Tyson Foods partners with insect company that received award from World Economic Forum

US Food giant Tyson wants human beings to eat bugs.

In an October 17 press release, the company announced the purchase of a minority stake in Protix, a Netherlands-based firm that Tyson describes as “the leading global insect ingredients company” on the planet.

Protix’s website boasts that in 2015 it received one of 40 “Technology Pioneer” awards from the World Economic Forum.

The deal will result in a Protix facility being built in the United States, a move that Tyson describes as “the first at-scale facility of its kind to upcycle food manufacturing byproducts into high-quality insect proteins and lipids which will primarily be used in the pet food, aquaculture, and livestock industries.”

Tyson was founded in the 1930s in Arkansas. It is one of the world’s largest producers of chicken, pork, and beef. It owns such brands as Jimmy Dean sausage, Ball Park hotdogs, and Hillshire Farm meats.

Tyson has made investments in other fake food companies as well. In 2018, it joined Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Cargill, and others in investing millions of dollars in Memphis Meats, a San Francisco-based up-start that specializes in lab-grown, synthetic meat.

“Our global population continues to grow,” Tyson CEO Tom Hayes said at the time. “How will we feed this growing number of people the protein they want, in ways that are sustainable? We believe it will take a combination of innovative and traditional approaches.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved “cell-based chicken” for public consumption, thereby putting the United States on par with Singapore, which legalized the experimental product in 2020.

Marketed as a major tool in the fight against “climate change,” “cultivated chicken” is grown in a lab. The costly process involves extracting stem cells and giving them a nutrient-dense bath in vitamins, minerals, salt, and even soy inside a steel bioreactor. An average batch takes about two weeks to harvest.

Gates himself has backed an array of companies pushing genetically modified products, including cell-based chicken but also burgers sold by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Tyson has invested in Beyond Meat as well. Gates is also an investor in companies that sell artificial eggs like Upside Foods and East Just.

The growth of synthetic and plant-based products has caused many health experts and concerned citizens across the world to worry about the future of the food system. While groups like the World Economic Forum have long touted them as advantageous to mankind, others believe they are just another way for global elites to seize control of the food chain and poison human beings with dangerous ingredients.

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