Hoxton Farms: The UK's first biotech firm growing animal fat from cells
"Let's begin from the basic point that you don't want to cause harm. Every human that I know of that is of sound mind does not want to cause harm. All that vegans do is take that basic principle and make their behaviour match it."
According to Vegan Society trustee David Gore, the basic tenet behind veganism is simple: do not cause harm.
"You wouldn't want to cause harm to animals," Gore said. "I know you wouldn't."
Gore's point is simple, forceful and endorsed by many who adhere to veganism, including PETA Campaigner Molly Elsdon.
Nevertheless, most people in the world continue to consume animal-based products.
Why? For many, the answer comes down to gustation: they simply cannot forego the taste of animal-based products.
A BMG Research survey found that the majority (66%) of Britons are unlikely to consider cutting meat out of their diet because of taste.
Enjoying the taste of animal-based products and harming animals may seem inseparable; however, it is this inseparability that a new biotech firm in Hoxton has set out to prove wrong.
Hoxton Farms extracts animal cells in a 'harm-free' way and grows them in its lab to produce hundreds of kilos of cultivated animal fat.
This cultivated fat is then used as an ingredient in meat-alternatives to give them a taste more akin to that of meat.
Hoxton Farms is the first cultivated animal fat plant in the UK and in September launched its new 1,400 square-foot London facility.
Source: Veganism in Britain today: Seven Key Facts, BMG Research (2018).
"We believe that cultivated fat is the missing ingredient that is going to make plant-based food taste like the real thing," said Hoxton Farms' chief of staff Annie Conde.
"The fat is what really carries all the flavour.
"It's what makes meat brown, it’s what makes meat sizzle and it evokes the same feeling that you would have if you were to be eating meat.”
Hoxton Farms' chief of staff Annie Conde
Hoxton Farms' chief of staff Annie Conde
By using cultivated animal-fat as an ingredient in meat-alternatives, Conde suggests that the taste of meat can be enjoyed without causing harm to animals.
To gather vegans' views on lab-grown animal fat, I conducted a poll on the London Vegans Facebook group.
While the vast majority (89%) of respondents claimed that they would not consume lab-grown animal fat, 155 respondents (36%) said that they would support the product as a means of reducing animal suffering.
PETA Campaigner Molly Elsdon agreed with the view that reducing animal suffering is a step in the right direction.
Respondents who opposed the production of lab-grown animal fat often claimed that extracting cells from animals constitutes a form of exploitation.
Respondent Sarah Lemon said: "How are no animals harmed in this process when you are still exploiting them?"
Similarly, respondent Zoie Pritchard said: "You'd still be breeding animals as a commodity.
"And those animals cannot consent to the taking of their cells."
When asked about the process whereby Hoxton Farms extracts cells from animals, Conde said: "The extraction process unfortunately I can't tell you much about because it is proprietary, but cells are taken from an animal once and there's no need for us to go back unless we wanted fat from a different part of the animal or a different breed."
Conde provided the same response when asked whether the extraction process involves the killing of animals.
Expanding on the advantages of cultivating animal fat, Conde explained that it is far more sustainable than livestock farming.
Government data shows that agriculture accounted for 11% of total greenhouse gas emissions, 69% of nitrous oxide emissions and 48% of methane emissions in the UK in 2020, with livestock being a leading cause of this pollution.
Conde claims that shifting to cultivated animal fat will significantly reduce the need for livestock farming, hence minimizing its environmental impact.
"The journey to a more sustainable future is incredibly important to us," Conde said.
"It is one of the reasons why we started on this journey in the first place."
Share your thoughts on cultivated animal fat by completing the quiz below!
Image credits:
Title page image:
Rawpixel.com (licensed under CC0 1.0 Deed Creative Commons) (adapted)
Section 1:
Labelled pig, chicken and cow icons: Rawpixel.com (licensed under CC0 1.0 Deed Creative Commons)
Section 3:
Image of Hoxton Farms entrance, lab and Annie Conde headshot: Hoxton Farms
Section 4:
Animal cell cross section model: Divinemercy, licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed Creative Commons)
Section 5:
Images of Hoxton Farms kitchen and lab: Hoxton Farms
Section 6:
Image of Hoxton Farms lab: Hoxton Farms
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