The future of food: Cellular agriculture

The Stanford Food Speaker Series engages, informs, and connects the Stanford community with innovations, policies, agendas, and insights from leading experts in food and agriculture. Sponsoring partners include Bio-X, Food@Stanford, the Center on Food Security and the Environment, the Center for Ocean Solutions, the Center for Human and Planetary Health, and the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator. Learn more about the series.

The Future of Food: Cellular Agriculture
David Kaplan, Stern Family Endowed Professor of Bioengineering, Distinguished University Professor, and Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University 

The future of food refers to innovative and sustainable food products and ingredients developed through biotechnology and advanced processing technologies. A revolution in food production is underway – via the use of plants, microbes and animal cells in a biotechnology-related strategy to generate foods of the future. These foods are designed to address the most pressing challenges faced by the food industry and the planet today, including human, animal and environmental health. Cellular agriculture (cultivated meat, cellular farming), is a tissue-engineering approach to grow protein-rich foods with the potential to address these challenges. Progress in this field will be discussed to highlight the positive impacts, and the challenges ahead, to achieve impact with this emerging technology. This interdisciplinary field has the potential to alter society from our most basic needs – food – in ways that are now within our grasp as we enter a critical era in the transition towards more sustainable, efficient, and ethical food systems.

Lunch will be provided for guests who register by 5pm on Friday, February 20, 2026. Register here.