FEASTS
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funded by the EU
Novel Food
1. Dec. 2023
in progress
cultivated meat, alternative proteins
35 Partners, 16 countries
About The Project
FEASTS (Fostering European Cellular Agriculture for Sustainable Transition Solutions) is a Horizon Europe project that builds an independent, science-based understanding of cultured meat and seafood and their role in future food systems. Using a food-systems thinking approach, it examines environmental, ethical, nutritional, health, and socioeconomic impacts, while promoting open science and stakeholder engagement to support informed EU policy and decision-making.
FEASTS brings together 36 institutions from 17 countries to explore production methods, value chains, and business models, with a strong focus on just transitions for farmers and aqua-farmers. Acting as a European think-tank, the project develops evidence and stewardship models to guide ethical, sustainable, and resilient cellular agriculture technologies for Europe’s future food system.
The Ethical Challenges
Cultured meat and seafood raise important ethical questions. Hopes focus on reducing animal suffering and lowering land and water use compared to conventional livestock farming. At the same time, concerns remain about dependence on animal cells, high energy demands, and uncertain long‑term health effects. These tensions show that technological progress does not automatically translate into ethical progress.
Beyond biology and technology, CM/CSF also challenges the fairness and resilience of our food systems. While it may strengthen food security and provide stable protein supplies, it could also deepen inequalities if access is limited to wealthier markets or if traditional farmers and coastal communities are pushed aside. Risks of monopolisation and exclusion highlight the need for responsible and transparent governance.
CM/CSF further raises questions about trust, culture, and integrity. Public confidence may falter if profit is prioritised over consumer welfare or if ‘ethical’ branding glosses over unresolved risks. And shifting to lab‑grown products may disrupt cultural food traditions, create new social divides, or distance people even further from nature.
Our Strategy
In order to address the ethical questions that arise with cultured meat and seafood, we established and chair the project’s internal Ethics Board to ensure ethical alignment throughout the entire process.
In addition, we conduct a comprehensive Ethical Impact Assessment that includes:
- Mapping the full ethical landscape
We analysed 379 ethically relevant effects across eight core values, creating a clear and structured picture of the opportunities and risks in cultured meat.
- Engaging stakeholders and experts
Through dedicated workshops and interviews, we brought diverse voices together to surface real-world concerns, lived experiences, and value tensions.
- Translating insights into actionable guidance
Using the Value Based Engineering approach (IEEE 7000), we transformed ethical insights into early recommendations that support transparency, responsible design, and risk mitigation across the project.
Testimonial
‘innovethic have done outstanding work for FEASTS in delivering a thorough and thoughtful ethical impact assessment. Their use of the Value-Based Engineering (VBE) methodology, grounded in stakeholder engagement, literature reviews, workshops, and interviews, provided us with a structured and balanced analysis of the ethical opportunities and risks associated with cultivated meat and seafood, invaluable for guiding responsible innovation of the sector.’
Anna Hadrych
Communication & Events Project Manager, European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food
‘Cultured meat and seafood are food innovations that promise benefits, yet like many emerging technologies have also raised concerns. In leading the FEASTS Ethics Board, innovethic has developed a transparent and thoughtful forum that considers the complex ethical questions which connect intentions with values and outcomes.’
