I'd try it if the price came down. Fake meat is in the store now but I still eat the real thing. Maybe the current stuff isn't what OP is talking about.
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Is it good? Like does it actually taste like steak? Economical to produce? Is it better for the economy and the environment, Hell yes, then.
Imagine a perfectly marbled, perfectly rectangular, gristle free Wagyu quality steak that you could sear in some butter in a cast iron and serve right up.
No animal had to be raised and slaughtered. Less drain on resources. Less land usage.
I'm not convinced that the technology will ever get there, but what do I know. I'm just some dude on the internet.
The only thing I'd wait for is for the process to be refined enough to be more eco friendly than just eating real meat. I'd do it, but until there's proof of it being more sustainable and won't tank my blood thin/thickness levels (blood thinners sometimes suck), I would be down to try it at the very least.
Though I would receive resistance in changing my diet until either my dad changes his eating habits or I move out on my own because my dad absolutely refuses things like plant based meats, so I know he'd most likely resist lab grown meat as well. It's also hard for my mom and I to switch to a healthier dinner diet since both my dad and older brother wouldn't dare change their diets to something like a Mediterranean or some other healthier because they can be picky eaters (especially my older brother).
Yes, of course. I'll be among the first in line to try it. Anything to reduce our dependence on livestock is a good idea in my book. It would save me the trouble of having to go vegan. Plus I bet guilt-free meat tastes so much better.
Lots of comments along the lines of "only if it tastes the same" but no one seems to consider the possibility of it tasting better. Like what if lab grown meat is an orgasm for your mouth?
Is this really up for debate?
Florida bans lab-grown meat, adding to similar efforts in three other states
Much like with the fossil fuel industry squeezing out renewable energies at every opportunity, I suspect we're going to see the powerful agricultural lobbies shut down competitors until the owners of these big businesses can insert themselves as the sole proprietors of the lab meat industry.
On the flip side, retailers are going to want to drive down their costs, so they'll only switch when the price drops below the current floor set by firms like Tycoon and Cargill. But once it does... you'll be foolish to assume what you're eating isn't lab grown if it means a business increasing its profits.
The end result will be people who want lab meat finding themselves prohibited from buying it and people who don't want lab meat unwittingly consuming it.
There exists a world outside corpo US. Like europe which has better competition in every way. Even ads are better here than in the US.
europe which has better competition in every way
M&A is coming for Europe in a big way as the neoliberal policies of the states seep in through all the cracks. 2025 is gearing up to be a big year for Euro bank consolidation. We've already seen a lot of the industrial sector hollowed out of the Southern EU states and consolidated in Germany. Crackups like what happened in Yugoslavia in the 90s and border wars like what we're seeing with Ukraine/Russia have also immolated domestic industry in a way we haven't seen since the Years of Lead.
Even ads are better here than in the US.
We'll see how long that lasts. If the UK is a bellweather, it looks like the Elon-ification of your economy is just a matter of time.
European sad agreeing noises
As a vegetarian, I wouldn't care much for it. I feel like the plant-based alternatives have got everything covered I could want from meat (and more, if you look beyond Western cuisine). And then I just feel like it's hard to compete with them in terms of sustainability, efficiency, price etc.. In particular, I also really cannot be fucked to put more perishable things into my fridge. I had bought these meatball-like things for Christmas, but didn't eat the whole load on the first go, so had to cram them in a few days later. Meanwhile my lentils, beans, TVP, peas, nuts etc. just sit there for months, not needing any of my attention.
Instantly! I'm already drooling at the door of every meat lab hoping for the day I can get perfect texture meats from any possibly creature to potentially cook with. Imagine the possibilities! Fried dodo, elephant steak, shark kabob, all without the moral, ethical, or biological risks that come with consuming extinct animals, sapient beings, or super predators. The culinary world will never be more shook!
I’d rather go vegan. Falafel all the way.
still waiting for the mass to consume it and see what happen, also waiting for the price too
making meat green? Sure, it would be cheaper and less destructive.
Not right away. I have grown to have a healthy caution towards new things when it comes to what i put in my body. I would give it maybe 5 years or so. Enough time for them to do some multi-year studies on any potential health effects. Im not just gonna take some companies word that these meats are what they say they are.
I have no problem with the idea of lab grown meat on its own i just don't trust companies to do it right.
The only question I have is about prions, which are just misfolded proteins. As long as the quality control is good enough I don't have to worry about that, then I'd have no problem with it.
If it was healthy, affordable, and tasty, then yes.
If it isn't all three, then Veganism can continue to go fuck itself.
You are not limited to meat and lab-created meat, you know? Vegetarians can tell you to eat eggs and cheese if you want. Vegans will tell you that there are large varieties of plant-based proteins, amongst: lentils, soy, whole cereals, even green vegetables. While these tend to not be as complete nor bio-available as meat or eggs, if you combine them you can have various, delicious and protein-rich meals. I am personally working out a lot and my mostly vegan diet (some eggs and cheese from time to time) is enough for my protein needs.
