Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity's Favorite Food—and Our Future

by Bruce Friedrich, Caitlin Welsh - foreword

"This packed account makes food science feel like an urgent and essential undertaking." —Publishers Weekly (Top 10 New Release in Science)

Good Food Institute founder and president Bruce Friedrich offers a hopeful and rigorously researched exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world’s soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world.

The human love of meat appears to be hard-wired. The world consumes more than 550 million metric tons of meat and seafood each year. That number has been climbing for decades and is expected to continue to rise through at least 2050.

What if we could give humanity the meat it craves, but produced differently? Plant-based and cultivated meat that are just as delicious as the meat you love, but more affordable and healthier.

Think it’s not possible? With examples ranging from the “horseless carriage” (car) to the smart phone in your pocket, Meat reminds readers that scientific innovations often move from disbelief or opposition to inevitability and ubiquity, much faster than almost anyone expects.

Envisioning a future where meat is both a delight and a force for good, Friedrich explores:
- Humanity’s 12,000-year-old practice of raising animals for meat, and why we need to figure out a better way.
- The science and scientists behind the efforts to create plant-based and cultivated meat that is indistinguishable from conventional animal meat, but less expensive, more nutritious, and safer.
- How plant-based and cultivated meat can preserve forests and biodiversity, mitigate climate change and ocean pollution, and lower antimicrobial resistance and pandemic risk.
- The economic and food security benefits of making meat more efficiently, which include trillions of dollars in economic output annually, tens of millions of good jobs, and the possibility of a revitalized farm economy.

Meat offers a vision of the next agricultural revolution that is optimistic, achievable, and delicious.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

Audible Audio

Published February 3, 2026

About the author

Bruce Friedrich is founder and president of the Good Food Institute (GFI), a global network of nonprofit science think tanks with more than 240 full-time team members across affiliates in the U.S., India, Israel, Brazil, APAC, and Europe. GFI is accelerating the science of plant-based and cultivated meat in order to bolster the global protein supply while protecting our environment and promoting global health.

Publishers Weekly included Bruce's forthcoming book Meat on its list of the 10 best new releases in science for Spring 2026, writing: "This packed account makes food science feel like an urgent and essential undertaking."

Meat has also earned endorsements from:

- Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church: “an engaging treatise on using science to make meat far more efficiently [that] includes fascinating observations in every chapter”

- The Ministry for the Future author Kim Stanley Robinson: "Friedrich’s presentation is clear, persuasive, and entertaining”

- Jane Goodall: “Please read this book: it is engaging, informative, and gives us hope for a kinder future”

- Nobel Laureate in economics Michael Kremer: "Alternative proteins offer a promising path to addressing global challenges including hunger, climate change, and pandemic risk. Meat highlights the case for how science, innovation, and smart policy can help bring these solutions within reach. It contributes to an important and timely global conversation"

- and more.

Center for Strategic and International Studies director of global food and water security Caitlin Welsh penned the foreword, writing that the book “explains the imperative to transform our food systems, and lays out a game plan to get us there…. as important as it is enjoyable.”

Bruce has written for The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Wired, Nature, and more. His TED Talk has been viewed more than 2.4 million times and translated into 30 languages. He has appeared on The Ezra Klein Show, TED Radio Hour, New Yorker Radio Hour, and Sam Harris’s Making Sense podcast.

Bruce graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, and Grinnell College (Phi Beta Kappa).

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meat is a clear-eyed and provocative book that argues convincingly that reducing and ultimately replacing animal meat consumption will not come from moral persuasion alone, but from disruptive technological change. Bruce Friedrich, agricultural economist and founder of the Good Food Institute (GFI), draws on historical analogies of technological innovations, from cars replacing horses over artificial ice supplanting “natural” ice and the bumps in the road of bringing penicillin to the market. He shows how rational arguments, education, and ethical appeals rarely curb harmful or inefficient consumption patterns on their own. What does work, he argues, is making better alternatives cheaper and more attractive. Once alt meat will have the same taste, texture, and nutritional profile as animal meat (and Friedrich argues that this will happen within 10 years), the industry will grow exponentially.

Friedrich makes a strong case that alternative proteins are not just a moral necessity to reduce animal suffering, but also an economic, environmental, and food-security imperative. His appeal for collaboration between science, government, and industry is persuasive, as is his warning that climate goals are unattainable without a large-scale shift away from animal meat.

