• Lab-Grown Meat Is Getting Cheap Enough For Anyone To Buy
    167 replies, posted
Yeah I know, I've just always thought the idea of climate controlled highrise vertical farms in cities sounded awesome
Don't know if this has been mentioned before in the thread but, maybe now the vegetarians/vegans can enjoy a juicy steak without all the controversy they complain about I mean I totally get why they feel that way, some farms are awful but this could be the solution for them surely, unless they find another way to moan about it
It doesn't bother me it's grown in a lab. I'm all for trying this. What I have my suspicions about is that biology, and chemistry is complex. As we've seen with artificial drugs, the chirality of a molecule is important and can effect a lot of things as to how that drug interacts with the human body. As we've seen with artificial marijuana, it's very hard to create a competent "Dupe" of a real molecule as nature does it. There's something tangibly different about the process nature uses to create the molecules we want, and how we do it in both of those prior examples. I strongly suspect we'll run into the same issue with this kind of meat. I don't think it'll result in any real danger other than damage to peoples diets over short term periods, but I do think caution is a wise move here. The details of how meat, muscle, sinew, tendon, and tissue form a piece of flesh are probably dealt differently in the lab, than they are in nature. And I do wonder, can an "animal" that never walks, or breathes, or moves, or thinks be identical in taste, flavour, and composition to that of a real cow? I sure hope so, but I do have serious doubts about reaching that stage quickly.
There's already meat alternatives that are pretty good (a fair amount of hype behind things like beyond meat and the impossible burger), it's not really gonna affect people who are already vegan. Vegans/vegetarians already got to the point where they don't feel the want or need to eat steak so y'know
Depends on the person really. There's some unhealthy vegans/vegetarians out there who aren't suited to the diet Some people are suited perfectly for a vegan diet. It's hard to say. But much of the ideological drive to veganism probably won't be uprooted by meat like this.
I've tried vegan food, it doesn't taste like the real thing at all. Also why not? I am sure there are some out there who would like to have a steak if it involved not slaughtering a cow
Yes, it's complex, but not impossibly so. We have a good enough grasp of tissue culture that we can make reasonable predictions about how safe cultured meat will be, and there's no reason to expect cultured meat to be any less safe than meat obtained from animals. In fact the more controlled production environment of cultured meat should greatly decrease the odds of contamination. I agree that we should approach this with some prudence, but being overly cautious is counterproductive. I also don't quite get what your cited examples are supposed to highlight either because neither of those is relevant to the safety of cultured meat (and also I'd like to point out that there's no difference between a pure compound isolated from plants or animals versus that synthesised in a lab). Whether cultured meat tastes good is another story, but that's not the issue at hand here. I'm only criticising your overly-cautious stance based on possible safety issues.
I hardly think i'm being overly cautious. Spice, artificial marijuana, has had a number of pretty poor reactions with the human body. Creating artificial versions of natural compounds isn't a simple process. If there is literally 0 difference in these molecules, why do the bodies react differently? You seem to have all the answers about why there's nothing to worry about here. So yeah, I'll seem overly cautious in comparison to you, but I wouldn't say that's an accurate descriptor.
Because they're not the same molecule. You're talking about synthetic analogues of THC, which behave differently in the body. If you synthesised THC itself, and compared it to THC extracted from marijuana, then they'd be exactly identical. The same thing happens with cultured meat. It's just a bunch of muscle cells, except instead of killing an animal to get those cells, they're grown in a tissue culture reactor. There's no reason to suspect they might behave any differently when eaten.
Then why are they creating analogues we know to be dangerous?
The point was more that people who've already stopped eating meat aren't exactly looking to get back into eating meat (no matter the sources) in droves; they're already fine with it being dropped from their diet. The market for lab-grown meat ain't vegans/vegetarians, it's omnivores who don't want to stop eating meat. Sure you'll get a lot eating it but they're not really looking to "enjoy a juicy steak" in the first place.
Research purposes, for example probing cannabinoid receptors. They were never meant for human use.
I know were getting off topic here, so my apologies, but why are they selling it then? I will say I have less caution about the meat product with that in hand, but will still be skeptical of the quality of it for a little bit still.
