Livestock production and alternative proteins are likely to sit side-by-side in the coming years, with alternative products taking greater market share. But what might this mean for farmers? And what potential might this present to use more land for carbon sequestration and other needs? In this webinar Prof Tom MacMillan from the Royal Agricultural University presented findings from a recent report on cultured meat, and Lydia Collas presented the latest Green Alliance report which mapped out the impact on land use of increased alternative protein adoption across 10 European countries, including the UK.  Farmer and former NFU deputy president, Stuart Roberts, then gave his reaction before a Q&A.

Prof Tom MacMillan and colleagues from the Royal Agricultural University argue that we should be exploring this question around cultured meat (one type of alt. protein) more seriously, and that involving farmers as the industry develops could benefit everyone. In his recent report, he and colleagues argue that cultured meat may even present new income opportunities for some farmers, give ‘real meat’ a marketing edge, and that using agricultural by-products could make cultured meat cheaper and more sustainable.

Lydia Collas and colleagues at Green Alliance have mapped out how a ‘land dividend’, created from shifting towards more alternative proteins, could enable European farmers to sequester more carbon for the carbon market, create more space for nature, contribute towards greater national self-sufficiency, and expand agro-ecological farming. Read the Green Alliance report, and country profiles.

We explore all of this with our two speakers, before Stuart Roberts, a beef and arable farmer in Hertfordshire, gives his reaction to the report findings. We try to push the conversation beyond the often polarised debate around this topic.

About Tom:

Prof Tom MacMillan is the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester.

Tom is a founding Director of the Centre for Effective Innovation in Agriculture, and a Deputy Director of The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE). He is a Co-Investigator on the AFN Network+, is an expert advisor to the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission and was one of the team supporting Henry Dimbleby to develop the National Food Strategy.

Formerly, Tom was Director of Innovation at the Soil Association, where he founded the Innovative Farmers network, and before that was Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council. He has served on various advisory groups and boards, including for the Cabinet Office Food Matters report, ScienceWise, BBSRC, Sustain and the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.

About Lydia:

Lydia is Head of Natural Environment at Green Alliance, where she leads the organisation’s work on natural environment policy, exploring how best to adapt land use and management to meet food, climate and nature goals.

She is interested in tackling the drivers of environmental degradation and nature loss, including routes to changing consumption preferences.

Lydia joined Green Alliance as a policy analyst in April 2022. Prior to joining, she completed a PhD in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge, analysing the cost effectiveness of contrasting agricultural policy approaches to delivering ambitious biodiversity and climate mitigation outcomes. Lydia also has a master’s in sustainability from Brock University, Canada, and a BA in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge.

About Stuart:

Stuart is a beef and arable farmer in Hertfordshire and formerly NFU vice and deputy president. Before that, he had a long career at senior level in the meat processing sector, and also worked for Defra and the Food Standards Agency. He has been at the forefront of rewriting the Lib Dem agricultural policy.

About the webinar series:

This webinar is part of a monthly series run by AFN Network+ which explores net zero in the UK agri-food system with leading movers and shakers. Expect deep and varied insight from across the sector, including farmers, scientists, policy analysts, community leaders, retailers, politicians, businesses and health professionals. The series is put together by Jez Fredenburgh, our Knowledge Exchange Fellow, and Prof Neil Ward, AFN Co-lead and professor of rural geography at the University of East Anglia.