One caveat: The book is noticeably uncritical of American geopolitical interests, as well as of Israel‘s role as one of the two frontrunners in alt-meat technology (next to Singapore). This narrows an otherwise global and moral argument and leaves some important political and ethical questions unexplored.

Despite these limitations, Meat is an engaging, accessible, and ultimately optimistic contribution to the debate on the future of food—one that will resonate with anyone interested in animal welfare, climate action, innovation, and systemic change.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for early access to the audiobook.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Friedrich makes the case for alternative meats, with a modern take on ecological, economic, food safety, and even national security arguments for the products. Overall his case is well presented and the writing engaging and well organized. There is a lot of information that was new to me here, particularly within the ecological arguments.

The book presents information about both plant-based and cultivated meat options, as well as some lesser discussed alternative meat types like mycoprotein (my favorite). I found the chapters pertaining to cultivated meat especially interesting; for meat eaters who only want meat, not plant alternatives, there is particular promise for this technology.

I have been a vegetarian for over twenty years, so this means a couple of things: first, I am not the target audience of this book, as I require no convincing. And second, I have tried seemingly every plant based meat alternative, including the brands mentioned in this book. While I remain hopeful of plant based alternatives, and appreciate the author’s perspective on this products, I do think Friedrich underemphasizes some of their drawbacks. For instance, some of the plant protein alternatives (especially soy) cause digestive issues for a lot of people, and the bioavailability of the plant proteins are not always on par with real meat. And, the flavor, while much improved these days, is still like comparing artificial sweeteners to sugar… just, not quite the same (although again I am not the target audience). But as he says, the technology could continue to improve on all these fronts.

All this is to say that I do understand why meat eaters aren’t excited about the current array of plant based meats; even the best of these products has its drawbacks… but this is also why I am excited at the prospect of cultivated meat, for all the reasons explored in this book: food safety, ecological benefits, economic benefits, it really could change the world. This book has made me realize that meat alternatives could have much more far-reaching effects than simply another culinary options for vegetarians. I will definitely be thinking about the arguments and information presented in this book and keeping an eye out for new meat alternatives going forward!

I was sent the audiobook to review, and the narrator was great for this book. His diction was clear and had a pleasant voice to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bruce Friedrich, and Brilliance Audio for sharing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meat by Bruce Friedrich explores the global meat industry—how it developed, how it operates today, and the profound consequences it has on animals, human health, the environment, and food systems worldwide. Drawing on science, economics, and ethics, the book examines why meat consumption became so dominant and what alternatives may shape the future of protein, including emerging technologies.

As a review, the book stands out for being both clear-eyed and intellectually grounded. I especially appreciated its comprehensive exploration of cultivated meat, which is presented not as science fiction but as a serious, evolving solution with real-world implications. Friedrich balances data-driven analysis with thoughtful moral reflection, and the audiobook format adds clarity and momentum to the arguments.

[Juliet Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

As both an activist in the space and an investor in alternative protein for almost a decade, I rarely come across a book about the future of meat that is agnostic as well as inspiring. Bruce Friedrich seamlessly addresses alternative protein holistically, urgently, and realistically. I found Meat both intellectually rigorous and refreshingly pragmatic—very much in line with the way Mr. Friedrich approaches his work more broadly at Good Food Institute. I was especially struck by how clearly the author lays out the case for focusing on taste, price, and convenience rather than moral exhortation, and how central that framing is to actually changing food systems at scale. His discussion of messaging—meeting people where they are, avoiding ideological traps, and building broad coalitions—felt particularly important, especially given how emotionally charged conversations about meat can become. He addresses climate change mitigation, poverty, and land use bolstered by inarguable metrics that become impressively granular with multiple sources for a single statistic. The importance the author places on sourcing similar conclusions across multiple third-party sources is impressive (pointing to his Georgetown Law School background). Mr. Friedrich emphasizes how the public has mis-concluded the ebbs and flows of alt protein, comparing the hills and valleys of cost parity with regard to pharmaceuticals, EV-batteries, and similar, lateral innovations that took decades to develop and establish manufacturing. And, on a personal note, having met Mr. Friedrich in person, the author is mission-driven without naiveté, kind without obsequity, and an author and activist of true moral conviction. I recommend the book often.

