Addressing the Inefficient Supply Chain of Meat—A Search for Alternatives
Simply put, rearing livestock to bring meat and poultry to our table is not efficient. A single pound of cooked beef, when all the processes involved are tallied up—from rearing the cow, to the energy expended to power the feedlots—uses 4,000 Btus of fossil-fuel energy. Furthermore, roughly eight tenths of the farmland worldwide is used to support the meat and poultry industries.
According to the UN, by 2050 the world population will have risen from 7.2 billion to 9.6 billion. Such growth will naturally bring an increased demand for meat. Undoubtedly, in coming years, the ability to either efficiently create meat, or produce a viable alternative will become increasingly invaluable.
PopSci published this week its findings made into two companies that have emerged. Both are developing alternatives to meat and poultry as we know it, Beyond Meat and Modern Meadow. Beyond Meat produces a chicken substitute consisting mostly of soy and pea proteins and amaranth. Modern Meadow, in a similar vein to the in-vitro burger produced earlier this year, actually creates and engineers meat in its labs, although utilizing 3-D printers as well as tissue engineering to create its meat.
The jury may still be out on whether lab grown meat will become an accepted mainstream alternative to traditional reared livestock. In either case, it will be interesting to see how both companies progress in producing near indistinguishable alternatives to meat and poultry.
To read more, click here.
Abu Dhabi Strikes Gold
Reuters reported some promising news for Abu Dhabi, which signed high-grossing deals at the Dubai Airshow. The emirates is set to gain over $5 billion from deals with Airbus and Boeing. Both plane manufacturers are set to increase their orders of materials and parts three-fold.
Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney added, that besides being good business, the deal allows for greater supply chain security, due to the flexibility of having industrial partnerships in multiple countries.
In boosting its manufacturing industry, Abu Dhabi hopes to branch out from, and rely less on its mostly oil-based economy. The emirate intends to increase its non-oil economy from 41 percent in 2005-07 to 56 percent of GDP by 2020.
To read more, click here
A Chemical Imbalance in the Supply Chain
Green Biz published an article this week not only raising concerns about the chemicals used in many domestics products such as shampoo and baby lotion, but also six principles companies can follow to rectify the harm some chemicals can pose to consumers.
Advancement in this area has been made in collaborative effort between EDF, BizNGO, the Toxic Use Reduction Institute and the Lowell Center for Sustainability, who released a guide called The Commons Principles for Alternatives Assessment. Over 100 representatives from businesses, universities and NGOs also assisted.
To read more, and find out about the six principles click here.
Have a great weekend!
