This dissertation empirically examines how multiple groups of social actors-activists, animal welfare scientists, and alternative animal product "industry" insiders-are reacting to and discussing emerging food items aimed at replacing traditional animal products, with a focus on cell-based meat (i.e., in vitro meat, or IVM for short). Each of the three papers in this dissertation focuses on one of these groups. Each paper also uses a different methodology that is unique and adapted to the type of data analyzed-content analysis, discourse analysis, and semi-structured interviews. The overarching goal is to assess what sorts of conversations are happening, by whom, and how these conversations might influence the emergence of alternative animal products and existing social structures. Taken together as a single study, this dissertation presents both the depth and breadth of the alternative animal product space. The basic arguments that stakeholders for and against alternative animal products are using, what types of questions they are asking, and the problems they are working to solve, are analyzed in detail.This dissertation finds that activist stances tend to be more black-and-white than those of alternative animal product insiders or animal welfare scientists. Of the three groups of stakeholders studies, welfare scientists show the most nuanced view, especially of in vitro meat. They are critical of IVM while also being open to its potential benefits. I found that IVM is causing a factionalization of the animal rights movement by creating a "radical" vs. reform schism that bears resemblance to factionalizations in other social movements. Professional conferences on alternative animal products tend to be business- and market-oriented in their discourse while discourse on the ethics of alternative animal products, the animals who might benefit the most directly from these products (farmed animals), or the environment are backgrounded to capital-centric narratives. There is still much unknown about IVM in particular, in addition to if, when, and how alternative animal products might disrupt current food systems. As a result, the alternative animal product space is still attempting to build itself into an industry but does not yet constitute one. The overall contribution and importance of this dissertation lies in its description and categorization of arguments, strategies, and values of groups of social actors instrumental in its development and future potential for success. This dissertation singles out sites of construction and stakeholders that have not been empirically investigated in terms of their contribution to the alternative animal product space.
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