Wolf of Wall Street fakes beef

Maybe some day Leonardo DiCaprio will book a suite at Cape Kidnappers.

Where he will be protected from the angry beef farmers of Hawke’s Bay.

DiCaprio has just made hefty investments in two start-up companies — Dutch Mosa Meat, which made the world’s first cell-based hamburger, and Israel’s Aleph Farms, which produced the first cell-based steak.

Announcing his move, the Wolf (“Sell me this pen!”) said: “One of the most impactful ways to combat the climate crisis is to transform our food system … Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world’s demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production.”

Beef has by far the biggest greenhouse gas footprint of any food type, in part because of the methane cattle produce. Cultivated beef – which involves growing only the parts that consumers will eat, rather than an entire cow – doesn’t have that problem.

Not everyone is as convinced as DiCaprio … including some environmentalists, some of whom call cultivated beef another ‘fool’s gold’ while others – including proponents of regenerative ag – view grass-fed cattle as playing an essential role in healthy farming systems.

Here’s a useful example of the debate amongst greens.

As for the Wolf, as the authorities closed in, he exclaimed to his team: “I ain’t going nowhere!”

Time will tell if that’s the fate of his latest investment!