The RAU’s role in the future of cellular agriculture

Cultivated meat and other cellular agriculture technologies are gathering pace. Decisions made now about their role in the food system will have far-reaching impacts.

At the RAU, we are asking UK citizens and stakeholders what they think about these technologies, and how they should be democratically developed for an equitable and sustainable food future. We are using these insights to help shape research efforts and governance.

Researchers at the RAU are doing this work as part of The Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA), a multidisciplinary group of scientists funded by UK Research and Innovation. CARMA is working on taking cellular agriculture from the laboratory to the shopping basket and developing the underpinning technologies that would make it possible to sustainably integrate these products into food value chains.

The RAU leads CARMA’s Work Package 6, ‘Engaging public and policy’. Our role is to invite wide-ranging voices, lean into the nuances of the discussion, and bring scrutiny and critique, both to the wider cellular agriculture sector and to CARMA itself.

Citizen and Stakeholder Forums

As part of this work, we have set up two forums:

The Stakeholder Forum, made up of people with business and professional interests in the future of cellular agriculture. Stakeholders such as farmers, retailers, health professionals, environmental groups, concerned academics and animal welfare NGOs come together to discuss the issues surrounding cellular agriculture developments.
The Citizen Forum, a ‘mini-public’ with members chosen to be representative of the UK population across a range of demographic factors and with varied political views and opinions on technology, food, and the environment. Find out about our first Citizen Forum report, Cultivating Debate, here.

These forums bring together people with diverse opinions on cellular agriculture; and act as a ‘reality check’ on what may, or may not, have social licence. What makes these forums special is that as well as broader discussions on the potential impacts of these technologies on the everyday life of participants and their food futures, members are also tasked with giving specific guidance on challenges faced by CARMA scientists and the Food Standards Agency’s sandbox on cell-cultivated products. This is a novel approach to citizen engagement within the cellular agriculture sector which we hope will help steer CARMA and the wider industry in more equitable directions.

What is cellular agriculture? And, why is it important?

Cellular agriculture is the production of food and other consumables, traditionally grown on the land or in the sea. A lot of the focus within cellular agriculture has been on ‘cultivated meat’. Instead of raising and slaughtering animals, cultivated meat is produced by taking a small sample of animal cells and growing them in a nutrient-rich environment that allows them to multiply. Advocates of cultivated meat and other products made by cellular agriculture say it has the potential to reduce the climate and animal welfare impact of our diets without sacrificing flavour or nutrition. Others have concerns about its potential impact on our food system, labour dynamics, food cultures and health.

The technology to produce these foods already exists. The challenge now facing scientists, investors and regulatory bodies around the world is how to bring it to market. Some cultivated meat products for human consumption have already been approved in Singapore, Israel, Australia, and some states in the USA.

Here in the UK, in February 2025, the first cultivated meat product went on sale as pet food. Pet food and human food have different regulatory standards and food safety requirements. In March 2025, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) set up a ‘sandbox’ for cell-cultivated products. The FSA’s sandbox will last two years (2025-2027) and aims to establish a regulatory framework for cell cultivated products.

Why is an agricultural university part of a bio-engineering project?

It is precisely because of our agricultural background that we are involved in CARMA. From 2022 to 2024, the RAU led a project called Cultured Meat & Farmers. Cultured meat is another widely used term for cultivated meat. Despite being at the ‘sharp end’, amongst all of the ethical, economic and environmental research into cultured meat, hardly anyone had thought about how it might impact farmers. The project brought together researchers, farmers, policymakers, and cultured meat start-ups to find out what farmers think about cultured meat and model what it might mean for UK farming. Find out more about the cultured meat project here.

Want to have a say?

If you would like to feed in to our work in this area, we would love to hear from you.

We are also looking to grow the Stakeholder Forum. If you have a professional interest in the future of our food system and can spare around half a day a year to engage with CARMA, please get in touch.

Who’s involved

Dr Atenchong Talleh Nkobou

Dr Atenchong Talleh Nkobou (Work Package Lead) is a Senior Lecturer in International Rural Development. His research focuses on the political economy of agrarian systems, land tenure, and food security, including human rights-based approaches to development research and practice. Read more about Atenchong here.

James Riley

Dr James Riley (CARMA Research Fellow) researchers the relationships between science, technology and society. He has over a decade of experience working in public engagement with science and technology, and investigating public perceptions of, beliefs about, and enrolments into science and technology. Connect with James on LinkedIn here.