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Clean Meat at Illinois

Project Description

Food insecurity is a major public health issue in the United States, affecting over 1 million Illinoisans in 2018 and over 13 million Americans in 2019 (Feeding America, 2019; USDA, 2019). Furthermore, nearly 20% of greenhouse emissions come from livestock and around 70% of all land used for agricultural production is used for breeding and maintaining livestock (UN Report, 2006; FAO Report, 2012). With the onset of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and forcasted global population increases, food insecurity is a pressing issue that exists at the intersection of these troubling socio-economic, public health, and environmental trends. Clean meat technology is a necessary and effective solution to our current and future food insecurity crisis because it offers better food security and resource equity, significant environmental and sustainability benefits, and reduced public health risks compared to present practices in industry. Clean meat, or laboratory meat, is a food product that is produced from growing animal cells of interest (cow, pig, chicken, etc.) at scale in a laboratory setting to achieve a biomass of suitable size for consumption. The goal of this project is to implement a robust clean meat initiative on campus to provide more sustainable food products for students, and so that the University of Illinois can be a model to other universities and organizations in how to champion sustainable, environmentally friendly movements that effectively address real-world issues. 

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Funding Details

Cleaner Energy Technologies Fee (CETF) - 302571
Fiscal Year Status Amount Date Operations
2020 Allocated $10,000.00 12/1/2020 Edit | Delete

SSC Basic Info

Year Started: 2020
Semester: Fall
Status: Closed
Student Led? No
Project Category: Food and Waste

SSC Project Team

Project Lead:

Aidan Brougham-Cook (brougha2@illinois.edu)

Financial Advisor:

Dr. Gregory Underhill (gunderhi@illinois.edu)

Project Advisor:

Dr. Gregory Underhill (gunderhi@illinois.edu)

Team Members:

  • Aidan Brougham-Cook
  • Michael Stablein
  • Daniel Owen
  • Lauren Krause

Illinois Green Fund - Student Sustainability Committee