A California-based startup called Savor has figured out a unique way to make a butter alternative that doesn’t involve livestock, plants, or even displacing land. Their butter is produced from synthetic fat made using carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and the best part is —- it tastes just like regular butter.
Since butter is only strings of hydrocarbon, this might not be an alternative at all. It might be more “real” than the real thing.
Terroir is essential to any natural food product. The impurities are what make it good, not something which detracts from the whole.