Ian Taylor: Artificial meat can be part of New Zealand's future

Opinion

COMMENT: By the end of last week, what almost certainly began as a marketing exercise for Air New Zealand had quickly become the focal point of a discussion that is long overdue in New Zealand.

The reaction of politicians, across all parties, to the announcement Air New Zealand would be serving Impossible Burgers on selected flights reminded me of reactions from the past to innovations that similarly challenged the norm.

In 1878 a British Parliamentary Committee said in reference to Thomas Edison's electric light bulb, "It may be good enough for our transatlantic friends, but it's unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men."

Henry Morton, who was the first president of the Stevens Institute of Technology in the US, went even further declaring that: "Everyone acquainted with the subject [the electric light bulb] will recognise it as a conspicuous failure."

In 1946, Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century Fox boldly predicted, "Television won't last because people will soon get tired of looking at a plywood box every night."

And perhaps the granddaddy of them all, from Thomas Watson, president of IBM in 1943, was quoted as saying, "I think there's a world market for maybe five computers."

In the Maori world view it is our past that lies in front of us and "the footsteps we lay down in that past create the paving stones upon which we stand today". So what lessons can we learn from the footsteps our farmers have laid down in our past?

Well for starters Impossible Meats is not a threat, it is an incredible opportunity for a country that has built its reputation on being a world class leader in farming and agriculture.

Michelle Dickinson, Nano Girl, makes the observation that New Zealand shouldn't be seen as being famous for growing meat. In this new paradigm we should be recognised as being famous for growing crops that allow farmers to grow animals that deliver great meat.

She argues we should be embracing new technologies that allow us to take advantage of what our farmers have done in the past – those footsteps we have laid down – and use them to create new paving stones for the country by embracing innovative technologies that are here to stay.

Meat alternatives, extracted from plants, are one of those.

At a Dairy Conference last week, Kaila Colbin, one of our genuine futures thinkers, reinforced the idea that change through technology is coming and, not only is it getting faster, it's getting cheaper. The first Impossible Burger cost US$80 million to produce. You can now buy one for $12.

Impossible Foods has raised close to US$400m for its expansion plans. Beyond Meat, another manufacturer of alternative meat products, will soon be in more than 20,000 grocery stores and more than 10,000 restaurants. They are currently expanding into another 50 countries.

This discussion isn't about "fake meat". It's about a product that is a legitimate food that also happens to address the growing environmental concerns of a world population that is getting younger.

Frances Valintine, founder of Mind Lab and Tech Futures Lab, noted that more than 50 per cent of the world's population is under 30 and that this is a huge market looking at everything in a different light.

The way we produce food will be one of those. We should embrace this opportunity rather than hunker down in old-fashioned thinking, and we must do everything we can to ensure this does not become an argument that pits our agricultural heritage against our technological future.

This is a tremendous opportunity for New Zealand to consolidate its global reputation for agricultural excellence. Let's not deny future Kiwis this opportunity by engaging in a simplistic argument about what makes a burger a burger.

Air New Zealand has done us a great service by opening up this debate. Let's not waste that opportunity because it is both timely and important.

And last, but definitely not least, I can't help noting that the people I have quoted here, are all women in technology. In contrast those who have criticised Air New Zealand for its decision to serve Impossible Burgers - some seeming to suggest the decision borders on treason - have all been older men. Perhaps there's a message in there as well.

• Ian Taylor is chief executive of Animation Research Ltd in Dunedin. He was awarded the 2018 CIO Award for "outstanding contribution to technology and business in New Zealand".