The world can go meat-free by 2035, the creator of the world's first 'bleeding' vegan burger has claimed.
"Our mission is to completely replace animals in the food system," Impossible Burger creator Pat Brown told attendees at the EAT Food Forum in Stockholm this week, repeating a phrase he's been using for years.
But now he's put a target date on his mission - 2035.
"You laugh but we are absolutely serious about it and it's doable," he told the crowd, which The Telegraph reported as being "incredulous".
"From the time the first super crappy low-resolution digital camera came on the market until Kodak basically shut down its film business was about 10 years. If you can make something that outperforms in delivering what consumers want the market can work fast."
The first consumer digital cameras hit the market in the mid-1990s. Kodak, the dominant force in film and photography throughout the 20th century, gave up on film in 2012. That's about the same amount of time between now and 2035.
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'Impossible' Burgers are made from soy and potato. Its makers say it "delivers all the flavor, aroma and beefiness of meat from cows" whilst being completely vegan.
Reports have compared its taste positively to the real thing - one vegetarian reporter even claimed she was unable to finish her sample burger because it was so like lifelike, the patty was "grossing" her out.
Heme is the key ingredient which gives it a meaty taste. It's produced by inserting soy DNA into genetically modified yeast.
The UN earlier this year called for a "great food transformation", noting current trend towards greater consumption of protein - mostly from meat - is driving "greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, biodiversity loss [and] deforestation".
"I realised the problem was the catastrophic environmental impact of the use of animals as a food technology," The Telegraph quoted Dr Brown as saying.
"Nothing comes even remotely close."
Burger King in the US is presently trialling Impossible Burgers on its menu at hundreds of stores, and Air New Zealand trialled it on flights last year - which was criticised by the National Party.
Newshub.