But why not? All the controversy has been eliminated if a cow isn't slaughtered. If I was vegetarian and heard there was a way to enjoy meant in a way that doesn't harm animals then I would go for it, better than the stuff they eat that "tastes just like regular meat!" (when it really doesn't). Humans are omnivores, that's just what we are?
To get around legal restrictions on marijuana, to avoid detection in standard drug tests, and also because some people who don't understand the risks involved hear that they get you even higher than THC so they go for it. Sorry if I've come off as being aggressive, and I'm glad you're willing to change your point of view at least somewhat.
That's the point, people who've stopped eating meat have gotten to the point where the enjoyment isn't really a thing like it is for people who still eat meat. Lab meat would just be another option among all the others they've gotten used to, and that's ignoring all the people and instances where meat substitutes aren't even on the radar. Their diet works perfectly fine as-is, it's not gonna get shaken up when lab meat becomes commonplace. Non-meat eaters don't need lab meat, meat eaters do.
Personal anecdote but I was vegetarian for 3 years and I would have gladly gone for cultured meat if given the chance. Enjoyment is very much still a thing for many vegetarians, just that environmental and ethical concerns outweigh it. If an option comes along that doesn't have the baggage of farmed meat, I am sure that many vegetarians will gladly buy it.
It's replacing the need to not eat an actual slaughtered cow. Not all of their diets work out as well as you put, some are malnourished because of it. Also as an omnivore or "meat eater" as you put it, I will continue to eat slaughtered cows, pigs, chicken until it becomes the same price/less I don't need it
Personally, I mostly consume meat because it is so easily obtainable and on offer by restaurants and markets. I actually do not consume that much meat. If markets and restaueants would adopt an alternative to meat that could easily replace meat, I would be glad. It is more a thing of habit to me. Although I would still long for some real meat from time to time.
This is seriously great news! Imagine all fast-food ground/pressed meats being 100% man-made. That would cut down a huge portion of the meat industry demand. So cool.
You also have to take into account the compounds that have been used specifically for the creation of lab grown meat there might be residues of, though. Even if the cells and structure itself is identical to "normal" meat, it doesn't completely rule out health hazards.
Don't worry about buying fake meat, just buy firm tofu bricks homie. It's cheap as fuck and delicious if you cook it properly. It's been a few months since I've eaten chicken so maybe my perspective is off, but I think tofu is way tastier. Though for the past few years I haven't eaten a traditional western diet. It's been more stirfrys, noodles, rice and curry etc. And not big slabs of meat, so it wasn't a big transition. It would be hard to transition from sausages and steaks to a plant-based diet.
I honestly couldn't imagine living without meat, it goes with everything. Missing out on a Sunday Roast would be devastating
Some people genuinely can't do a plant based diet, and don't feel healthy on them. Also, tofu is fine but it's no substitute for meat and I just would tend to prefer to stay away from a heavily soy based diet
the big problem with lab grown meat is that i want my fucking offal and not enough people want their fucking offal for growing offal to be a viable option
What compounds exactly?
Why can't some people feel healthy on a plant-based diet? Lack of non-fortified B12 is a valid criticism. And what's wrong with soy exactly?
But why? Why would you be hesitant to eat something grown in sterile conditions but not something that grows out of dirt and is exposed to pesticides/disease/antibiotics
Some people don’t. It’s their experience and the diet disagrees with them. Soy isn’t straight up bad, it’s just something I’d prefer to keep out of my diet. There’s a lot of confusing research around soy, and soy based products. Typical Asian diets have used it for thousands of years in fermented or more natural forms and that’s shown certain benefits to their diets, but a lot of western soy, like the meatless burgers, use a wide variety of highly processed soy products to achieve that goal and there could be negatives associated with that. All in all, I don’t see a need to cut meat out of my diet to replace t with soy products. Not morally, ethically, or environmentally. I try and buy my meat from ethical farms, and that’s a huge part of the problem dealt with
Soy is just a product from soy bean, what's all this confusion exactly? If you don't want to eat fake meat because of processing then that's fine, but I'm only talking about tofu and tempeh here.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.