I mean, if your goal is to keep the meat experience, then yeah, I get your point. But other than that....
I mean, if your goal is to keep the meat experience, then yeah, I get your point.
I think that was indeed very obviously the point. The point of both the comment you were replying to and this lab grown meat idea as a whole.
I'm not really good with obvious subtexts, I'm sorry ^^
I am extremely unkeen on handing control of all food production to large corporations.
Agreed!
Assuming it becomes a viable product, I wonder how it'll impact veganism? Since there's no animal cruelty.
As a vegan I would totally eat it. My only concern would be how healthy it is. Impossible meats aren’t super healthy so far
No, i'd go vegan before i'd eat cultured meat. I'm not opposed to it and it's probably better for the economy and environment, but I have a mental thing about it. Granted if I had to catch and clean my own meat, i'd also probably go vegan. Maybe I'm just squeamish about my food.
its all about cost. The plant based while not as good as meat is decent and if cost competitive I would use it to at least reduce met consumption. lab grown at price parity would almost get me to switch. Problem is my wife is turned off by it so that will be a complication. crickets are fine to me in food so processed you would not notice.
Without hesitation. If the taste, consistency, nutrition, and price are all the same, then the only differences would be whether an animal was bred to suffer until slaughter and the likelihood of illness from consumption. I'm assuming that stuff like e coli would be nearly impossible through this. Plus less demand on farm meat means less chance of coronavirus mutations like the 2009 swine flu outbreak. And less of a need for the real estate, feed, and potable water to grow those animals. I must be missing something because I'm struggling to see a downside here.
I'm sure that, in the same way that there's still a market for objectively inferior exploitatively mined diamonds as a status symbol instead of lab created diamonds, there would still be a market for rEaL meat where "you can really taste the suffering" or whatever.
Now here's the more interesting question that actually has me on the fence: if "growing any kind of animal tissue" is what has been achieved, where would you stand on consuming lab-grown human meat? Is it immoral? Are there risks? Should such a thing be restricted in some way like alcohol or handguns? What would be the proper etiquette and presentation and everything if it became socially accepted? What wine would pair best with it? Or would it be more of a beer pairing? If this weren't socially acceptable, would no-suffering chimpanzee meat be okay?
If it only takes a small cell sample, would it be unethical to dig up extinct animals like mammoths or dodo specifically to enjoy their meat? If that's okay, and it chimps are okay, would neanderthals be okay to eat? Where would we draw the line?
I’m sure that, in the same way that there’s still a market for objectively inferior exploitatively mined diamonds as a status symbol instead of lab created diamonds, there would still be a market for rEaL meat where “you can really taste the suffering” or whatever.
I don't think the value is sadism in itself, but the supposed natural purity; it's the sense of authenticity. They'd be more likely to market it like "As nature intended", "no nasty chemicals, organic", "no added dihydrogen monoxide", like that. You can play on the silly fear of scary chemical names.
I suppose animal furs is a relevant case study. Synthetic alternatives exist, but the real thing is considered a status icon by idiots.
That all said, fuck those cruel idealistic pieces of shit and the suffering they enable.
Now here’s the more interesting question that actually has me on the fence: if “growing any kind of animal tissue” is what has been achieved, where would you stand on consuming lab-grown human meat? Is it immoral?
Human meat, the inevitable question!
I see literally no ethical problem with eating non-sentient lab-grown meat, and I don't see why it being human flesh should be treated specially. I'm not even trying to equivocate humans and other animals, I don't consider human meat to be a human being, so there's no farming torture I'm concerned about, and I care about the meat's death as much as I care about a jellyfish or grass being squished. It's not like they're farming an entire conscious human like The Matrix, that would be uneconomical. (that said, what if humans were lab-grown for scientific research like lab animals? That's a more confronting question to me!)
Are there risks?
I'm no expert, but I suspect human diseases are more transferable than other animal meat diseases, so that's a consideration. Contamination is always a concern, I'd assume.
What would be the proper etiquette and presentation and everything if it became socially accepted?
I don't care. I can buy chicken nuggets and eat them with my elbows, if I want. I'll do that with human meat too. I already side with Frank Reynolds' perspective on the whole 'respect for the dead' tradition, put me up on a mountain for vultures and flowers like the Zoroastrianists, but this isn't even a sentient, let alone social, being. The only real etiquette I would consider is to make sure people aren't unknowingly served it, same with pork and other meats, because that could be unreasonably cruel to someone who is alive.
I will let you all try it first. Going to pass on crazy mutation diseases.
It already exists. We need to be pouring subsidies into it. I would absolutely switch, if it was widely available.
Not only is it better for the environment, but it’s also not loaded with antibiotics or been exposed to fecal matter at the farm.