Not only are plant-based alternatives sprouting in restaurant menus in Singapore, there seems to be more demand for them.California-based Impossible Foods is just one of the many companies growing plant-based meat in labs. These foods, also known as “clean” or “cellular”, are increasingly popular, driven by concerns around the sustainability of current meat production systems, both in terms of animal ethics and environmental impact.
Co-founders of Shiok Meats Dr Ka Yi Ling and Dr Sandhya Sriram, Director of Innovate 360 John Cheng, APAC Managing Director of Good Food Institute Elaine Siu and CEO of Monde Nissin Henry Soesanto at Shiok Meats's launch of the Shiok Shrimp Dumpling on Friday . So how can Singapore’s new agri-tech park do this?
The AFIP could encourage the development of land-based farming based on advanced water filtration, sustainable feeding systems and adapted fish species to be more suitable to such production systems. This certification initiative could be further strengthened by the development within the AFIP of technologies that support traceability, product integrity, and food safety, such as advanced RFID systems, blockchain, and genetic fingerprinting or tagging.While the demand for lab-grown meat seems to be growing, little work has yet been done on the economics of production or on any potential nutrition effects of such food.
China’s Ping Tung Agricultural Biotechnology Park has an apex entity providing this kind of coordinating function as does the Netherlands Food Valley through its Food Valley Organisation . Local tertiary institutions such as Republic and Temasek Polytechnic have responded by developing courses in plant agriculture and aquaculture respectively, but specific course modules focused on relevant key industry verticals such as indoor farming and aquaculture systems, or cellular meat, could be developed in conjunction with global education partners as part of broader biology programmes.