Medium Rare: What’s Next For Meat?

Medium Rare: What’s Next For Meat?

Author: Climate One from The Commonwealth Club June 12, 2026 Duration: 1:05:01
Industrial agriculture accounts for a significant share of global emissions, but meat alternatives face real hurdles in becoming a mainstay of consumer diets. The hype around plant-based meat has cooled: hurt by price gaps, ultra-processed rhetoric, and culture-war politics around masculinity and food identity. Yet feeding a growing planet will require eating less beef, wasting less food, and producing more food with less land. Cultivated meat – made from animal cells and grown in a lab –  could offer a different path forward, especially in hybrid form combining plant and cultivated proteins. What might the future of meat look like?  Guests:  Robbie Lockie, CEO, Founder, foodfacts.org Michael Grunwald, Journalist and author, “We Are Eating the Earth” Claire Bomkamp, Senior Lead Scientist, Cultivated Meat & Seafood, Good Food Institute Highlights: 00:00 - Introduction 4:30 Robbie Lockie on changing his diet 11:54 Robbie Lockie on who is choosing plant based meat 17:55 Robbie Lockie on how plant based meat competes on taste 20:40 Robbie Lockie on the future of plant based meat 26:54 Michael Grunwald making more food with less land 30:16 Michael Grunwald on the efficiency of industrial agriculture 33:30 Michael Grunwald on rotational grazing 38:00 Ariana Brocious’ cultivated salmon tasting 45:05 Claire Bomkamp on the state of cultivated meat 47:16 Claire Bomkamp on energy use of cultivated meat 52:23 Claire Bomkamp on what cuts cultivated meat can create 56:22 Claire Bomkamp on the price of cultivated meat For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Join us for our induction cooking demonstration night on July 21, at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Come enjoy delicious food and wine, and learn about why cooking with magnets beats cooking with gas. Tickets available at climateone.org/events  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conversation about our changing planet is often reduced to headlines and political noise, but Climate One moves beyond that. Hosted by Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar, this podcast from The Commonwealth Club creates a space for the full, complex dialogue we need. Each episode features candid discussions with scientists, policymakers, activists, and thinkers who are on the front lines. The focus is on drawing connections-between personal action and economic systems, between daunting scientific reports and tangible community solutions. You’ll hear analysis that doesn’t shy away from the severity of our situation while actively exploring pathways for genuine progress, from technology and finance to culture and justice. This isn't about alarmism or easy answers; it's about equipping listeners with a deeper understanding of the intertwined challenges and opportunities. Tuning into this podcast means joining a crucial exploration of how we adapt, mitigate, and fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world. The dialogue here is built on the idea that confronting the climate emergency honestly, in all its facets, is the first necessary step toward shaping a livable future.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Climate One
Podcast Episodes
Beyond the Rights of Nature: Land that Owns Itself [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:44
The “rights of nature” is the idea that if a corporation can have legal standing as a person, why can’t a river or a mountain? Thomas Linzey, one of the early architects of a legal framework for granting rights to nature…
ENCORE Dead Heat: The Danger Of Home Power Shutoffs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:11
Summer is here, temperatures are rising — and so are electric bills. That also means many people are facing a severely overlooked issue: power shutoffs. According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration…
When Your New Neighbor Is… a Data Center [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:40
Across the country, developers are racing to build huge new buildings to house computers to fuel the AI boom, creating an explosive demand for new energy. While some hyperscalers seek renewable energy, others are turning…
Making Solar Great Again [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:27
More and more, conservative voices are making the case that the U.S. can’t achieve energy dominance without solar power. Even the leading industry trade group is changing its strategy. Earlier this year, Politico reporte…
ENCORE: Cities Leading the Way [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:39
While the federal government has all but abandoned trying to address the climate crisis, cities around the world are stepping up. C40 is an international network of 97 cities representing 920 million people and 23% of th…
Fighting Fire with Fiery Passion: 2026 Goldman Prize Winners [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:17
The Goldman Environmental Prize is known as the Nobel for grassroots environmental champions, for good reason. Award-winners are earth defenders, often bucking entrenched systems and powerful interests in order to protec…
Protest and Beyond: Annie Leonard On What You Can Do [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:39
Protest is the ultimate in equal-opportunity political action. As Annie Leonard, former executive director of Greenpeace USA says, "Making change is like laying a stone path across the garden. Peaceful protest may be eve…
Mother is Mothering [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:30
Sometimes mothers are biological; other times, they’re chosen. But often, they're the fiercest people you can have on your side. In this special Mother’s Day episode, we’ll hear stories about the vital role mothers and c…