[Stewart W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't shy away from this book because you think it might be a boring, scientific work. It reads more like a novel, and you may not be able to put it down. It convincingly explains why the nascent plant-based and cellular meat industries will soon explode onto the market. The flavors and textures of plant-based meats have greatly improved since they were first introduced, and now befuddle those participating in blind taste tests. And cultivated meat IS meat, grown in a brewery-like setting, without the antibiotics, slaughterhouse feces, environmental destruction, cruelty, etc. As the technology advances so that they are cost-competitive (and eventually cheaper) than factory-farmed meat, we will see a paradigm shift. It is simply a matter of when, not if. For the planet, for the animals, and for human health, that time can't come soon enough.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a committed carnivore, I added this book to my list to learn more about synthetic meat. The author presents well-researched information and explores multiple perspectives on the growing need for synthetic meat. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in adjusting their diet to include synthetic meat.

Thank you NetGalley for an opportunity to read this ARC!

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Net Galley for the early preview of this audiobook.

This book definitely reads like Bill Gates’s How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need. It’s relatively positive (or at least, it shows the negative side of things but always combats it with positive alternatives) and shows what science tells us is happening with current food production and how things can change for the better. The author does note that if you’re reading this book then it’s likely that you care about food production and global hunger.

Overall, I enjoy these kinds of books, but they are a little difficult on audio due to all the facts and figures that are spit out. Looking at charts and graphs work a bit better than listening to them described to you. My main beef with these kinds of books (and this kind of science) is that they’re a little too black and white and don’t consider all the factors (which in this case is the factor of how humans feel towards this and what is taboo versus acceptable). In a perfectly science-driven world where science rules all the decisions and money isn’t an issue, there likely would be no global hunger, way less greenhouse gas emissions, and animals and people would live healthier, happier lives. But we often neglect the societal/human side of this black and white study.

In any case, this book is very informative, and I learned a good deal of meat production facts. The author likes to point out the meat is humanity’s favorite food. I bet his Ted Talk was interesting where he purposely wastes plates of food in order to make a point (he does bring this up a lot).

One thing that I am not sure I agree with was how he equated his drive to push to a more ‘cultivated meat’ society to other drives that are somewhat similar in nature, in recent history. While this is good, positive thinking, it is much more hopeful than it is scientific. But he brings it up so many times to where he truly seems to believe it. It reminds me of Michael Crichton and how he tried educating people on a similar tone (in this case, Crichton tried equating the ‘science’ of eugenics to climate change and global warming – indicating that they were all false and eventually humans would figure it out, from this book State of Fear). In the case of this book, the author likes to talk about how cars would never be more prevalent in NYC than horses (and now they are), or how no one would buy electric cars over gas-powered cars (and now people do), or how no one would think that all our information, email, calendars, camera, etc. would ever be on a phone (and now it is). He loved bringing up a quote from Apple executives in the 1980s on how people would never own a computer in their personal home and that has obviously changed. So based on all those facts above, saying that no one would want to buy or eat cultivated meat is going to have to change since all these other cherry-picked facts have changed as well. While there is no obvious science behind this wishful thinking, maybe the author should look into people saying the same thing on where these ideas failed. How about, no one is ever going to use an air-powered car, or no one is going to use a hydrogen fuel cell car (these ‘facts’ still seem to be true). Those are just my two cents.

Instead of this completely wishful thinking on making the world a better place on this matter of hope, maybe try a different approach to push this idea. I like the idea of having governments back the idea of cultivated meat and reducing all the associated issues of regular/agricultural meat, but I feel like it will have to have a different push, like a great societal acceptance in the form of ‘influencers’ or something like that (along with cost and accessibility).

Audiobook narrator Walter Dixon rating: 3.5 stars
The narrator has a nice voice and speaks to the listener with some compassion and empathy to where we get the sense that he cares about this topic, which is about all we can ask for. Either way, it’s a nonfiction book so there is not a lot of room for creativity. One big change I would suggest is, the beginning of the book has a foreword written by a woman, but a man reads it. I don’t see why we couldn’t have gotten the actual woman to read her own foreword and there wouldn’t be slightly confusing narrative here. What I mean is, one part of the foreword she says that she is a mother and it’s kind of funny sounding coming from a man.

[Kate Laycoax · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going into Meat by Bruce Friedrich, I genuinely thought this book was going to be about eating more real meat because of its benefits for our health, our bodies, and even the environment through things like regenerative agriculture. That’s on me for the assumption, but I was pretty disappointed to find out this book is actually a long argument against traditional meat and for plant-based and lab-grown alternatives.

As someone who eats a lot of red meat (multiple times a day for years now), switching to a meat-heavy diet has been absolutely life-changing for me in the best possible way. My health, energy, and overall well-being improved dramatically, so I came into this book already skeptical of the idea that lab-made or heavily processed plant-based “meat” could ever be healthier or more beneficial. This book didn’t change my mind; in fact, it reinforced it.

