Meat Without Animals
 

Hi Pals -
I am curious as to what people think of this topic:
http://www.slate.com/id/2189676&GT1=38001

I can understand both (actually more than two) sides to this one!

jo

I am an omnivore, so I see it as something that would have little effect on me personally - the cost of it would be so high that only people who were both wealthy and vegetarian would have cause to buy it.

However, I do find the concept of "meat without feet", as a friend of my sister's calls it, fascinating, and think there might be a market for it for rich vegetarians.

Not gunna lie that was really interesting. I had never heard of it before and it sounds logical. No harming animals in the process is a plus in my book

The environmental impact is what intrigues me most. Think of all the methane that wouldn't be going up into the atmostphere every day if the meat we ate didn't poo?

Still would need chickens for eggs, and dairy cows for milk, though.

I think there would be problems of control and abuse. Restaurants could say they use lab meat, but substitue animal meat to make greater profit. Unless you're growing your own at home, how would you tell? Likewise, if eventually labmeat were able to be made more cheaply than "real" meat, the reverse could happen.

Still, it's interesting, and if it can be done with use of fewer natural resources it could really make some progress in responding to world hunger. Though if so, it would eventually become much cheaper than raising meat animals, and what would we do with all of these critters. Alow the domestic breeds of cattle and livestock to become extinct? That doesn't really seem right either.

It would be interesting if you could 'grow' meat much like you grow vegetables. I bet it could even be hormone free.

I wouldn't touch it. Mostly because meat just doesn't taste good to me anymore. Besides all the ethical, environmental and health issues relating to meat, my taste buds still rule me. It would also probably create more fuzziness between vegetarians and those who aren't.

Now if only they could grow cheese without the cow... (oh and pesky health issues too).

I have to say ....not for me. I am trying to move away from things created in labs not towards. Local, natural. Even meat.


I personally like what Barbara Kingsolver has to say on the topic (Animal, vegetable, miracle)...Which would be a good discussion book btw.

I fixed your quote. ;)

This is exactly what I wanted to say, but could not quite put into words. I have yet to see an example in the food sector where science has been able to trump nature.

I can't see using the product personally. Having been a vegetarian for 26 years, I'm not about to start craving meat (ugh!). If I look for non GMO soy products, it doesn't make sense that I would want this type of product on my table.

But, it does make for interesting discussions. And - it IS coming, probably sooner than we think.

"Meat without Feet!" That's a great expression!
I too wouldn't be interested in it for myself, but it is fascinating to think of what the global implications could be.
Another example of sci-fi loses its "fi."

I don't think I would eat this. The healthiest meats are free range, naturally raised animals. Although lab-created meat would likely have fewer associated risks (e.g., salmonella, trichinosis, etc.) and wouldn't require the sacrifice of animals, I'm not comfortable eating something so unnatural. I'm a big proponent of eating locally-grown or produced organic food.