Rain of hamburgers without meat: the effects in Argentina

Rolling televisions, lunar missions robots, modular screens, mini-radios to take selfies at different heights, folding mobile phones: at the last Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the most important technological convention in the world held last January, these products have dominated the media agenda and the attention of the mbad audience. But none of these advances has, on the Argentine economic matrix, a potential for impact greater than that of another presentation made at the same congress, in the event by the company Impossible. Foods: version 2.0 of its flagship product, the "hamburger impossible", 100% vegetable based that mimic the taste and texture of beef.

"The new recipe is better in every way: taste, nutrition and versatility," he says.
THE NATION Julia Sanguinetti, an Argentinean researcher in the field of materials chemistry of the company located on the west coast of the United States for four years. Until now, the original version of the impossible hamburger could be obtained in about 500 restaurants of the world's largest economy. The novelty for 2019 is that the 2.0 product, which contains no gluten or cholesterol and that, according to some studies, even "fills more" than its meat pair, will be launched for the general public in supermarkets.

Sanguinetti, whose job is to badyze and evaluate plant-derived materials to design new products with a consistency and texture similar to those of the animal kingdom, said that they were not able to replicate "But creating this type of goods is part of our goals." For the Argentinian scientist, the launch of the impossible hamburger 2.0 in supermarkets will allow many people to reduce their "ecological footprint" by consuming less animal meat.

The concern for climate change is at the center of the mission promoted by chemist Patrick Brown, founder of the company Sanguinetti works in 2011. Although there are a dozen
startups dedicated to the replacement of beef, pork, chicken, fish and other animals in synthetic form, Impossible Food is a pioneer and is the best known. Brown argues that the carbon footprint (contamination) of animal rearing for food is comparable to that of any transport in the world. And change the global diet to have more vegetables is more efficient, faster and more realistic to ensure that the average temperature does not increase as much, as to move all transport to alternative energies and, of course , to explore Mars to settle settlements when the planet becomes unbearable "All buildings, roads and cobblestones occupy less than 1% of the earth's surface, while those devoted animals or grain production to feed them reach 45%, "said Brown.

What could be the impact of a mbadification of meat production in laboratories in Argentina? Iván Ordóñez, agribusiness economist and consultant, describes the context with some figures: the sector generates locally 60% of exports and soybeans intended for the feeding of pigs, fish and chickens in China, and its derivatives in production In the United States, milk and meat account for one out of every three dollars exported by the country. Agro-industry as a system employs 20% of the labor force and agricultural GDP accounts for about 15% of the total population. The country is the sixth largest producer of beef, behind the United States, Brazil, the European Union, China and India.

"This is not a joke, you have to follow it very closely," says Ordóñez, "both a disruption of the meat production segment in laboratories and the field of alternative energies – which would reduce demand Bioethanol cereal – This would mean a correction of the mbadive drop in international cereal prices – we are not talking about 15% as in a downward cycle, but much more dramatic scenarios. "

Evolutionary way

Ordóñez makes reservations. For him, the replica of a steak or a cut roast is much harder to achieve on a chemical level than a burger, and we are still several years away. The adoption of these products on a planetary scale will be gradual and will allow the reconversion of agricultural activity. "There are many avenues to explore, such as pharmacological farms – to produce drugs – or bioplastics, which are not made from petroleum derivatives, but from vegetables such as soybeans, corn or sweet potatoes. "says the economist. "What will soon have to be worked, is the quality and the brand of Argentine meat, because the" standardized "products will be the first to suffer in terms of prices," he adds.

In the field of innovation and entrepreneurs, the following is often repeated: "The United States invent it, China copies it and Europe regulates it". However, when it is imitating meat dishes of any kind with vegetables, China is a pioneer and a millennial tradition. During the Tang Dynasty (between 618 and 907 AD), banquets were served where the pork was replicated with plants. And there is a strong Buddhist tradition in favor of vegetarian food, which makes the country's most populous country a market where conversion to meat of vegetable origin is relatively easy.

According to Mr. Sanguinetti, in Argentina, "although a priori, it seems foolish to bring alternative products to replace meat, it is a country that has such a tradition of breeding and it is difficult to change the habits deeply rooted in society, increased demand for herbal products and increased awareness of respect for the environment and health, "he said.

"Not only are animals not the only way to produce the favorite foods of the people of the planet, but they are not the best either." To date, the only technology we have to transform plants into meat has been animals. Technology is terribly inefficient because cows, pigs, chickens and fish have not evolved to be eaten, "says Brown. His company has raised funds from reputable investors such as Bill Gates, UBS or Google Ventures. While dealing with completely new products, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its regulatory counterparts in other countries have expressed reservations about the possibility that some of its components may cause allergies.

The debate is wide. After all, it's the advances in food technology that define us as the human beings we are today, says English anthropologist Richard Wrangham in his book
The catch of fire: how to cook makes us humans. Two million years ago, the predominance of the fire resulted in an increase in the amount of energy drawn from cooked foods in the cooked dishes, which resulted, in the Evolution, to create larger and more sophisticated brains. The implications of an "explosion of hamburgers" (of plant origin) go far beyond the economy.

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