligible for €250-280 per hectare - support that, according to agricultural minister Simon Coveney, allows for a “more consistent supply of Irish grown protein”. In 2015, this scheme led to a 300% increase in the production of protein crops. Like in the UK, Ireland also has areas with heavy soil, which limit the cultivation of protein crops. Nonetheless, this protein scheme has worked in Ireland and so the signs point to it also being successful in the UK."

Misc

• Farm transitions offer an inspiring alternative to animal agriculture
• Farm transitions often require working to repurpose big sheds and equipment that they took on debt to buy, because they need those assets to "service that debt"
• Animal advocacy needs a positive vision

Other reading

• Bryant, C. J., & van der Weele, C. (2021). The farmers’ dilemma: Meat, means, and morality. Appetite, 167, 105605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105605
• The ASPCA resources: https://www.aspca.org/shopwithyourheart/business-and-farmer-resources
• The Landworkers’ Alliance, Pasture for Life, Sustain and Hodmedod (2023) discusses UK legume production

References