This year has seen mass efforts from both companies and individuals to adopt more eco-friendly and sustainable practices to do their part in fighting climate change. However, there has also been a massive surge of technological innovations which may reshape entire industries into cleaner and more environmental enterprises.
Chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds, lab grown diamonds (also known as CVD Diamonds) have exponentially skyrocketed in popularity over recent years. These diamonds are not imitations or fake diamond knockoffs like cubic zirconia or moissanite. These are real diamonds in every way. The FTC made this perfectly clear earlier this year when they unanimously ruled that a diamond is a diamond no matter if it is grown or mined. Since the only difference is the point of origin, it would be senseless to refer to grown diamonds as “fake” or “synthetic”. This news came as a big blow to the mined diamond industry who for years have been fighting the scientific innovations which have made grown diamonds a possibility for years.
Food Safety News:“…Scientists have now figured out how to grow actual diamonds in a lab. No, we’re not talking about cubic zirconia, which any self-respecting jeweler can easily detect as a fugazi. Lab-grown diamonds are so identical in composition to their mined counterparts that they’re essentially simply indistinguishable.”
Recently, the invention of “clean meat” has become the next revolutionary innovation in sustainable reform. This meat is grown at a cellular level, using animal cells to create meat that tastes, looks, and cooks exactly as if it came from a living animal. This could lead to incredible reform in food production. Modern day agricultural practices have long been a topic of debate when it comes to animal cruelty and environmental harm. With “clean meat” these issues would virtually vanish and likely result in a massive improvement to America’s carbon footprint.
The FDA and USDA tackled the issue of clean meat earlier this month and released a statement in which they outlined their intentions to oversee the production of cell-cultured food products derived from livestock and poultry with the intention of implementing regulations to ensure safety and legality.
“USDA and FDA are confident that this regulatory framework can be successfully implemented and assure the safety of these products. Because our agencies have the statutory authority necessary to appropriately regulate cell-cultured food products derived from livestock and poultry, the Administration does not believe that legislation on this topic is necessary.” – The U.S Food and Drug Administration
These innovations have proven to be a definitive thorn in the side of established institutions in their respective industries. Many are demanding that it be illegal for clean meat to be referred to as “meat” even though, chemically speaking, it is. This should sound familiar to anyone who watched the mined diamond industry struggle to stop lab grown diamonds from being referred to as “diamonds.” However, ultimately they lost that battle.
Because, you cannot stop innovation. You cannot halt progress. And most importantly, if there is a chance to take a huge step towards defeating climate change, it would be foolish not to take that step.