Meat: Without the Animals

As it is currently over 98% of all meat raised in the US is from factory farms with many animals living in waste. The living conditions are terrible thus allowing bacteria to cultivate and since the animals are in such poor condition their immune systems are not working to their full potential. Tens of hundreds of animals are kept in these factory farms all across the nation. All of the animals have to be fed, as well as their waste cleaned up and disposed of. The factories produce waste and the environment is impacted.

The wave of the future; scientists are currently working on cultivating meat in a lab fit for human consumption, thanks to the use of stem cells. A collective of scientists from the Netherlands, the US, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have a single goal and that is to use a single stem cell to grow muscle tissue. The project is still in its early stages and it could be years before we see anything like this but the possibilities are enormous.

The positives to cultured meat are many. The meat created in labs would be sterile, because the conditions they are created under would be sterile. There would be no way for disease to taint the meat and grow in the animals within the factory farm. The nutrient content of the meat can be customized, so meat with different vitamin / protein content could be produced.

Why cultured meat is good; meat production is hard on the planet. A cow consumes 6 pounds of plant protein to produce 1 pound of meat protein. Livestock also pollutes and harms the atmosphere and as the earth continues to be populated, meat demand will rise and rise and soon we will not be able to keep up.

"Each cell could, in principle, be turned into 220 pounds of meat, so a handful of pig umbilical cords could be sufficient to make enough meat for the whole world. (Stig W. Omholt of Norwegian University of Life Sciences)"
information from science illustrated nov/dec 2010

35 comments:

  1. Interesting. I think man made food will be the future, they just need to do it right.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I could definitely get behind the idea of meat grown in a lab. Not only would it remove all issues of animal cruelty and/or mistreatment from the meat industry (which I suggest reading Fast Food Nation for a disgustingly stark picture of) but it also results in safer, cleaner, more efficient food, and a streamlined, cheap process for cultivation could spell the end of world hunger.

    The problem is, and this is one of the only places where capitalism falls flat, ConAgra is not going to like anything that cuts into their profit margins. The old guard when it comes to industries that represent excess and inefficiency (oil companies fit this bill too in their industry) aren't going to go down without a fight to this new paradigm unless it's made incredibly cheap and they can have control of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I already knew they were developing it, PETA (people for the ehtical treatment of animals) a few years ago offered 1 million dollars if someone could do it, bringing some of the most cruel industry alive to a major letdown.
    I'm a vegan and that would be a cool invention, not that I was going to eat it (Ihaven't thought about it) but it would mean an alternative and a considerable drop on killing animals for food.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wonder how a full diet of man made food will affect a person though

    ReplyDelete
  5. yes i know it would be a difficult transition, the meat industry would not go down without a fight.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I believe they should do this to save a lot of resources. But I believe the meat industry is going to fight against this because many people don't want to loose their jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah, I have a great internal struggle about all of this. We could save lots of energy by just all being vegetarians, but then meat tastes so good and it is normal for us to eat. Once I buy a house, Ill grow my own cows for dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  8. mmmmm i could go for a cheeseburger right now.

    this reminds me of the bad guys from goodburger

    ReplyDelete
  9. Probably, but perhaps their price is much higher.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cultured meat looks really interesting, but I'm not sure if it'll be a true replacement for the traditional way of getting it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. my friend's been telling me about this, that beef quality's dramatically decreasing, don't know if I can eat it the same way anymore :( has to be hung for at least 40 days

    ReplyDelete
  12. I will eat a double cheeseburger in a bit

    ReplyDelete
  13. those poor animals, luckily I eat mainly rice

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had a steak for lunch... it was pretty good

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hope there's a ton of scrutiny on that meat to make sure it's safe, even in the long term.

    ReplyDelete
  16. As long as it tastes good and gives substantial protein im down!

    ReplyDelete
  17. as much as this pains my heart, I still can't live without my meat

    ReplyDelete
  18. yeah, I reread this post, and I agree with About Insurance

    ReplyDelete
  19. We've gotta eat, simples as that.

    ReplyDelete
  20. can you say Mad Cow Disease??

    ReplyDelete
  21. brb, gotta get my vitamin B12 from the meats

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm a vegetarian so I'm all for people using cultured meat instead of killing poor animals!

    ReplyDelete