Science Café

To eat meat or not; that is the question!

The way that our food is produced, starting from the land to either direct consumption, or
further processing, is the results of centuries of development leading to stronger plants and
animal breeds. We as humans were able to ‘harvest’ more and more efficiently as time went,
leading to higher productivity. However, food production also comes with a number of down-
sides, since it is impactful on the world that we live in.

Especially the production of meat has not only a big effect, but also comes with ethical
consequences. The big question that we will try to address in this science café is whether
eating meat is something we should keep on doing, or not. Our two speakers will discuss with
us alternatives for meat, as well as the ethical aspects related to that and how we can achieve
responsible innovations that are needed in a sustainable world.

Dr. Birgit Dekkers is the co-founder of Rival Foods. After her studies in human nutrition, with
a specialization in Food Technology, she continued with a PhD project in which she structured
plant proteins to mimic the structure of meat. This was the basis for the company that she
founded, and that has set itself as task to make meat replacers that can almost not be
distinguished from the original. She has been named one to today’s Change Makers.
Prof. Bart Gremmen is a professor in ethics in Life Sciences at Wageningen University.

Within his research group he addresses animal ethics, biotechnology, precision agriculture, and
ethics of innovation. As a starting point for his work, he takes how we generally work within
science and technology, and questions himself how the current challenges in agriculture in
relation to responsible innovation can be addressed in an ethical way.