Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Meat demand is growing. As the global middle class continues to grow, they demand more animal-based sources of protein. Yet, meat is under attack. Animal protein is bad for you. Plant protein is good. Livestock production is cruel. LIvestock are one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Manure runoff is ruining water tables. If we didn’t have to feed all those animals, how much more food would we have for humans? Antibiotic usage is leading to human antibiotic resistance. We are overfishing our oceans. You name it and there is a complaint about it.
Traditional proteins are being put “out to pasture”. So by 2030, is meat no longer on the menu? Or, will innovation save the day? From the 1950s to present, there were 12 different periods where corn production increased more than 40% over a 12-year timeframe while also reducing the number of inputs. What if technology could humanely increase cattle production by 40% with no more land required, reduce the amount of grain needed per cow by 20%, make the beef healthier than chicken, AND eliminate 90% of methane emissions all at once? What happens if that extends to other traditional protein production? What happens to the alternative proteins market?
What are the challenges for the existing Protein markets?
David Farley, Executive Chairman, Matrix Commodities
Peter Hawthorne, Managing Partner, P. Chandler Partners
Kathy Flores, VP Supply Chain, Benson Hill
Moderator: Connie Bowen, Executive Director, The Yield Lab Institute
Meat demand is growing. As the global middle class continues to grow, they demand more animal-based sources of protein. Yet, meat is under attack. Animal protein is bad for you. Plant protein is good. Livestock production is cruel. LIvestock are one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Manure runoff is ruining water tables. If we didn’t have to feed all those animals, how much more food would we have for humans? Antibiotic usage is leading to human antibiotic resistance. We are overfishing our oceans. You name it and there is a complaint about it.
Traditional proteins are being put “out to pasture”. So by 2030, is meat no longer on the menu? Or, will innovation save the day? From the 1950s to present, there were 12 different periods where corn production increased more than 40% over a 12-year timeframe while also reducing the number of inputs. What if technology could humanely increase cattle production by 40% with no more land required, reduce the amount of grain needed per cow by 20%, make the beef healthier than chicken, AND eliminate 90% of methane emissions all at once? What happens if that extends to other traditional protein production? What happens to the alternative proteins market?
What are the challenges for the existing Protein markets?
David Farley, Executive Chairman, Matrix Commodities
Peter Hawthorne, Managing Partner, P. Chandler Partners
Kathy Flores, VP Supply Chain, Benson Hill
Moderator: Connie Bowen, Executive Director, The Yield Lab Institute
