Tulevaisuuden ruokateknologiat ja maaseutujen muutosjoustavuus: Kotieläintuottajien näkemyksiä solumaataloudesta

Food production is one of the main industries in rural areas. Increased efficiency requirements and higher input prices are placing new demands on livestock producers on top of existing challenges. Innovations in food technologies are also challenging conventional production. One of these future technologies is cellular agriculture, which refers to the production of food in bioreactors. In this study, we interviewed 22 Finnish livestock producers to understand their views on cellular agriculture. We collected the research data through thematic interviews and analysed it using a resilience assessment framework of agriculture. The results illustrate the potential changes and related resilience requirements created by cellular agriculture from the perspective of livestock farmers. The main changes identified were the transforming position of livestock, technological opportunities and threats, and the changing roles of livestock producers as technologies evolve. Livestock producers expressed doubts about the potential for large-scale disruption brought by cellular agriculture. These novel technologies were perceived to offer livestock producers not only challenges but also previously unknown opportunities.