To Friedrich’s credit, the book is well-researched and clearly laid out from his perspective. He does a thorough job explaining the science, policy goals, and economic motivations behind plant-based and cultivated meat, and I can see how this would be compelling for readers already leaning in that direction. But the framing felt very one-sided, and the repeated claims that lab-grown or plant-based meat is healthier and safer than real meat just didn’t land for me at all.

I also struggled with the environmental arguments, especially since regenerative agriculture and responsible animal farming are barely acknowledged as viable solutions. For a book titled Meat, I expected a more balanced exploration of actual meat and the many ways it already supports human health and sustainable ecosystems when done right.

If you’re interested in the future of plant-based or cultivated meat and want an optimistic vision of that industry, this book will probably work for you. But if you’re someone who values traditional animal-based diets and believes real meat plays a vital role in human health, this likely won’t be the book you’re looking for. For me, it was more frustrating than enlightening.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bruce Friedrich, and BenBella Books for the eARC of this book.

[Dirks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruce Friedrich’s core thesis should be familiar to anyone who has followed the Good Food Institute over the years: using vast quantities of crops to feed animals, rather than people directly, is an inefficient and environmentally damaging way to produce food.

But meat alternatives? They suck. More expensive, weird textures, and not as appealing on taste. This makes for a less than compelling value proposition for most consumers, who are hooked on meat.

So, where does that leave us?

Assuming consumer behavior will only change if and when alt-meat products achieve taste and price parity with their animal-based counterpart, at which point market forces can kick in—that leaves us with a science problem!

Meat is made of lipids, aminos, minerals, water — that is all meat is. Plants have those constituent parts too. So, with funding, the idea was to hire scientists, take plants, and figure out how to replicate the entirety of the meat experience. And it’s working, with situations from the “the veggie burger that bleeds when you cut it” to cultivated meat being grown in the lab to hosting meat-free international meals between nations.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bruce Friedrich, and Brilliance Audio for sharing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was deeply impressed by this book. What begins as a rather devastating outlook on today’s world ultimately turns into a message of hope and faith in a better future. The examples presented are well chosen and clearly explained, helping the reader understand why meat consumption has become such a deeply rooted human habitand what consequences we may face as a result.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the problem, its causes, possible solutions, and what personal actions might actually make a difference.
As an audiobook, it was also brilliantly narrated and conveniently divided into short segments of up to ten minutes. This made it easy to listen whenever I had a bit of time, without worrying about being interrupted mid-chapter.
The only aspect I didn’t appreciate was the strong focus on the United States and the argument that the U.S. should “lead the charge” in conquering the alternative meat market. From a non-American perspective, this position felt rather off-putting.

[Megan Beech · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who had been keto for 3 years, fell off the bandwagon and slowly getting back on, I can't get enough of meat. Once upon a time I was a vegetarian and the thought of having synthetic meats would've been revolutionary and honestly I might have stayed veggie if there were more options like there are today. This book is incredibly intriguing for someone who interested in the science and learning more about synthetic meats and incorporating into a lifestyle that works best for you.

I don't see myself going vegetarian any time soon but I really enjoyed what I learned out of this book and the audio kept me listening and wanting to get more information.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic, beautifully written, and incredibly important book. Bruce Freidrich, one of the great visionaries of alternative food futures, makes the strong case for how we can build a more sustainable future for ourselves and our planet while celebrating and enjoying the foods we love. The cultivated animal product revolution is not a fantasy but a very real possibility -- provided that we start laying the foundations now. This book should be required reading for anyone thinking deeply about our future. Read it!

[Ashley Tovar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a book that educates me on a niche topic & this book did exactly that. I appreciated the significance of the global impact & the topic was clearly well researched, unbiased & presented in an easy to absorb format. Overall interesting & enjoyable.

Big thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this.

[Nitish Bhagath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trust Bruce to cut through the clutter, get straight to the heart of the matter and convince you that Alt Proteins deserve the attention and investment that he is asking for. This book comes at an especially critical time when critics have all but written the obituary of the sector.

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timely and informative, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how food systems impact health, flourishing, and climate outcomes and how sustainable proteins made via biomanufacturing can create a better and safer world

[Castra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clean Meat meets The Omnivore's Dilemma. A good, well-researched argument for changes to our food system as it comes to meat, the eating of meat, and the growing of meat.