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“I believe that in 30 years or so we will no longer need to kill any animals and that all meat will either be clean or plant-based, taste the same and also be much healthier for everyone.” – Richard Branson
Whether it was the ‘got milk’ campaign that had celebrities touting the ‘benefits’ of dairy, or Bill Cosby selling the ‘deliciousness’ of Jello, the proof is in the pudding that influencers hold immense power over our decisions at the grocery store.
Decades
It’s with this understanding that I couldn’t ignore the potential impact of Richard Branson’s recent article on Virgin’s website predicting that animals will be removed from our food system in a few decades.
Branson is among a growing number of very wealthy and influential investors that envision a very different food system than we have now.
They recognize that our diets are unsustainable, and that changes are coming whether we like it or not, so might as well get on board sooner than later. Which is why they’re backing companies that promise to tantalize our taste buds while removing animals from the equation.
Money
Both Branson and Bill Gates, alongside ‘smart money’ folks like Cargill and Kimball Musk recently backed the clean-meat company Memphis Meats in their $17 million Series A round, joining a string of sustainable food companies that have raised an impressive amount of capital in recent years.
Some might argue that Branson is simply ‘talking his book,’ making bold proclamations to support his investments.
Given his decision to give up eating meat back in 2014, I’d argue that he’s simply aligning his money with his beliefs, which stem from the impact that animal agriculture has on our environment via deforestation, which is accelerating the planet-destroying effects of climate change.
Winston Churchill made a similarly bold prediction back in the 1930’s.
Given the incredible progress we’re witnessing from companies like Mosa Meat, Hampton Creek, and Finless Foods, it’s possible that Branson’s sky-high prediction will land on time.
This article was originally published by Forbes
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