Will We All Soon Eat Lab-Grown Meat?
The animals rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced this week that it will offer a $1 million reward to the inventor of laboratory-grown, tastes-just-like-chicken (or beef or pork), no-animals-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-this-burger meat—should someone come along who can claim that mantle. The Associated Press quickly gobbled up the news, and Time offered its take yesterday. PETA lays out its rationale as follows: "More than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs, and cows are killed every year for food in the United States in horrific ways. Chickens are drugged to grow so large they often become crippled, mother pigs are confined to metal cages so small they can't move, and fish are hacked apart while still conscious—all to feed America's meat addiction. In vitro meat would spare animals from this suffering. In addition, in vitro meat would dramatically reduce the devastating effects the meat industry has on the environment."
The environmental argument holds considerable weight. Large quantities of water, grain, antibiotics, and energy are used to produce hamburgers, and animal waste is a pungent and dangerous problem of its own. If meat could be grown efficiently in vitro, the benefits to society could be many. But not everyone is fully on board: Calling yesterday for a "measured approach," the New York Times editorial board opined that it "will be a barren world if the herds and flocks disappear in favor of meat grown in a laboratory tank." In the long run, I wonder if our omnivorous species has any choice.
I also wonder if mass-produced, lab-grown produce might be next. Hydroponics and greenhouse gardens are hardly new, of course. But imagine a world in which crops are grown in carefully controlled indoor settings, where droughts and deluges could be managed, runoff water could be captured and reused, and herbicides and pesticides—and therefore controversial GMO crops that have had pesticide-making genes sutured into their DNA—would be unneeded. Already, some scientists are predicting the rise of high-rise farms.
Will a farm-in-a-skyscraper soon sprout over every urban supermarket? More generally, what and how will we eat in the future? As a science editor at U.S.News & World Report, I'd be very interested in any story (science writers, I'm talking to you) exploring the prospect that our descendants might subsist largely on lab-grown foods.
With a global food crisis brewing, the topic has perhaps never been more timely. Growing meat and crops in the lab might also lead to indirect environmental benefits, like staving off the ongoing destruction of the Amazon. "The meat-substitute niche is currently occupied largely by soy," the Times editorialists noted. Soy may be free of animal cruelty concerns, but it's not an environmentalist's dream. Each year, Brazilian soybean farmers burn down vast tracts of Amazonian rain forest in order to plant their cash crop, which occasionally lands on my plate and, I suspect, feeds many members of PETA.
I welcome all ideas and perspectives.
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (6)
Reader Comments
PETA is a bunch of hypocrites
This is among the more hypocritical things PETA has done in recent memory. Almost as hypocritical as its puppy-killing operation.
See www.PetaKillsAnimals.com for that one.]
Any reasonable attempt at culturing chicken cells will have to involve a laboratory serum. And within the four-year window PETA has prescribed, the only reasonably economical choice will be the widely available "fetal bovine serum." This protein-rich fluid is derived from the fetuses of unborn calves. Yes. the fetuses of unborn calves.
Many of these animals would otherwise become "veal," no doubt eliciting naked restaurant protests from the same PETA activists.
And before any lab-processed chicken-replacement could be brought to market, it would have to be extensively safety-tested on animals in order to satisfy the FDA.
PETA's president has insisted that "even if animal testing produced a cure for AIDS, we would be against it." But in the service of promoting a vegan utopia, animal testing suddenly is suddenly more "ethical" to these zealots?
Why? Could it be the promise of free media coverage?
Give me a break.
Soy grown in Amazon
I doubt that the veggy members of PETA will end up eating soy grown in the Amazon because most of it goes to Europe for livestock feed. Most people prefer not to know the personal history of the meat on their plate, simply because they know it is a far cry from those images of lovely flocks happily munching away in the countryside. I think PETA is doing a great job by trying to revolutionise the way we think of what meat really means.
Soy
I'm vegetarian, but cannot stand PETA, and know many vegetarians and vegans who feel the same way. Don't assume we're all PETA members, many of us agree with omnivores that they're obnoxious publicity whores who use questionable tactics.
But I wanted to clarify your comment that soy grown in the Amazon is feeding "PETA members" - presumably vegetarians and vegans. Most of the soy grown in the world isn't turning into tofu, but is feeding animals being raised for their meat. So a lot more of it is ending up on your plate than you think. There are many sources of non-GMO soy in the US for us to eat without it passing through an animal first.
Iris, Lisa,
Thanks for your comments. You both make a great point -- that much of the soy (not to mention much of the corn) our civilization grows is not used to feed people directly, but rather to feed animals. In fact, you speak to Bruce's point that pound for pound, far more food goes into livestock animals than comes out of them at the slaughterhouse. And Lisa, you're right that some of it could be ending up on my plate in another form, though I don't eat meat all that often.
lab grown meat
I am a horticulturist, and have had the opportunity to travel around the world and eat some very interesting plants which could very good meat substitutes, Jack fruit is very much like crayfish ,if prepared properly. there is a very large mushroom from south africa which is the best steak I have ever had , thick ,juicy and very tender.they call it the beefsteak mushroom and it is the size of a small umbrella these are two examples of plant substitutes there are plenty more that can be used.I do believe that big business plays the role of god in our choices .lab grown meat will happen only if the big supermarkets and restaurant chains see a profit ,ethics the enviroment and the planets survival dont enter the equation.mans greed and desire for wealth are what dictate ,what we eat,how we eat where etc.More should be done to educate the worlds population to what our farming practices are doing to aid in the earths demise.I advocate permaculture but it also comes at a cost, its always a money thing!
Add your thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our comment guidelines.advertisement
Lab grown meat is a very good idea:
While 100 million tons of grain will be used to produce biofuel worldwide this year, a staggering 760 million tons will be used to feed chickens, pigs, and other farmed animals, so lab grown meat (or a vegetarian diet) makes a lot of sense.
For me, it's still about the animals:
www.Meat.org.
And the environmental argument is well-made here:
www.GoVeg.com/eco.
Apr 24, 2008 11:47:59 AM [permalink] [report comment]