3D Printing: Wrong Tech for Food?

Alright everyone, it's happened twice, so it's time to write about it.  I'm all about using 3D printers to create amazing things, but I have a serious problem with this one.

In the last week I've read three articles involving "CULTURED MEAT" involving technology and it really kind of has me chapped a bit.  I'm chapped because it's technology that I'm interested in and it's cool tech, but is it the wrong tech?

I've decided I'm going to call these articles out and discuss some finer points, namely from a food sustainability point of view, and I'll let you decide if the cool tech is worth it or just some corporation trying to destroy things again.

pic courtesy Emerging Tech Brew; this is the Cultured Meat Factory

The first article comes to me courtesy of the Emerging Tech Brew.  It posted the following article: Challenges in Scaling Cultivated Meat... (I paraphrase titles of links).  Reading over the article, and digging into the tech company involved, it sounds like 400M to build the factory, but no maintenance costs or operational costs or materials costs were mentioned.

One would image that FARMING PRACTICES would evolve from this, especially GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION AND PRACTICES and that would be a booming conversation, but I CANNOT FIND ANY ARTICLES ASSOCIATING EVOLVING FARMING OR GREENHOUSE PLANT GROWING TECHNIQUES TO THIS.

To compare the cost of 400M vs 2022 ranching/farming costs, I did a little bit of digging.  I found that most food production ranches get a fair amount of leeway with taxes and assistance from the USDA and the FDA with regards to the financial aspect.  Since this is in Israel, it would be counted as imported meat, so it would suffer under tariffs and such and one would assume that there would be no USDA tax exemptions, etc.  That leaves the cost of cultured meat at 400M USD + operating costs.

Using some tools online and making my own best estimates, I find that, in our current economic climate, starting AND operating a ranch that produces food for people would cost roughly 5-7 Million with less than 1M USD annual operating costs.

This includes purchasing land, gaining access to water and mineral rights, purchasing the starting cattle/livestock for the ranching, licensing and taxes, starting a business, etc.  I used the three below links to come to that rough conclusion.

Factors in Operating a Ranch

Starting A Cattle Ranch

Univ. of Oklahoma - Ranch Cost Calculator

So in other words, for the cost of just one of these factories, i could produce 10-15 cattle ranches and create tons and tons of meat for people.

Then comes the 3D printed Salmon Filet that I keep seeing.  Again, an Israeli tech company (not the same as above, but probably associated in some way) has developed a food-based printer that uses a plant-based material to extrude, similar to an FDM printer such as my Ender 3.

An Ender 3 that prints plant-based paste into food.... ?

Sounds great and all until you include what it takes to make that plant-based paste.  Reference the factory at the beginning that costs 400M to build.  Notice the operating costs weren't mentioned?   

DID YOU NOTICE HOW THE EPA REGULATIONS, CARBON EMISSIONS, OR THE FACTORY'S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT WAS NOT MENTIONED???

Here is my logic on this aspect:

** I work at a University in an Ocean Science Department.  One of our research groups is studying how Carbon affects Ocean Life in a very negative way.  Carbon + sea water = acid that kills food that small fish eat as a short answer.

** The factories processing the plant life would create far more carbon emissions that a few clean diesel engines would regarding commercial fishing.  

** As an added bonus to my frustration:  WHERE DOES ALL THE PLANT LIFE TURNED INTO THE PASTE COME FROM?

Here are some links for further reading on the subject:

3D printed Salmon:

Israeli Co. created 3D printed plant-based salmon filet

Food Navigator's take on Israeli Co. 3D Printed Salmon Filet

White Oak Pastures blog post on the subject.  Discusses the Carbon Footprint impact of Cultured Meat.  Adding more factories will only INCREASE the Carbon Footprint.

White Oak Pastures - Real vs. Fake Meat

In conclusion, it essentially falls in a fight between the USDA, the EPA, and Ranchers around the world on whether this technology is viable, efficient, and productive going forward.  

As it stands now though, it feels like its millions of dollars sifted to build an environmentally-unfriendly set of technologies for an elite group of vegans.