#72: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Unicorn: the Future of Cultured Meat with Sam Rathbone

Imagine you could eat a marbled eye-fillet steak, with the omega 3 of a salmon fillet with the smoky taste of woolly mammoth... AND no animals were harmed in the process and the meat was 98% more carbon efficient than native meat, with no paddocks involved.  Sounds like a dream right?  This could very soon be an exciting reality thanks to the team at Vow.  Vow is a Sydney-based start-up that is creating cultured meat with the aim to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions of people.

We were joined by Vow expert and process development associate, Sam Rathbone for our first ever in-person interview! And we couldn't have found a better guest;  we had so much fun and laughs recording this episode so we hope you have just as much learning and listening to it.

Why cultured meat?

1. Feed 10 billion: Our future population needs 50% more food than we’re able to produce today. We need reliable production methods that give us security and control.
2. Preserve the earth: Today’s food system places a heavy burden on our environment and has led to increased deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and land and water pollution and decreased biodiversity.  We need an alternative.
3. Human and animal welfare: humans need protein to survive but current methods of accessing protein are intensive on Earth's resources and have led to human and animal rights issues. Every year trillions of animals suffer to meet our protein demands and this will only increase as the global population rises. We need a more efficient means of accessing protein that does not harm animals or the environment.

This is where Vow comes in.  

• Vow is not only creating cultured meat, but revolutionising the way we think of meat. 
• Just 4 species (0.02% of all species) make up almost all of our food. What are the odds there are better (tastier, healthier, etc.) animals out there? 
• Removing the need to paddocks, fields and domestication means Vow is free to explore all kinds of meat options.
• What if we could eat unicorn:  narwhal crossed with zebra?
• Vow scientists only need a handful of cells and 6 weeks to produce a delicious finished product which means no animals need to be bred and killed.

Useful links:

• About Vow
• Vow Careers - they're hiring!
• Watch co-founder and CEO, George Peppou on TEDx Talks
• Vow featured on Forbes Asia 100 to Watch 2022
• Listen to Vow co-founder and CEO, George Peppou on Ep 246 of Humans of Purpose podcast.
  
  

Timestamps:
2:00 - Background on Sam Rathbone

10:00 - NeuraLink and becoming a robot

12:00 Getting a job at Vow via hinge?!

14:00 - Intro to Vow

19:00  - How is Vow cultured meat created?

25:00 - What does Vow taste like?

29:00 - Vow co-existing with argiculture - how will this work?

35:00 - Vow, the supply chain and carbon emissions 

43:00 - Hybrid meats at Vow

44:00 - Getting Vow to market - how long until we're eating cultured meat in Aus? And how can you help speed up the process?

50:00 - The meaning of life

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