Billionaire elite Bill Gates said that Westerners should adjust their palates and get used to the idea of eating fake meat.

During an interview with Technology Review promoting his new book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” Gates said that developed nations need to move to producing only synthetic beef to combat pollution. 

“I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef,” said Gates. 

“You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time. Eventually, that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the [behavior of] people or use regulation to totally shift the demand.”

According to Gates, the same rules don’t apply to poorer nations 

“I don’t think the poorest 80 countries will be eating synthetic meat. ” said Gates. 

Gates pointed to companies like Impossible and Beyond — best known for their Beyond Burger — who are producing plant-based meat alternatives but also mentioned technological advancements that allow scientists to produce artificial meat at the “cellular level.” 

“I’m afraid the synthetic [protein alternatives like plant-based burgers] will be required for at least the beef thing,” said Gates. 

“Now the people like Memphis Meats who do it at a cellular level—I don’t know that that will ever be economical. But Impossible and Beyond have a road map, a quality road map and a cost road map, that makes them totally competitive.” 

According to Our World in Data, as of 2018 China was the largest producer of meat contributing about 88 million tonnes of meat into the market. 

That year, China produced nearly twice as much meat than the United States, which saw the production of 46 million tonnes. 

It is unclear whether Gates thinks that his artificial meat policy should apply to China or whether he has cut out beef from his diet himself.