Schools Beyond Regions and Borders
Lessons
Our food, our health, our planet
Food ethics and the new prospects of cellular agriculture
Prof. Lo Sapio
Abstract

In my talk, I will first show how industrial animal agriculture is today associated with numerous health, environmental and ethical problems. I will then examine some of the possible options made available by biotechnological and bioengineering development. In particular, I will focus on so-called cellular agriculture and the cultivated meat sector. This is a sector that has emerged only a few years ago and which, according to the most optimistic predictions, could enable us to considerably mitigate the effects of industrial animal agriculture. After a brief presentation of cellular agriculture and cultivated meat, I will highlight three sets of problems associated with its production and consumption: technical problems, socio-economic problems and ethical problems. I will therefore devote a brief space to the presentation of the first two, and then turn my attention to moral problems. Among these I will examine the argument of nature, the argument of disgust, the argument of cannibalism and the argument of virtue. After a brief examination of the arguments, I will highlight possible objections, coming to the conclusion that it is necessary to invest in technology and technological solutions in order to escape the current environmental crisis, but without forgetting the importance of reshaping the moral convictions that animate most people so that the new green revolution can be accompanied by moral awareness and foresight.